Day -8: Getting nervous!

Practice tramp today at Kauri Point Centennial Path (Kendall Bay)

Well, if all goes as planned, on Tuesday 15th December I'll be starting hiking the Te Araroa trail from Cape Reinga back to Auckland (600km). If that's my Day 1, then today is Day -8. Getting close! And I'm getting nervous. 

Today I did a 2 hour practice tramp on the North Shore, and much of the rest of the day will be preparing. So much to do! (Making lists, planning my itinerary, phoning ahead to make travel and accommodation bookings, laying out equipment, buying stuff I need, testing out this blog, etc).

Anyway, this is just a test post to kick off my blog. Don't expect too much! This blog will be a place for me to post some photos and give some daily updates, so family and friends can check on my progress - and to remind me afterwards what I got up to (if you want to see a real TA blog, check out http://teararoa.g2.co.nz/ - thanks Matt, your blog has been incredibly helpful!). I'll try and update this daily after I start hiking, but there will be periods where I won't have mobile coverage so don't be worried if a few days pass between updates.

Details about the TA trail are on https://www.teararoa.org.nz/ if you are interested. The timing is very flexible and there are a range of accommodation options en route, so usually I'll be deciding on a day to day basis exactly where I will end up. Plus, I fully expect to need additional recovery days for fatigue or injury. So while I've put together a tentative schedule, the one certainty is that it will change! For what it's worth, my plan is:

• Day 0 (Mon 14): Intercity bus from Auckland to Kaitaia
• Day 1 (Tue 15): Cape Reinga to Ninety Mile Beach (Twilight campsite)
• Day 2 (Wed 16): Ninety Mile Beach (Maunganui Bluff campsite)
• Day 3 (Thu 17): Ninety Mile Beach (Hukatere Lodge campsite)
• Day 4 (Fri 18): Ninety Mile Beach to Ahipara (Ahipara YHA)
• Day 5 (Sat 19): Ahipara to Kaitaia (Main St Lodge)
• Day 6 (Sun 20): Kaitaia rest day 
• Day 7 (Mon 21): Kaitaia to Takahue/Raetea Forest (Raetea Forest campsite)
• Day 8 (Tue 22): Raetea Forest (Makene Rd campsite)
• Day 9 (Wed 23): Raetea Forest to Omahuta Puketi Forest (Apple Dam campsite)
• Day 10 (Thu 24): Omahuta Puketi Forest (Puketi Forest HQ campsite)
• Day 11 (Fri 25): Omahuta Puketi Forest to Kerikeri
• Day 12 (Sat 26): Kerikeri rest day
• Day 13 (Sun 27): Kerikeri rest day
• Day 14 (Mon 28): Kerikeri to Paihia
• Day 15 (Tue 29): Paihia to Russell, via Russell Forest bypass (Farm campsite)
• Day 16 (Wed 30): Russell to Helena Bay
• Day 17 (Thu 31): Helena Bay to Whananaki
• Day 18 (Fri 1): Whananaki to Ngunguru (Nikau Bay campsite)
• Day 19 (Sat 2): Ngunguru to Ocean Beach (Te Whara campsite)
• Day 20 (Sun 3): Ocean Beach to Ruakaka (Tom & Blair's place)
• Day 21 (Mon 4): Ruakaka rest day
• Day 22 (Tue 5): Ruakaka rest day
• Day 23 (Wed 6): Ruakaka to Waipu Cove
• Day 24 (Thu 7): Waipu Cove to Mangawhai
• Day 25 (Fri 8): Mangawhai to Omaha Forest
• Day 26 (Sat 9): Omaha Forest to Kaipara Flats
• Day 27 (Sun 10): Kaipara Flats to Puhoi
• Day 28 (Mon 11): Puhoi to Orewa
• Day 29 (Tue 12): Orewa to Long Bay
• Day 30 (Wed 13): Long Bay to Auckland (home!)

But like I said, this will definitely change. I consider Wed 13th Jan the earliest possible finish date back in Auckland. But don't be surprised if I take an extra week to do it. 

That's all for today folks! Back to the planning...

PS: My official song for the hike: "Two of Us", by Supertramp (specifically, the live version from their Paris album: lyrics https://genius.com/Supertramp-two-of-us-live-at-pavillon-de-paris-1979-lyrics , song https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7kh4da ). I imagine I'll be singing it for the first day and a half down Ninety Mile Beach. After that, probably just swearing 😬