The Finish and Beyond

2-22-19

Matt and me with our medals

It’s now over a year since I finished my walk of the Te Araroa, and I haven’t yet been able to complete that last entry, the walk into Bluff. But I’m sitting in the San Francisco Airport about to start a new adventure, and feel the need for some completion here. I think I didn’t want this hike, this summer, this wonderful adventure in New Zealand to end. In the six months I was there, I’d fallen in love with the place and its people. Almost four months of walking, hitching and bussing from the top to the bottom of the country on the Te Araroa Trail, and then two months more of driving and camper vanning from bottom to top, mostly with my wife Katie, have given me a real perspective on the place, and sure enough, I love it. It is one of the most jam packed with beauty places I’ve ever been to, and it’s people, of primarily Maori and European/Asian backgrounds, some of the friendliest on the planet. It’s been a delight, and as much as I miss my beloved California, I was sad to leave and surely have missed the place.

But now to catch you up on that last day of hiking into Bluff, at the south end of the South Island.

2-20-18

Matt and I started out again very early this morning. It was still dark as we walked out of the little industrial town of Invercargill and joined the long estuary walkway that paralleled Highway 1. The highway was loaded with semis and lumber trucks all headed to or from the port at Bluff. After miles of highway and semis, it began to rain so we got sprayed by every truck that passed us.

By the time we got to Bluff the rain had stopped and I slowed down to enjoy the cute little old seaside town. Then we were there and hugging the pole that marks the end of 4 months of walking. We were elated, sad and happy all at once. Matt and I were met by Anton and had a nice lunch, joined by Goldy who had also just finished. I hadn’t seen him since the Tararuas and the day of Katie’s brother’s death. I was in such a bad mood at that point that I couldn’t connect at all. I apologized for having been so out of it, and we were able to make a nice connection. We all got our finish medals from the folks at the restaurant and, even though this hadn’t been a true thru hike, I accepted it graciously.

I’d had such a nice time with Matt and Anton, so lucky to hike with them during the final few weeks. They kicked my butt and got me bustin miles which I love.

Thomas the Tank Engine, Goldy and Matt, Anton and me at the finish pole.

Back at the hostel we got together with Thomas the Tank Engine and had a celebratory dinner, I’ll miss them all. Sad and happy.

My hike along the Able Tasman Great Walk.

After finishing at Bluff I set off to make another attempt to finish the last 2 days of the Richmond Ranges just east of Nelson. That necessitated a long bus ride back to Nelson and a long hitch to the trailhead where I had bailed out before the first hurricane hit several months prior, and then a day’s walk back into the mountains. I had left these ranges previously with Anouck, a lovely young woman from Holland, when we got cel service and saw a huge storm approaching. That storm had trapped 14 hikers in a 6 bed shelter for 4 days before the flood waters receded enough for them to bail out, so it was a decision I did not regret in the least.

I was alone in the shelter that first night back, and had cel service and to my chagrin, found that the weather, which had looked fine when I set out, had tanked entirely. The next day I bailed a second time, weather bombed twice on this section. I hiked out in the rain determined to come back at some point in the future and finish that short 2 day stretch, but not this trip. Oh well.

Back in Nelson I rented a car, as I had 10 days till Katie arrived for our 6 weeks of exploring with a camper van. I drove back down the Coast, exploring as I went. I hiked some of the Able Tasman Great Walk, a coastal stretch of tree fern forest, mountains to the sea, and stunning beaches, saw the Fox Glacier and enjoyed the hot springs on the way there.

Fox and Frank Joseph Glaciers.

Invercargill was a wonderful reunion with Coyote and Sergio, who had finished their walk a bit after me. We all drove to Dunedin where we met Sunny, from Holland, and we all hiked the nearby hills and generally had a ball. Sunny was leaving for Japan to hike the Shikoku Pilgrimage for a second time, and she’s about to come to the U.S. to hike the Pacific Crest Trail this spring and summer.

Reunion with Coyote, Sergio and Sunny, who is on the swing.

I said goodbye to Coyote and Sergio back in Invercargill a few days later. They were off to hike Stewart Island and I was off to meet Katie.

Reunion with Katie and pix from the Milford Sound, the drive out, boat trip and hikes.

What a lovely reunion that was. We hadn’t seen each other in over 4 months, and the time traveling together was sweet. We’ve always vacationed well together. We love it, and renting a really nice camper van made it so much fun. We started with the Milford Sound area, where we stayed in cabins not far from the most beautiful stretch of roadway in the world. A boat trip on the Sound had us followed by countless dolphins and the captain drove the boat right through a waterfall.

Routeburn Track Great Walk with Katie. A stormy day in the mountains and pix of the lovely Doc hut we stayed in. The day after these pix were taken this was in deep snow. We bailed out on the second day rather than camp in the oncoming storm.

Together we hiked several days on the Routeburn Track, Great Walk, and several more days on the Able Tasman as well. Of course we had as many meals as we could manage, at the Mussel Pot, the restaurant Roman and I had found several months earlier, 2 1/2 lbs of fresh green lipped mussels for $15 U.S. Simply incredible.

Various camps and beaches, penguins and the Hectors Dolphin, the worlds smallest. They played between the legs of the two people wading in the waves. I didn’t get a great shot of the little guys unfortunately.

The Lone Tree of Lake Wanaka more of the Frans Joseph and Fox Glaciers and an area of incredible blow holes on the coast.

We brought the van to the North Island and stayed with Hurricane for a few days near Wellington, then on to Kelvin and Magnolia’s place In Purirua. Then we drove all the way to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of the island, where I’d started my walk 5 months before, visiting the lovely folks at the Green Bus Stop and dear, Joe, the ferryboat captain on the Bay of Islands. She arranged a boat tour for us that included lots of dolphins.

An Alpine, Kea Parrot, one of the worlds only high country parrot, rocks where the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe battle scenes were filmed, meal at the Mussel Pot, Able Tasman, and a fan tail up close.

We visited so much more, but these are some of the highlights at least. Katie’s experience was much the same as mine. She loved the place and the people and we will definitely be back.

Kayaking the Able Tasman

Autumn foliage in April, steam from the geothermal features that are a part of this village in Rotorua, boat ride on the Bay of Islands and Joe, the Captain of this ferry boat, and now a good friend.

Cape Reinga with Katie, where I had begun my walk 6 months earlier.

I need to see if I can get this posted before my flight leaves for Israel in an hour. I’ll be meeting my dear friend Roman again, this time in his home country, and we’ll be walking the Israel National Trail, 750 miles from Eilat in the south to the excavations at the City of Dan, in the north. There’s just too much to do, to many wonderful places to explore in this world, and as long as I’m capable, I’m planning on doing just that.