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.

MSR Stove

Gear Review, MSR 'Reactor' stove.

When I first got this stove I wondered why they would name a stove aimed at lightweight thru hikers (typically the environmental conservationalist type of people) after a word associated with Chernobyl, Long Island, and Nuclear.

MSR Reactor stove, two thumbs up by dbBrad

Then I cooked on it. The water was boiling before I had the lid on. If you want to saute veggies forget it, but if you need a simple to use stove to boil water, this is your best bet.

MSR Reactor stove runner up!

Now 3 weeks into my trek across New Zealand on the Te Araroa trail, I love this stove. It's waterproof, windproof and fool proof, stable, simple and compact and most important, quite. Overall a very smart design. Of coarse it costs a bit more than the tin can wood fired alternative, but sure is easier to use.

Wood fired cook stove compliments of googleimagesearch

MSR--If you're interested in selling your products in New Zealand, this stove is getting great reviews from fellow hikers as well as sportings good stores. Perhaps you would like a New Zealand MSR Rep--if so,I need to replace my/your |Zoid II!!

dbMom Blogs Brad's Adventures Too

Kisses from dbMom

Hugs from dbEd

Tugs from dbDog

With photos of fond memories from the Pacific Crest Trail this summer, kisses, hugs and tugs are being sent to Brad. We are missing our dbBrad.

For those of you who want another view of Brad's New Zealand adventures, please see Fran's Blog as she travels vicariously with Brad.

People along the Te Araroa trail who have seen dbBrad

MaiHi and Mona-Jane Brown.  A wonderful Brother and Sister who invited me to their home.  I declined, regrettably,  as I had commitments for kayaking the next day in PaiHia.  I've since tried to look them up with no success.  Sticking with plans is a good thing, but knowing when to deviate is a good thing too and I cant help but think I should have deviated this time.

At the trails near the Stone Store in KeriKeri where the treaty of Waitangi was signed, these young woman happy to pose for me after hearing about my hiking adventure!

No name guitar player in KeriKeri

Karolyn and Floyd, a wonderful German couple are running this pizza business while the owners travel for a month and they're doing a great job of it. It's small privately owned businesses like this, run by proprietors like these, where the future of our towns and cities lies, at least according to dbBrad.

Mom and son at a house near the end of Waikare road in Russell forest.

Madelin and Phlip, two female hikers also attempting the entirety of the Te Araroa trail, New Zealand, 2011

dbBrad, Paul and Jordan, end of Waikare Road.

Hanging out in Whananaki, I met Barb and Tony. Tony has a brother who is an architect building eco-friendly living solutions similar to myself on Coromandel Peninsula who I intend to visit when I get to Auckland.

Any surfer, Sandy Bay, New Zealand.

Not just any surfer, Sandy Bay. This kid, cool and confident, is only 13 and has been surfing for 8 years. Last year he took the national championship for u-13 surfing competition.

Will and I hung out under his hatchback in the rain, cooked dinner and camped on Sandy beach. Waking up to sunshine and coffee, we soon donned wet suits and he gave me a surfing lesson before heading into work.

Kaz takes shit from no one. This surfing school van took up 3 parking spots on his beach, including his spot. Kaz has been surfing this beach for over 20 years and took some time to explain the social pecking order of the beach before posing for this picture. He hopes to open a club some day and I suggested he name it Kaz Bar, as in Rocking the...!

Te Araroa, days 11-19

Te Araroa trail, days 11-19, not necessarily corresponding to pictures.

Kayaking from PaiHai (pie here) to Waikere

Day 11 I arrived in Keri Keri after 25k of road walking. Camped at a campground. Took the next day off (d12) to rest my blisters, email, do the last posting and to purchase a new camera.

Mangroves at the end of a long inlet, Waikere New Z Land, Te Araroa trail

If I said I liked my Panasonic Lumix in the past, forget it. Expensive, heavy, state of the art and well cared for and it broke in under 6 months. I've moved on to Olympus and so far it's every bit as good, half the price and much lighter.

This guy, Nick I think was his name, was awesome. He's worked at 'by the bay' rentals for years and is an awesome host, making phone calls and references for people, renting marine gear, providing information and finding a way to carry our boats back after a one way trip that would make the trip less expensive. He went above and beyond. The girls I paddled with were a bit slow and he had to do some waiting around so we tipped him 10 each and he gave it to the boss. A better employee there has never been.

dbBrad in the jungle. When the road ended it turned into a trail and when the trail ended it became a stream. I hiked in this stream for 4 km until the trail left the drainage basin and climbed up a long slow endless climb to a ridge with magnificent views of the inside of rain clouds!

dbLaundry. Washer and dryer all in one!

Day 13 hiked 25k to PaiHai to meet the two other hikers Madeline and Phlip for our Kayak journey. Getting there a bit late and missing them, I camped very near the rental spot as to not miss them in the morning. Since I was on a small beach in a town, I decided not to set up my tent and about 3am regretted that decision. It rained hard and I started getting real wet so I crawled under one of the catamarans for an hour or two more sleep. Waking up I looked like shake and bake chicken because I was soaked and the beach shells and sand were all sticking to me, everywhere! Sorry, no picture of dbShakeNbake--I wasn't finding it nearly so amusing at the time.

Heading south from Sandy Bay, New Z-land, north island, Te Araroa trail.

Day14 camped in a field after kayaking 17km and hiking 2 more. This is where I met Paul and Jordan and where I charged my camera at the PJMH (pajama clad man's house-see posting on people).

A very wet dbBrad with custom pack cover.

Day 15 another 19km day hiking off and on with Phlip and Medalin. They appear to be two peas in a two pea pod! After an entire day of listening to the chatter, they never asked me a single question. We all camped near a lovely stream at the intersection of some overgrown roads.

A gas pump for cars and boats both!

Day 16 I left the 2 peas. I decided if I'm not going to talk to anyone, I'm going to get the benefit of peace and quiet while I do it! It rained like hell this day and the faster I walked the harder it rained. I finished off 24 clicks and got a ride on pavement for about 10 more. The 34 k took me all the way into Whananaki where I found a store and a porch to sit on. I slept right there next to the floating gas pump and when I woke up I was still soaking wet!

A 400 meter foot bridge across an estuary between Whananaki north and south.

Day 17 I camped on the grassified dune separating parking from beach and cooked dinner with Will under the shelter offered by his hatchback. We watched people surf until it got dark then the parking lot went from full to empty in about 15 minutes leaving us as the only guardians to one of the finest beaches I've ever visited.

t

One of the many fence crossings along the Te Araroa trail, New Zealand.

Day 18 I ended up in Ngungaru with little money and a need to cross the harbor to continue the trail. Seeing little options, I caught a ride east to Tutukaka, one of the easier New Zealand names to pronounce. There is a harbor there so I pounded the docks looking for a ride down the coast.

Along the coast, south of Wooly Bay, Te Araroa trail.

A rainbow and a surfer from Sandy Bay

dbBrad's camp site, Sandy Bay, and the best MSR tent (Zoid 2) ever made!

Just a simple day in New Zealand along the Te Araroa trail.

Happy cows taste better!

The epiphytes here are incredible.

The rugged east coast of New Zealand with Poor Knights Islands visible in the distance.

Few people to ask except the commercial diving charters who weren't about to go an inch out of their way for a lonely hiker, let alone risk beaching a million dollar boat so I could hop off and keep my pack dry. So I camped at the boat launch rising at 6:30 hoping to find a small boat being launched that could get me where I wanted to go. Not a single boat launched this morning and at 10am I bagged it and headed for Whangerei to get cash, do some blogging and get some real food.

Day 19 is tomorrow and I'll resume the trail Ngunguru Ford Road unless a kayak falls from the sky.