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Te Araroa: The Northern Forests Part 1
25.10.2019 Day 5 (15km) My feet are decomposing, at least that’s what it looks like. My eight blisters didn’t have time to breathe of the beach so the skin has become puckered and tender. Fortunately, we only had road walking today. My body is still sore but at least there were things to occupy my attention and no sand. Not being constantly assaulted by heavy winds was also a blessing. I’m honestly a bit worried about my feet. I need them to callous over and at times the pain is almost unbearable. I feel like I’m not enjoying the hike as much as I should be because each step is…
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Te Araroa: Ninety Mile Beach
21.10.2019 Day 1 (12km) The mild weather and gentle breeze made it the perfect day for hiking. After a quick photo at the iconic Cape Reinga marker we followed the dirt path through knee-high bushes and down the cliffs overlooking the place where the Pacific and the Tasman Sea intermingle. My smile was as wide as my face, and if my face had been larger, the smile would have grown to accommodate it. Everything I had heard about the beach was bad. People dreaded it as much as the plague, or so it seemed. From where I was standing, however, I couldn’t conceive why. The earlier tides had…
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Te Araroa: The Days Before
I knew I would meet people along the hike; I just didn’t expect to meet someone thirty minutes after leaving the airport. The Department of Conservation (DOC) center closed at 17:00, and since I was leaving the next morning on the 7:30 bus to Kaitaia, I had to make it that day. Rather than stop at my hostel and drop off all my gear, I rushed across town to the quay. The center was empty save for a couple booking tickets to a tourist town on the east coast. I hung around patiently until a woman came out from the back to assist me. While we were processing my payment…
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Australia: Looking Back
On my flight back to California, I spent my time alternating between blogging and watching Star Trek: Discovery. When I attempted to write this post, I realized that I couldn’t, as, to quote one of my favorite shows, I was “emotionally compromised.” I had held it together pretty well, shedding a few tears while making a farewell Facebook post, but when the first boarding call came over the speakers I broke down. The crying didn’t stop until we were in the air and I managed to lose myself in SciFi. Travel is difficult in countless ways. There are those of us, however, who find the pros outweigh the cons. Australia…
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The Final Chapter
There had been two different groups to visit the Grampians while I was living at the hostel Landing Pads in Melbourne. I didn’t manage to go with either party and was excited Looci and I had elected to end our holiday with a couple hiking days there. The delightful heat we had enjoyed thus far had vanished, replaced by a cold, biting wind. Still as we climbed the rocky terrain to Hollow Mountain, I built up a sweat. The trail was a clearly marked dirt track, at least for the first five minutes. Then it gave way to stone steps; after a while it was difficult to determine whether there…
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Adelaide
Mosquitos are just little assholes, with no sort of decency. It had been a couple days since my last yoga session, and after the long drive across the Nullarbor both my mind and body were in need of a little TLC. I had already sprayed my exposed skin with repellent. Did the mozzies care? No! Of course not! They began biting me through my clothes and even tried to assault my face. I had to abandon my practice after only ten minutes and retreat to the van till morning. Kimba was a van friendly town, with multiple camping options including showers. Since we were quite close to Adelaide, and miraculously…
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My Favorite Beach in Oz
If ever there was a time when I felt like I was in Oz, it was driving through the south of WA (Western Australia). Bright yellow flowers blanketed the hills, leading us towards the Emerald City…or in our case Esperance. With time running faster by the day, we skipped the vineyards south of Perth and cut east. Esperance was a quiet town with pretty sea views and a prim shore park with all the markings of a progressive city. We spent the day at the park overlooking the bay, under the picnic table shelters. People flowed in and out, visiting a collection of resident food trucks. Looci worked on some…
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Perth Unexpected
I liked Perth way more than I had anticipated. It was a city to be certain, yet it maintained a homey, small town vibe. Every neighborhood we explored was, for lack of a better word, adorable, with their quaint painted store fronts and eclectic eateries. Greenery appeared to be an integral part of the city, which cut down on the concrete jungle feel. Not to mention all the reserves and National Parks surrounding the city. Oh, and let’s not forget the pristine beaches that were actually safe to swim in. It took less than a day before Looci and I were both saying we wished we had moved to Perth…
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The Faces of Kalbarri
We slept at the base of a lighthouse, the waves crashing onto the beach and sending spray over the dusk-lit dunes. Officially, there were only six over night spots, but we arrived too late to grab one and had to risk being told off by a park ranger. The day had been long, full of wonders and unexpected surprises. Kalbarri National Park was right on the coast and had a variety of scenic views. As we drove, I was perplexed by how flat the terrain was and wondered how there were any hikes at all. We were keen to visit Nature’s Window, a lookout high above one of the gorges.…
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Holiday Daydreams
After a night of cockroach infested toilets, we rose early and made a beeline for the quiet beach town of Coral Bay. The bay looked like a turquoise color swatch from Bunnings (the Lowes of Australia); only the hues blended seamlessly with the changing depth. It was visually intoxicating. The water was calm, creating an ideal environment for snorkeling and swimming, though a soft breeze threatened to break the tranquility. We took our time making French toast, unfortunately we were out of the fresh loaf we had used in Broome. The tide had inched its way in, and Looci went to lay on the beach while I set out my…
Insights and Stories Through the Eyes of a Wanderer
