One third of Te Araroa – 1000 km

November 25, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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It’s a little surreal to have already hiked a third, 1000 km, of the hike. We have mastered 90 Mile Beach with its seemingly endless miles of monotony. We waited knee-deep through mud to get over mountains and to other shores. We often had the water up to our knees, hips and even up to our necks, which came not only from above but also quite often from below. Looking back, we walked endless miles along roads and dirt tracks to get to the next breathtaking section.

From city to city

November 14, 2022
by Jens Hevike
2 Comments

I can smell myself, the way one smells when one has spent a few days in the bush. A smell that, when I’m alone, I don’t seem to notice at all. Yet here I am, in the midst of washed and parfumed people, civilized people who all go about a daily routine that does not allow them to look like me.

Auckland – almost 600 km

November 8, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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We had a beautiful summer day to get a few miles on the beach behind us. The weather was glorious and the feet did well. Somehow the slim 15 kilometers along the beach dragged on. The tide was at its maximum towards the end.

Muddy crossing

October 31, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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Mud and water from below as well as from above awaited us on this stage. Unexpected hardships lay ahead of us, which we now consider mastered

Ahipara – Paihia

October 24, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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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.

90 Mile Beach

October 18, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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Nine hundred miles seems to be an exaggeration due to a measurement error. As I understand it, horses, or rather the endurance of them, were used in the past to measure distances. An average horse probably made it to 30 miles per day. The one used to measure this beach in the north of New Zealand did more like 30 km a day.

Fiji Time

October 10, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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After my 30-hour journey I had to acclimatize. I had tried to sleep as little as possible on the flights, if then only at times at which it is night in Fiji anyway. So far this worked quite well. I could sleep wonderfully at night and during the day I was not too tired.

About homesickness and return

September 7, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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Tomas Espedal describes at the end of his book “Leaving, or the Art of Living a Wild and Poetic Life” how nice it is to answer the call of homesickness and come home again. I have always felt homesick towards the end of my travels – in the last week

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Bilbao

August 18, 2022
by Jens Hevike
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Bilbao is situated on a river that has cut its way through the rock. The city itself is very mountainous. What strikes you right away is that disabled access is very important here. The city itself has a lot of stairs. It reminds me a little of Lisbon. Here, there

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