Two lovely people and a tramping trip from hell!

After a  4 hour trip on two busses we arrived in Tauranga where we were picked up by Jan and Marjorie. They are friends of my grandparents and we had never met them before or seen them on a picture. Luckily they recognized us and we were on our way to Mount Maunganui, the city where they live. They live in a retirement village what was absolutely wow! Very nice bungalows with beautiful gardens with all the service you want. They do your garden, maintenance on your house, they have a pool, sauna, spa, gym, activity center, library etc. My first question was what the minimum age is to live there. It is 55 so we have to wait some years but I can definitely live in such a surrounding when I am older.

When we left Auckland it started raining and although the region around Mt. Maunganui is known for its sunny weather, it was also raining there.  Despite the rain we went  on a trip with Jan and Marjorie to Rotorua. We have visited a Mauri village there with hot pools. It was nice to learn a bit more about the Mauri and their history but after seeing it ones you have seen enough for your whole trip!

After two very pleasant days with Jan and Marjorie, it was time to pack our backpacks and entering the woods. We had our mind set on a national park called the Kaimal – Mamuka Forest Park and we wanted to cross the park from the north to the south, calling the North/South track and it was 82km long.

When we entered the park, it was still raining. The first day was full of cave walking, river crossing and climbing trough the forest. It took us 5 hours to get to our first place to camp….but it was still raining and the ground had turned into a swamp so it was impossible to pitch a tent. But luckily there was a hut also so we slept in the hut. There was nobody else so we had the whole forest for ourselves…I thought. But during the night I woke up because I heard something moving around the hut. I woke up Guido and then we heard scratching on the door…Aaahh!! Oh no, it were only possums who were knocking on our door.

The next day it was still raining and we had already a bad feeling about the river we had to cross.  But nevertheless we packed our bags and went on our way to the river. We could hear the river far before we had reached it what was not a good sign. And when we arrived at the river it was one black raging and angry river and impossible to cross. We walked along the river for two hours and we had tried every track around it but we were stuck! And after 5 hours of walking in the now pouring rain we were back at the hut. Soaking wet, 13 degrees and no heat…

What we didn´t know that day that it would be raining every day and that it was even on the news how badly NZ was hit by the rain. Mud streams whipped away houses etc. and we were hiking in the mountains. We really were ´crazy Dutch people´.

After 6 days of struggling trough the forest, risking our lives in flooded streams and rivers, taking enormously long detours around rivers, sliding trough the mud up and down hill a thousand times, we were fed up with it and on day 6 we climbed out of the forest.

Afterwards we found out that that track was the only non flooded track left in the forest so even when we wanted to stay in the forest  a bit longer it was not possible. After we climbed out of the forest it was still another 8km walking in the pouring rain and I was so happy when we finally arrived in a city where we checked into a motel!

We bought a bottle of wine, sat into a nice warm bath and enjoyed luxury as never before!

Off course, the day after we left the Kaimal park, the sun started shining again and we took the bus to Mt. Maunganui and walked along the beach for approx 7km before we arrived at Jan and Marjorie. Oh, they were so glad we arrived safely! And so were we.

After another nice day at Jan and Marjorie’s, we had to say goodbye and get on the bus back to Auckland.

We had a wonderful time at Jan and Marjorie´s. They are such a nice people! Thank you, Jan and Marjorie for the lovely stay! We had a great time.

And as for the tramping trip…it was wet and slippery, hard work with bad weather. Not as we would hoped for. But nevertheless, it was a great adventure we will never forget!

Cheers Anna