Thru Hiking, going riding

I've done a fair amount of road walking in New Zealand which has shown me two things. My knee doesn't like the hard surfaces and constant slant of the road. The roads are curvy and made for motorcycles.

dbBrad borrows a Moto Guzzi for a moment of fantasy during the Te Araroa Hike, 2011

I'll continue on, but this is always an option!!

Light weight packs

Light weight packs.  Something I've looked at for years and scoffed at.  Flimsy material, easy to tear, little tiny buckles and small.  Where is all my stuff to go?

Gregory pack donated by Gregors, aka TGW

 My trusty mountaineering pack was always my pack of choice.  It could hold all my climbing and camping gear combined and was made out of material so heavy I could drag it up the mountain and it would be okay.  The frame was strong enough for me to stand on the the buckles and straps gave me great confidence.  But it weighted 8lbs.

dbBrad with 11 months of hiking/living gear in his awesome light weight pack made by Gregory,

But when I section hiked the PCT last summer, I saw lots of small packs going long ways and decided to give it a try.  Sure enough, it's an awsome pack.  As of now it has 40 days of use and is showing signs of wear but no signs of failure.  It loads great, the buckles are solid enough, wears well, has some additional storage with stretchy back patch and top pocket and is anything but waterproof.  But as soon as MSR starts production of the New Zoid 3, my convertible rain fly will keep me and my pack nice and dry so in the mean time, garbage bags work great.

Typical backpackers with front and back packs as well as hands full. These two are out for 3 months.

OR Gators not a crock!

One of the issues with hiking on sand, snow or mud can be debris flipping up from one shoe and hitting the back of your leg and falling into your other shoe.  It only happens one little bit at a time but when you're walking 8 hours a day it adds up.

OR Gators not a croc, but a great product no TTH should be with out.

I purchased a set of light weight gators from OR which I love.  Surprising because on day one I slipped on a big rock and tore the base strap (goes around the bottom of my shoe) through the buckle and bent the pin which holds it.  I though, these darn gators are a crock, but they were easily repaired and it hasn't failed since.

Croc OR Gator

Features of the Gators I love are the lightweight soft shell material giving it a little stretch and being quite resilient to abrasion and the extra tabs top and bottom to help secure the Velcro closure system.  Even so, I have concerns about the longevity of the Velcro which gets muddy and wet daily but so far so go.

dbBrad with all his gear prior to departing for New Zealand.

(dbBrad products, product design, design development, product review, MSR, OR, REI, Greggory, Garmin, Nalgene, Camelbak, Northface, Marmot, Ibus, Patagonia, just to name a few)

Te Araroa Signage

Some signs are better than others.  For the most part the trail has been incredibly well marked in the bush which is amazing considering I can count the number of people I've met hiking on trails (over 350km so far) on one hand.

Trail markings on the Te Araroa, this one in particular is a bit confusing!

The road markings are another story and while there are Te Araroa signs here and there, the only way to navigate these portions is with the track details provided by the trust.

The puhoi river section was very easy to follow and well marked with large signs telling me where I was.

All in all the trust has done an amazing job with their maps and descriptions and I thank them for over two decades of work to put this trail system together.  A little side note, that the Te Araroa trust is only about a dozen volunteers working out of a spare bedroom.

An orange post marking the trail on farmland where there are no trees.

The Department of Conservations is improving many of the trails I've walked so far and responsible for much of the signage and there are numerous volunteers who have worked on all these trails who all have my thanks and appreciation.  I breath a little sigh of relieve with every orange post or triangle I find, letting me know I might be lost, but at least I'm still on the Te Araroa Trail!

Hiker Accommodations in Waipu

So far I've slept in my sleeping bag every night since I've been here, usually setting up my tent for shelter.

Today I'm making an exception. It's generally been wet and rainy for most of the past week which is fine here and there but eventually the wet gets old. I can live with shoes that never get to dry out, but when my spare clothes and sleeping bag become saturated, I know it's time for a break.

Special thanks to Waipu Wanderers Backpackers Hut for great accommodations and the use of their personal computer

So tonight I stay in a wonderful little back packers dormitory-like setting, watching star wars on a VCR and clumsily typing on a microcomputer while looking at some of my pictures.

dbBrad Self Portraits

After 9 hours of 90 mile beach, I made it mine!
dbBrad on dbBeach, Te Araroa trail 2011

Every day I try to take a picture of my camp, myself or of the geography.  I try to do something different just to keep some variety to the pictures.  Below are a dozen or show images of me, dbBrad, on the Te Araroa trail during my first month.

dbBrad on 90 mile beach.

dbBrad in one of the streams along 90 mile beach that drain
the water trapped behind the sand dunes labeled 'swamp'

In the middle of 90 mile beach is a large rock outcropping and here it is.

dbBrad and his beloved MSR tent.

dbBrad with 'Shocklite poles all the way from REI in the states and they still don't work!

Actually everyday I seem to take about 100 pictures, a third of which are easy to delete but the rest not so.

dbDeep grass!

When I get to a \computer i can delete another 3rd with a good monitor and no concerns for battery life.

dbBrad and dbKauri

Which means when I do a posting for 10 days, Ive got to go through roughly 300-600 photos.

dbBrad loves his mom and the cliff says so.

I search them as large icons looking for shape, color, imagery, content and location.  The highlights.

dbBrad fighting the kiwi vines, Te Araroa trail 2011

Usually they don't include me as there are only so many angles you can hold out your arm and take a self portrait.

dbBrad shocked to find solar panels on top of this mountain!

The timer helps broaden the possibilities but really I'm here for the culture and environment of new Zealand, not to see pictures of myself in front of it..

dbBrad in the bush, Te Araroa.

 However it is a bit fun to see the best of dbBrad self portraits all together. Roughly one per day, and fairly chronological too.

This sign on the Te Araroa trail makes me want TE PUKE!

dbBrad, Medalin and Phlp in the bay of islands, Te Araroa trail, 2011 on our way to Waikarie

dbBrad hiking a stream.  Just another day with
wet feet on the Te Araroa trail, NZ 2011

dbWet

dbBrad infront of a 400 meter long bridge leaving Whananaki.

dbBrad--where is your other hiking pole?

dbBrad giving scale to the Epiphytes growing in the Kauri trees along the Te Araroa trail, NZ 2011

dbBrad at Metapori--most beautiful spot so foar along the Te Araroa
Thanks to DoC for the new trails in this area.

dbBrad on Te Araroa trail, 2011.

dbBrad kayaking on the Te Araroa trail
Ngunguru-Pataua

dbBrad on Te Araroa trail 2011

Pacific Coast Kayak Tours, Te Araroa trail, New Zealand

Te Araroa trail Kayaking section, Ngunuru to Pataua South.

Mark, the owner of Pacific Coast Kayak Tours in his well stocked garage.

dbBrad is hiking the Te Araroa trail 2011.  While most of the trail is in the bush, some of it is on the road and a surprising amount of it is in the water.

dbBrad ready to paddle, but where is Mark?

To date I've hiked over 20km in streams and Kayaked almost 40km.

Kayaks being picked up at end of journey.

For the first section of kayaking from PaiHia to Waikare I rented from http://baybeachhire.co.nz/.  I was with two fellow travelers, Phlip and Medalin and we simply rented the boats which were picked up at the end.  Fun, but nothing compared to the adventure I had with Mark.

Not only is Mark an expert paddler and tour guide, he's quite the chef too. All veggies from his personal garden, hot coffee and tea and all organic!

But for the section between Ngunuru and Pataua, renting a boat for a self guided tour was out of the question.  Open ocean kayaking in the pacific ocean is a bit more technical than paddling in calm cool bay of islands.

Just one of the Caves I was shown on my 19km tour of the coast.

Though he wouldn't rent me a boat for a solo paddle (no one in their right mind would) he did cut me a bit of a deal since I was by myself.  It would have been considerably cheaper with other paddlers but the memories I have of that day will last a life time, easily worth the extra few dollars.

My kayak fitted with a sail and a map.  Paddle float and pump are extra!!

We had a great time, enjoyed great food, paddled and sailed in the open ocean and had several great laughs together.  Mark is a great host, very knowledgeable kayak guide and a lot of fun.  Clearly the best option for kayaking this leg of the Te Araroa trail.

Mark and Leon at the end of the paddle.  Leon operates the vehicular logistics division of Pacific Coast Kayak Tours.

Follow this link for a quick video of Mark describing our paddle, filmed by dbBrad.
Follow this link for a quick video of Cave crawling, dbBrad.

dbBrad in his own boat, a Klepper, at Tofino on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver Island.