Seb on TA

Leaving Wanganui. Musik on, umbrella up. 20km on state highway3: Here we go. Only hate the road when you're missing home. Big fast truck. Windblow breaks my umbrella. Now I get sunburned. Nice campground in Koitiata. I get free dinner and have good conversation with a German couple! Sunset at the beach. Bulls and Mount Rees. Beach again. Black sand, soft as flour. Then gravel, then asphalt. Cabbage trees flowering. Sit in the shade near Bulls' McDonalds to steal WiFi. Truck driver stops, buys me an icecoffe and drives off. Again free dinner from a German girl! I'm in love with live and live is with me! Palmerston North: Boring roadwalk. Easy until I get lost. Fight through blackberrys higher than myself, tramp through a river. Stop at the post office. 110g tent pegs and guy lines go back to Auckland. 5 pegs are enough. Kids ask me to join a human pyramid. It's fun. Shopping hungry at Pak'n'save. Damn, I bought too much! Leaving Palmerston North. Still to

In Lord of the Rings they had canoes, right? So I can do the same. 8 days food, a German girl, Anna, plus my friends Rob&Tris. No more sore legs. Leaving Taumarunui the rapids are quite exiting. White water squirting into the boat. Some would call it rafting. Campsite on a meadow. Rabbit chews through my tent and through four more layers of plastic - firstly to piss me off and secondly to eat my peanut butter. Bastard! Scenic waterfalls. Car in the water. Steep rocky shores. A wild goat trapped inbetween walls of rock. Out of the boat. Grab it by the neck, pull it down. Kill it and grill it. Nice smoky meat. Finally get over ditching my bow. River gets calmer. Impressive rock formations. Logs in the water. More goats, strong wind. We tie canoes together and let us float. Glowworms in a little cave next to the campsite. Bridge to nowhere. Short walk off the river. Jetboat, guided tour. High walls of rocks. Few sidearms cutting through them. Camp at Tieke Kainga, Maori place.

Leaving Hamilton. Roommate from the hostel - Maori guy, missing teeth, rastas - decides spontaneously to join me. Hasn't even a waterbottle, no rainclothes, no tent, while I carry four day's food. Not sure if backcountry pro or just crazy. Still don't know. 13km later he gets a call. Someone found his purse. He's off. Alone through a paddock. Herd of bulls runs francticly - away from me. Camp in the pines. Good camp. Into Pirongia forest. Crossing five more paddocks with bulls. I'm singing. Nice walk through forest. 900m climb. Vine tips are the asparagus of the bush. I collect lots for dinner. In Pironga it's raining almost 24/7, but not now. Mud is deep as. Sunset from the hills top. I feel privileged. Out of Pirongia forest. Kids play "the floor is lava". I play "step onto a root or sink more than ankle deep into mud". My speed is 1,5km/hour! Mudline just below the knee. Back at the road: 6km/hour. Sun's out. Young lambs, young c