Day	Destination	km	h	gkm
5	Broadwood	32	8	134
6	Apple Tree Campground	34	8	168
7	Puketi Campsite	27	6,5	195
8	Kerikeri	30	8	225
9	Paihia	24	6	249

Broadwood

My injured right foot has not allowed me to continue hiking. Therefore a Zero day was called for me. All the others in my group wanted to take one anyway, so I promptly decided to hitchhike to Kaitaia as well and spend the day there eating, reading and shopping for food.

Resting breathed new life into my foot. With new energy and compression stockings, I was able to get going again.

The doldrums of the roadside don’t matter much. Easy to get over with a brisk pace, the weather is blinding, too blinding for my eyes. The polarized lenses remedy the situation. They are like a tool that makes the world around you appear in HD. Everything is sharper. The effect is especially noticeable in the formation of the clouds and in the greenery.

Along the gravel road, the farmhouses of the cow farmers pass me by. I rest. There are candy animals to be eaten. I do not have to wait long until companions catch up with me. They wish a nice day. I will see them again only at the end of the day.

Many cattle and horses later, little by little more and more marching folks gather at a playground for lunch. We eat, exchange stories and play frisbee. I say goodbye to continue my journey over the mountain, purely into the lush green alone. Soon it is over with road and houses, also cows and horses do not appear in the wild spectacle any more. It is only me and the wilderness. The most diverse trees, which were completely unknown to me until now. The climb is arduous but satisfying.

As previously described in the trail guide, the actual path is impassable, a detour must be taken. Down it goes the muddy dirt road, peppered with many slippery sections. The footwear on my feet for this type of surface not suitable. I have no choice, I have only these with me. As it turned out, you could pass the path if you were brave enough. Or knew nothing about the detour.

Chunks in a stream let me cross the same on dry feet. The mud afterwards is what makes my feet wet. The nice weather makes him quickly harden at the foot to signs of adventure.

It’s nice to arrive, set up the tent, heat the food consisting of two bags of soups. After that there is only free time, swimming in the river, reading in the sun, joyful conversations about the exertions of the last days. Everyone is satisfied with their achievements. We have really accomplished a lot. A statistic says that only one out of five will make it to the finish line, which is still far away from us. We are sitting in a group of seven. No one can really believe the statistics, as motivated and uninjured as everyone still is.

Apple Tree Campground

The closed course made us walk 20 km today along a moderately traveled road. The scenery was picturesque, punctuated by the hum of an occasional logging truck passing by. Good thing you heard them from a distance and they were also kind enough to swerve a bit. The hard asphalt was additionally a dream for the feet. We were all very happy to arrive at the little store at the end of the road and have a delicious lunch.

After that, we made our way up the remaining kilometers for the day into a forest to camp at a small clearing. The daily routine is always the same, get up early, prepare cereal, take down tent, pack backpack. Then x kilometers are walked until the routine is reeled off backwards. Putting up the tent, washing if possible, eating, reading, sharing a bit with companions about our adventures, brushing teeth, typing, sleeping.

It is a simple life, very much following the rhythm of nature. It is also the best sleep I have after such a hard day. It’s cold at night but peaceful. Enough clothes solves the problem of freezing right after the obligatory walk in the bush. The nights in the bed of a hostel always make me long for my tent again quickly.

Puketi Campsite

This section was the first real forest adventure on the trail. We start the day with a warning not to use the main trail and instead, in bad weather, take a much longer route. The reason for the notice was steep muddy slopes and a river to walk through. Fortunately, we had very little rain that night and sunshine all day. It was so much fun to keep wading through the river to get to the next bank. My off road sandals really paid off. I was glad not to have to get my running shoes wet and had really good grip with the sandals, too.

After the water fun, Conner and I settled down on the riverbank to eat our lunch and dry our tents still wet from the night. I used the time to take a little nap. Energized, I made my way up the mountain. I still had so much energy that I even caught up with the Japanese girl before the next camp. She must have started two hours before me.

I have walked many miles with Conner in the meantime. He is an extremely educated American with a huge vocabulary that he knows how to use. He actually always has a good story to tell as a distraction. With him, the miles just fly out from under you.

Kerikeri

Due to work on a section of the trail, it had to be rerouted once again. So I had to walk again 10 km along a road with little traffic. I can hardly imagine anything more beautiful than hiking on asphalt through the rain. It was nice that my wishes were fulfilled.

Along a river it drove me the rest of the day. A steady up and down through farmland and meadows. Again and again it drives me into and out of the forest, over bridges of wood and stone. The way is often facilitated by the stairs planked with wood, sometimes up and sometimes down. You can get your fill of the abundant flora of the woods anyway. If you are lucky, you can even catch a glimpse of the wonderful variety of birds, in the most peculiar form. Other animals either do not dare to come out or lie dead on the ground. It was the Europeans who brought these beasts here and now they want to kill them. The birds that have forgotten how to fly, like the kiwi, will otherwise be eaten by them.

The last kilometers I try to leave with all force behind me. I stop only briefly at the waterfall, which I visited the week before when I was passing through, to have a photo taken of me. Insta is important! Stupid only that today many think they are a photographer, without knowing that you better not cut off the feet of the object. And yet the operation of smart phones today is easier than ever.

Well, at last I arrive in Kerikeri with my last strength for burger and salad. Finally something different than the wraps and soups that I usually take with me as provisions on the way. It’s all about calories per gram

Paihia

At first I thought this trip was more about finding the solitude that gives me time to think. However, when you are alone all day, it can be quite refreshing to join someone for a while and let them forget about your feet while having nice conversations. Together you then experience your very own adventures on an intellectual basis away from the overwhelming surroundings. You talk about the things you have thought up in solitude and give them a completely different quality by verbalizing them. The one-sidedness of one’s own thoughts sometimes leads to new conclusions only in exchange and often also to confirmation, if one has taken the same direction with apparently like-minded people.

The topic of sensitization has been on my mind for a while. Precht had just recently discussed it on his show with one of his guests. It’s nice to see more and more voices being heard with their uniqueness. However different to the “norm” someone feels, it is possible in our increasingly liberal society to finally become visible on our colorful map. It is now possible to address problems that were never recognized as such and are still not recognized by everyone. Just because one may not be able to put oneself in the shoes of the “others” does not mean that it is not real. I guess more willingness to be tolerant on both sides helps us all grow on each other. As long as all the sensitization is not accompanied by radicalization or outrage.