Skinny Dipping in Tutukaka

The last two days have been a little rough. That cyclone that caused us to hole up at The Farm parked itself over the North Island and dumped epic amounts of rain. We go too antsy at the hostel so set out for the next section in the pouring rain. Hiking in the rain gets old quick and especially when most of what we were hiking were long road sections. We also had a date with the dive boat in Tutukaka so we needed to make some KMs.

By the second day of slogging through the wet, we were a pretty sad sight. Soaked to the core and battling chafing caused by our heavy wet shorts. It was heads down, fast pace, chew some distance kind of hiking. Around lunch time on the second rain day, I noticed a woman in a bike headed straight towards me waiving her hands and yelling something about a cup of tea. We followed her down her long farm driveway and she and her husband invited us in for a break. They were a chatty and fun couple. He was from the Bronx and grew up on East 174th Street and she was a Kiwi. They have been farming 350 acres of their beautiful farmland for the last 50 years. They filled us up with coffee, tea, fresh fruit from their farm and cookies while we took a moment to eat lunch and get warmed up again. We were soaking wet and smelled horrendous but they didn’t hesitate to welcome us at their kitchen table. We met their grandson and then were on our way again filled with their sweet energy and good wishes.

Kiwis are very friendly people and they love to talk! I’m glad I’m hiking with Thomas and Thorsten because they like to take these long breaks with me to soak in the hospitality. We hitched a few times and you get some great stories then. Just the day before, a day care school bus driver picked us up. When I opened the van door I realized that the only place to sit was in a child seat strapped into the bench. Sadly, I kind of fit perfectly in one and it was pretty cozy. He chatted us up to the next trail intersection. He was so curious about where we were from and what we thought of New Zealand.

We got into Tutukaka and I checked my messages – the dive boat cancelled due to the rough seas! We were a little bummed but the sun came out and we dropped our packs off at the campground and met up with Thomas’s friends from Belgium. They bought a van here and are traveling for a year in New Zealand and Australia. We all piled into the van and went down to Tutukaka Beach for a skinny dip. It was cold but felt amazing to swim in the turquoise waters. We had to be careful to keep our feet off of the sand because there are so many stingrays. The waters are teaming with life and a hope I can get back here to make the dive one day.

We are taking an unintentional nearo (a near zero day) today because we have to wait for a boat captain to ferry us across an inlet in the next town. The ducks are keeping us entertained coming in and out of our cabin. I fed them a few potato chips last night and they went and told their buddies. There was a long line of ducks and seagulls outside waiting for us to get up this morning. The next few days should be beautiful as we hug the coast towards Aukland.