Te Araroa Pt. 8

Day 23

Day 23, 10 Dec 17

Set off pretty late from the beach today, by my standards at least. Just as well, beacuse I met 2 NZ guys doing the trail as well. They're doing a week every year. It was really good to walk and be able to talk to someone on the way. Today was a much easier day because of this.

I just followed their plan of getting to a trig point because being alone really sucks, but it turns out the route doesn't pass the trig at all. So we did a few extra kilometers and camped a little off a road.

On the way we passed by a hippie settlement. Pretty cool, they're all doing the self-sufficient thing with greenhouses and stuff.

I just hope I can stay together with these two guys. The company really helps. They seem like pretty cool lads.

My hip is really getting worse. Can't go far before it hurts again. I definitely have to get it checked up sometime soon. Take a really long break. Note sure how I'll hold up over the next few days. Hope I can get to Auckland at least.

Day 24

Day 24, 11 Dec 17

Went from the random patch of grass to a little past Mangawhai today. Great weather all the way, though it showered a little bit at the end.

It was kind of boring at first, just farmland and rolling hills, then a really steep hill, a tiny section of bush, but it transformed into this beautiful beach track. It was still high above the beach and you could see all the rock formations, the clouds, the islands, the different shades of blue... But I'm afriad my hip took away quite a bit of joy from all this.

Arrived at Mangawhai Heads and had some sushi. I don't know what's attracting me to sushi these days. Probably because there are no better options. Ah, how I muss the food back home. How I miss home.

Moved on down to Mangawhai. It rained a lot on our way to the accomodation area. Lazed around, then went sleeping. Got some pretty good fare for the next few days. I wanted to eat a chicken for dinner but realised it was frozen, so I had a pizza instead. A whole chicken for breakfast then!

Day 25

Day 25, 12 Dec 17

Left town for the beach today. Left pretty late because I was cooking and eating a chicken!

The beach was a pretty easy and beautiful section. It stayed like this pretty much until it got to high tide, after which life became really hard because we had to go up the dunes to avoid the tides, and the sand was soft there.

After this we waited for the tide to go down before crossing Poueiri River. Even at that point it was still around waist deep (my waist). Got our bottles topped up after that and began the first section of the next track. That really hurt. It was uphill all the way and a I was struggling to keep up. Every few minutes I had to stop because this shock will shoot up my left leg around my hips. It sucks to be the one straggling at the back. A first for everything. I was also trying my best to conserve my sweat. But now I'm fine in my tent.

I'm just a little worried about tomorrow. I'll probably have less than 2 bottles for 22km of hilly terrain. But whatever that will come will come. I'll make do.

<condensation in my phone :(>

Day 26

Day 26, 13 Dec 17

Another day in the shoes of Sisyphus. This has to be the worst one yet. I don't have elevation data because I'm conserving my expnsive batteries, but it must have been something like 1.5km. My knees and hips really hurt now.

It was brutal. There was completely no break from the elevation. Any ground we covered would be coupled with either an ascent or descent. Together with the terrain (i.e. crap conditions apart from the hilliness) we were slowed down to a snail's pace.

Around 22kms in 11 hours. I expected this because I brought all the notes and maps with me, but they did not. Could have started off earlier but they wanted to relax as they thought 22kms was shorter than average. Anyway, they stayed positive throughout the entire hike and I think I can learn from that. Even if it feels forced, insignificant or desperate, they tried to find and comment on things that were going well. Whereas I focused on what's under my feet, and when it was going to end.

Camping at a viewing platform tonight. The sun is just setting in front of me. Not the most ideal camping spot due to the noise of the highway below, but it has a damn good view. I'm going to set off tomorrow for the Dome Cafe. Hope they're not some overpriced ripoff like every other one I've been through.

Thoughts

The pictures are starting to get less and less because my phone was starting to become more and more broken. Somehow water got into the camera, probably during the river crossing on day 25. It was supposed to be a wate-resistant phone, but apparently not, and now its slowly fogging up. That was really unfortunate, because it cost me really quite a few photos, and I blame it completely on Sony and demand compensation. Actually they did fix my phone up under warranty later on so there's that.

Things started getting more active after I joined this two guys as there was more interaction now. In fact there were many events that I could remember but did not write down.

Something that I noticed was also they kept trying to stay positive throughout. If you've read my earlier entries you would know that more often than not it becomes quite depressed and rambly. However on the way they kept commenting on how nice the trees were and how nice the wind was even though there was no nice trees or cool wind. I'm sure they knew they were just lying to themselves but it was a valiant effort at staying positive. I know one of them was definitely not very fit, but he never once complained or gave up.

That's my greatest takeaway from being with these two. I think it's definitely helpful at times. I got through relying on sheer willpower, but isn't it more sensible to keep happy by just being happy?

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

-- Marcus Aurelius

There is no way to learn how to be positive apart from just doing it. And in stressful situations like this is when you really see the people's true personality. In some you will see a completely different face because they have no strength left to maintain the false universe they put around them normally. In others you really see them in their purest form, because they have always been true all along, and the conditions only serve to make it even more obvious for everyone to see.