(600-800km) A little patience

Leaving Auckland. 20km later: Do I shurely have all my gear? Yes. But I also have the hostel key. I call my friends. Half an hour later: key is going north, I am going south. With me Tobias from Canada. We stumble into another German hiker. He started straight from the airport, jetlag and untanned. Hiker party with delivered pizza, then sleep behind a public toilet in the park.

Clevedon and Hunua Ranges. Early start, easy roadwalk. Soft rain keeps everything wet. A car looses control and slips into the fence 5 meter before us. Tyres smoking! Wow! Young Asian driver is happy to be unharmed. Own route to the Sunday farmers market in Clevedon. Whitebait toast. Google it! More rain and finally a muddy forest. Pleasant soft mud, then unpleasant, then boring. Finally the hut we pushed forwards to. No mats, but rainwater! Muesli and nuts. Have to focus not to devour the plastic bag as well.

Towards Mercer. Rain non stop, but less mud. This path hasn't seen many footprints yet. Steep. Vines all over the place. Cuts from walking barefoot. Blisters from the shoes and worst: pain in the tendon from all the limping. Pooring rain. There's no way out of here but on my feet. 11 km take 5 hours. Relentless rain soaks us all the way through. Wet fingers. Almost impossible to use the phones touchscreens. A highway. Heavy traffic. Nobody has the space to stop for hitchhikers. So onwards on a formar railway until Mercer. I can't go on. We hitchhike to Hamilton for a day off.

Hamilton. The 500 meter to Pak'n'Save supermarket challenge me. I need two days off. I find an oasis: Trek'nTravel Outdoor shop. The owner Colin Hancock a guru, a legend, yet gentle and modest. The shop stuffed until the ceiling with the finest of gear. New barefoot shoes for me! While showing off to the girls in the hostel, two British lads stare at me. One of them drops his toothbrush. They have been following my traces for weeks and I turned into a myth to them. Exciting hiker gossip for hours.

Mercer:  On my own again. Three Tahitians give me a ride back to where I stopped. They outfit me with their own upcoming brand "Nesian": a fancy white baseball cap, green sunglasses and a logo shirt. Fabulous! Terima kasih! 1km in dry new shoes, 10km in wet new shoes. The circle of life. Camp under trees. Bellbirds singing. So good to be back!

Along Waikato river. Umbrella up, I don't mind the rain. Giant orange Koi fish just at the surface. Boring roadwalk all day. Logs in the river, car in the river.

Hakarimata forest. rainforest = rain + forest. Calm down and chew a Kawakawa leaf. Vegetation too dense for my umbrella. After some hours a helicopter pad and stairs. Real stairs! No mud, no joke! In Ngaruawahia I buy a sandwich and get nine! sandwiches! for free! Must have looked miserable, dripping wet and shivering. And now dear reader, I cheated: I hitchhiked half way into town. I'm so sorry to have trampled onto all the trust you put in me. ;) No hypothermia, no inflammation, no regrets! Got a lift by a cosmonaut. Worth it. It's ok, if you don't believe me anymore. Learned my lesson. Steady drops hollow the stone.