Lower North Island

Road walking south of Palmerston North and heading towards the Tararua Mountains.

Above:Parts of the Tararua's looked very much like the set in "Middle Earth"

Below: Sarn and friend Paul, joined us for 2 days hiking.

Nephews, Isaiah and Joachim, joined us for our last day in the Tararua's.

Highway 1 on the west coast, approx 30 km's north of Wellington. 

Above Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.

Looking down the south coast of Wellington. 

At the Te Araroa Trail Monument in Island Bay, with brother Beni. The official end of the North Island leg of the trail.

On the footsteps of Parliament, with members of Parliament and New Zealand Special Olympics.

In previous blogs I mentioned I will talk about the gear that we carry...It is coming. 

We are going through another slight transformation in our gear, so as soon as we have our final" kit"

organized, I will post it and compare what we are now carrying to what we started with.

The North Island summary will be posted soon.

Happy Trails!!



COINCIDENCES

Jan 3rd: We arrived in the small community of Waitomo around 3:30 pm. A small tourist town that features the famous Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. Hot and thirsty, we headed to the camp store for a cold refreshment.  As I sat on a couch facing the entrance, in through the door comes a face I thought I recognized. I wasn’t sure, so I just watched the side profile of this man as he shopped. Could this be Peter Ferns? Surely not, as I had not seen him for 22 years!  Peter has a distinctive tone to his voice so when he spoke to the cashier, I was 99% convinced it was him. As he turned to walk out, I headed straight for him…he stopped…looked at me, and in an instant we recognized each other… with hugs and smiles to follow. Turns out, Peter now lives in Australia, and was vacationing with his family here in New Zealand.  He just happened to come down to the store to get milk. We stayed the night with them in their rental, and reminisced into the wee hours.

Foot note: Peter was the one who gave my brother, Beni, a book titled,“The Greatest Hikes in the World”, for Ben’s 18^th birthday, and in the book the “Appalachian Trail” was featured. The rest, as most of you know, is history! 

COINCIDENCE #2

Jan 5: We were just south of the town of Te Kuiti and had left our camp site round about 7:30 am, to continue down a somewhat remote country back road. This road walk is a by pass due to the trail being closed temporarily in this area.  After about 2 hours into our hike on this quite road…only 4 cars had passed us…as we climbed a hill, we noticed a vehicle slowing down as it passed us. We watched as it stopped and turned around heading back toward us…no idea why. Then suddenly, I recognized the driver...my 1^st cousin, Anthony Paroli, and his partner Dalena…Unbelievable!

Dalena’s family owns a farm in the area, and they were up from Wellington on a visit and were heading out to go shopping. Easy to guess what followed...we stayed the night with Delana’s warm and very hospitable family, and had a great time, a great feed and a personal tour of the farm!

Birds of New Zealand

Did you know that New Zealand has the most number of flightless birds! Why?  Before humans reached New Zealand, the country used to be a bird sanctuary, as there were no predatory land mammals. Bats were actually the only mammals at that time. It is now home to a number of forest birds that live nowhere else in the world.

The majority of the world’s flightless birds evolved on mammal-free islands, and their extinction was mainly caused by people and introduced predatory mammals. When rats, stoats and human hunters reached New Zealand, some of the most interesting and unusual birds could not survive.

One of those now extinct birds was the MOA

  Some moa were enormous. The giant moa was one of the biggest birds ever known, and the largest land animal in New Zealand. It was about 12 feet tall and weighed about 300 kilograms, (as big as Big Bird from Sesame Street!) Because they couldn’t fly they were easy to catch. Unfortunately, they were hunted into extinction by the Maoris.

KIWI

   New Zealand’s national bird is a flightless bird called Kiwi which is now endangered. New Zealanders are sometimes fondly referred to as kiwis.  New Zealand’s native birds are all flightless.  It is easily recognized by its long beak with nostrils at the tip, tiny wings and shaggy brown feathers.  They lay giant eggs and the parents take turns sitting on the egg for 70 days until the kiwi chick hatches.

KAKAPO (pronounced Kack-a-poe)

  

One of the oddest birds is the giant, flightless parrot, the Kakapo. It’s nocturnal, has a face like an owl, and is one of New Zealand’s unique ‘treasures’. It is listed internationally as a critically endangered species. At the beginning of the 19th century, kakapo were still widespread throughout New Zealand. They are now managed by the Department of Conservation on three offshore islands, throughout the country.

The Kakapo is the heaviest parrot in the world. Males can weigh over two kilograms. Although it cannot fly, it is good at climbing trees and believed to have become nocturnal and learned to freeze and remain still during times of danger as a defence against its only ancient predator - the giant eagle, (now extinct).  Early Polynesian settlers hunted the bird for its plumage and meat.

FANTAIL

  Known for its friendly ‘cheet cheet’ call and energetic flying antics, the aptly named fantail is one of the most common and widely distributed native birds on the New Zealand mainland. It is easily recognized by its long tail which opens to a fan. It has a small head and bill. Every hiker is familiar with this friendly bird and its feeding habits. Fantails frequently follow people or another bird or animal to capture insects disturbed by their movements.

 NEW ZEALAND PIGEON

    Since the extinction of the moa, the native pigeon is now the only seed disperser. It's bill is big enough to swallow large fruit, along with leaves, buds and flowers, which vary by season and region.  The disappearance of the New Zealand Pigeon would be a disaster for the regeneration of our native forests. 

TUI (pronounced Too-We)

 

Tui are unique to New Zealand and belong to the honeyeater family, which means they feed mainly on nectar from flowers of native plants. These attractive birds can often be heard singing their beautiful melodies long before they are spotted. You will recognize them by their distinctive white tuft under their throat, which contracts dramatically with the metallic blue-green sheen to their underlying black color.

 

WEKA

 

The weka is a large, brown flightless bird that has a famously feisty and curious personality. These two qualities traditionally made the bird an easy food source for Māori and early European settlers.  Usually those living near farms or tramping huts, get a reputation for pilfering crops, food and other small objects.  But don't chase them...simply watch where they go and retrieve the objects a little later.

To learn more and hear some of the bird calls, go to:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/birds/



The Longpathway Update

Quick update!

I mentioned in the last blog that I will be summarising the first 1,000 km's, however,
by the time I got to this writing, we had neared the halfway mark of 1,500 km's.
Being very close to Wellington, the Capital City,  (located at the bottom end of the North Island),
I have decided to summarise the North Island when we take a 2 day break
in about a week from now. Also, look for 2 incredible short stories of coincidence as
well as the "Gear" that we carry...

ON THE "WANGANUI"

We spent 4 days canoeing the Wanganui River

"STILL WATERS"

The river levels were down, so we rowed most of the 200 km’s.

Our feet got a break but....Talk about an upper body workout!

"WIND BLOWN"

An unexpected wind gust blew our canoe onto this pile of driftwood.

"WALKING THE COAST"

Back on the Tasman Sea, south of the town of Wanganui, we head down to the Tararua Mountain Range, north of Wellington.

Central North Island

Central North Island and “King Country"

The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand.
From Lake Taupo, it snakes it’s way 425 km’s northwest to the Tasman Sea.

























My father and brother, Beni, drove up to Hamilton to celebrate

the New Year with us. Doing a long distance hike with family close by is a

welcomed benefit. In this picture, (at the trail head on Jan 1, 2013), there are 3 generations of Paroli’s.

Rolling hills and farm land of “King Country”

Also, some rugged areas with steep climbs...  

and challenging bush to get through.

D.O.C. huts (Dept of Conservation) are found in many areas of the country;

and are a welcome site for the weary hiker, especially when the weather is

nasty outside.

Having lunch on a farmers lawn, under the watchful eye

of our new found friend.

On the back roads, heading towards Tongariro National Park.

Looking east towards Lake Taupo from Togariro National Park.
Lake Taupo is actually a crater, and known as the largest fresh water lake in the southern hemisphere. Scientists predict it was created by the largest volcanic eruption ever to have occurred in the world. The lake is 46 km’s long, and hosts some of the best trout fishing in New Zealand.

Tongariro National Park has 3 active volcanoes.  This picture shows Mt. Ruapahu.

It is an the largest active volcano in New Zealand, and last erupted on September 25, 2007.

Looking at Mt. Ngauruhoe in center and Mt. Tongariro to the left

(flatter looking mountain).

New Zealand sits on “The rim of fire”, and has many fault lines running throughout the country.

Deep valleys and gorges covered with native bush and vibrant rivers and streams.

Question:  New Zealand has approximately the same square miles of land as which

                State in the USA? 

In upcoming blogs, I will summarize the first 1,000 km’s, (600 miles), of our hike through the country, and will highlight the “Gear” that we carry in our back packs (which has gone through some transformation).

Also, I will share 2 short stories of incredible coincidences that we will never forget.

Birds of New Zealand

Please note:  This blog is being written and will be available for your viewing pleasure very soon! 

Friendly Faces

The country side of New Zealand is beautiful and sometimes spectacular, which makes for a great and interesting hike. But the awesome people we have encountered along the way, have left the fondest memories!
On behalf of the team, this blog post is dedicated to those who have opened up their hearts and homes to us often smelly and scruffy looking "blokes".


Gabrielle at Hukatere Lodge on 90 mile beach.  She was so welcoming to us...Enthusiastic and bubbly...since we could not stay the night, she sent us on with fresh fruit and goodies!




Lance, Tracy, and son Ephren were gracious enough to host me while my feet were healing from all those blisters!!  They are dedicated to living a self sufficient lifestyle and were so gracious to help me in my hour of need.  I had a great stay with them.

Keith & Raewyn are recently retired and enjoying their new life.  They offered good company and a restful break after a long road walk...with a good cup of coffee and yummy sweets before we continued on....





Janine & Robin and Grub & Vanessa were fun and hospitable couples. They put on a fantastic BBQ... hydrated and fed us to the max...great sense of humor and good laughs.




Wayne & Ara and son gave us a friendly invite for lunch on the beach.
 



Sheryl & Grant...what a treat to get poached eggs for breaky inside their motor home.




Sharon & Ralph are an adventurous couple from New York who immigrated to NZ via sailing yacht.  They invited us to stay the night and took care of  2 very tired hikers after a long day of road walking.




Denise & Urs are a Swiss couple now living in NZ...put us up for the night...comfy beds and good feed with Italian Polenta...excellent!!




Leonie & Julian invited us to share their picnic on the beach.  Leonie is a Podiatrist and gave our feet a full inspection with some very welcomed advice to ease our walk!

Warrick & Theresa invited us in and treated us like family...gave us a fantastic feed...minus having to do the dishes!  Salt of the Earth family.




Thankyou everyone for filling our bodies with great food, conversation and great memories
We will be adding more friendly faces as we go!

We also want to mention the following people that helped us out....

• Fran in Nungaru who hosts TAT through hikers on a regular basis.
• Owner of Nungaru Hardware...many thanks for the free bottle of cooking gas.
• Glynis and Kathy in Whangarei:  Glynis is the driving force of Special Olympics Whanarei and drove out and found us on the trail to make sure we were taken care of while in the area.  Kathy comfortably hosted us during our stay.  With Beni suffering from a knee injury, Glynis gave him transport when/where needed.  We also had a great reception from the Mayor and some of the SO Athletes...escorting us through the Mall in Whangarei.
• Cody from Puhoi River Canoes...very professional and helpful in setting us up with needed canoe's for our trip down the Puhoi River.
• Anthony with Central Backpackers in Hamilton:  Very welcoming and offered such warm hospitality during our stay.

     In upcoming blogs I will be talking about some of the unique bird life that exists in
     New Zealand and also the type of gear that we carry in our back packs.
    
     Question:  What is a "Moa"?

     Until next time----------see you later matey's.