Author Archives: zillainthewild

Oh boy what day. I think ‘ordeal’ is fitting. But it starts of as a regular day. Today is one of the deepest tidal crossings. Low tide at 11 am and with only 3.5 km to the crossing, this means a late start. I was glad to be sleeping inside because it was raining inContinue reading “Day 23 and a bit more”

I woke up at 6 and snoozed till 6:30. But there are benefits of getting up early, like beating the heat, getting to take a long break, and reaching the next camp at a reasonable time. So at 7 am, I left the campsite ready for the upcoming day. After Puhoi you can canoe theContinue reading “Day 22”

I woke up early and, as laying down wouldn’t magically make my tent dry up in 30 min and also wouldn’t make my socks and shoes less muddy, there was no reason to delay the inevitable: packing a soaking wet tent and putting on wet muddy socks and shoes. Today would be relatively chill withContinue reading “Day 21”

Oh, a fun day was coming up. A notorious day from Pakiri to The Dome Cafe. In the TA WhatsApp groups the messages from hikers were a lot of people have done it, but almost everyone regretted it. However last time I started slightly further (yes it was incredibly tough) but did a 40km day.Continue reading “Day 20”

I got much better sleep this night and needed some more to compensate for yesterday. So I woke up at 7:30 rather than 5 am. I also dreamed very vividly that I was getting married and extremely in love with a man with a beard. Don’t think it was a vision for the future asContinue reading “Day 19”

Today is a rest day!! Whoop. Very excited and very needed. So what do I do on a rest day: laundry, resupply, blog updating while eating and drinking in a cafe. In the night I did little resting/ sleeping as it was sooooo windy! My tent survived it, which restored a bit of my faithContinue reading “Day 18”

Despite the relatively late bedtime thanks to the other camping guests, I woke up early. I looked forward to not hiking. The sooner I start the earlier I’m finished. After a quick introduction to other (awake) hikers. I hiked off. First the 1.5km back to the trail and then uphill. The weather today was greyContinue reading “Day 17”

I woke up a bit later than usual. Which was fine as I was in no rush. An easy road walk to the boat crossing and from there I could see where I wanted to sleep. The other two hikers weren’t ready yet. So I sat off alone hoping I would get i boat hitchContinue reading “Day 16”

I didn’t sleep well which is uncommon. I think the fact that I set an alarm was the cause. I don’t want to wake the others so I try to time my biological clock to wake me up right before the alarm. Didn’t work this time because I woke at midnight rather than 5 am.Continue reading “Day 15”

Drank morning tea with David as he wanted me to wake him up. I can do that. So at 6:30, I knocked on his van. Thinking I would only go to Ngunguru (25km) I even had a second cup. A lovely woman gave me a lift back to the trail (1.2km but no shame inContinue reading “Day 14”