November 16th Nikau Bay Camp(210.4)-Taiharuru Estuary/Tidesong B&B (228.5) Mileage: 18.1mi/29.1km Campsite Elevation: 134ft/40m Despite trying to sleep in, Becky and I still woke up pretty early. The three of us agreed to sleeping in today, and having a relaxed...

November 15th Morepork Track(189.1)-Nikau Bay Camp(210.4) Mileage: 21.3mi/34.3km Campsite Elevation: 58ft/18m I want to start off by addressing some of the comments and concerns in yesterday's post. First, I'm sorry for the abrupt and poorly expressed response to...

November 14th Waikare Valley Rd(166.3)-Morepork Track(189.1) Mileage: 22.8mi/36.7km Campsite Elevation: 648ft/198m First off, there was a large earthquake on the South Island of NZ last night. We did not feel it. Thank you all for your concerns. New Zealand has had a...

November 13th Waitangi Forest(143.2)-Waikare Valley Rd(166.3) Mileage: 16.2mi/26km (+6.9mi/11.1km ferry)=23.1mi/38.1km Campsite Elevation: 106ft/32m What a unique day today. The four of us set off at 7am and walked the dirt and gravel road into Paihia. It was very...

November 12th Kerkeri(137.5)-Waitangi Forest(142.6)
Mileage: 4.1mi/6.6km Campsite Elevation: 356ft/109m I was up til 1:30am last night getting caught up on things while I had wifi. Lots had piled up since I am trying not to use my phone's data much along the trail....

November 11th Puketi Forest Hut(123.4)-Kerkeri(137.5) Mileage: 14.1mi/22.7km It was a great night of sleep after I got to bed late last night with all the people to talk to in camp. I slept through the night for the first time in awhile and woke up around 5:45am. I...

November 10th Mangamuka Dairy(100.1)-Puketi Forest Hut(123.4)
Mileage: 23.3mi/37.5km Campsite Elevation: 1,134ft/346m Well, it wasn't the most restful night of sleep with all the noise coming along the highway and in front of the store. Given the options, I was quite...

November 9th Stream N of Waiotehue Road(79.9)-Mangamuka Dairy(100.1) Mileage: 20.2mi/32.5km Campsite Elevation: 67ft/20m As I suspected, I awoke to some condensation and plenty of wet grass. It wasn't terrible and I do expect it to happen more often out here. I heard...

November 8th Ahipara(63.6)-Stream N of Waiotehue Road(79.9) Mileage: 16.3mi/26.7km Campsite Elevation: 209ft/64m It was windy overnight, but we were in a great protected spot, so it did not affect the tents. The constant sound of the wind blowing though the trees is...

November 7th Hukatere Lodge(43.2)-Ahipara(
63.6)  Mileage: 20.4mi/32.8km A note to anyone who is just behind me on the Te Araroa this year and following for trail beta. I am using Guthook's TA App and putting detailed notes directly on the app itself for all to...

November 6th Bluff Campsite(24.9)-Hukatere Lodge(43.2) Mileage: 18.3mi/29.5km So let's talk about the phone service before I get started with today. The company I was told to go with is Vodafone. Their deals are definitely not as good as Australia. In Australia I was...

November 5th 1km from the lighthouse(.6)-Bluff Campsite(24.9) Mileage: 24.3mi/39.1km Well, you all are benefitting from my having a lot of beach walking to dictate a long blog post as I hiked today, enjoy! Not all posts will be this lengthy, but it's a new trail with...

November 4th Cape Reinga Lighthouse(0)-1km from the lighthouse(.6) The  goal of the day was to not get sick on the 6hr winding bus ride north from Auckland to Kaitaia. I don't like taking medicine if I can help it, and haven't taken Dramamine since I was a kid,...