North Island Summary

The North Island is done! Approx 1,600 km’s, (about 1,000 miles), under our belt and a lot of stories and memories to share!  Eleven blisters came and went...the aches and pains still hitching a ride, but, diminishing in number. The South Island looms, as does a different terrain than the North.  More wild, more remote and more mountainous. I suspect a different experience unfolding.

Here is a summary of the North Island:

With great excitement and anticipation, we headed south from Cape Reinga along the 90 mile beach. The day was warm and sunny. Our spirits soaring!

The romance had soon dimmed, as the blistered feet took center stage. The new aches and pains that appeared were an unwelcomed burden to carry.  But hey, it’s what I expected would happen anyway, but not like this...

The rough, wet, muddy terrain of the Northland forests took its first victim in brother Beni.

With a torn cartilage in his right knee, we lost a friend and a soul mate. His spirit remains with us and so does his moral support as we continue.

The scenery of the North was memorable, beautiful, peaceful and worth another visit in the future. The forests were challenging, surreal and full of colorful bird life.

The road walking- sometimes long, boring and very hard on the body.

The people we met along the way made a huge impact, in lifting our spirits as our bodies and minds became used to walking all day. These experiences and memories gave us a renewed faith in mankind.

The ultimate highlights so far?

We met several hikers from different parts of the world including England, France, Germany, USA, Canada and Scotland. They all shared similar stories of warmth and hospitality throughout their journeys.

I want to thank all those we have met along the way...also, my friends and family here in New Zealand, and back in America. Not only for inspiring me, but also, for your encouragement in taking on this epic journey! This is what motivates me personally...this is what drives me through the sometimes lonely and arduous hours on the trail.

Last, but not least, I thank my wife Melody, for her love, support, and patience (only an angel could put up with me). I could not do this without your support!

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!