3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

5th June ‘19

Day:

134

Title:

Timber Trail Day 3

KM Mark Start:

964

Start Location:

Timber Trail Lodge

KM Mark Finish:

945

Finish Location:

Bog Inn Hut

Actual KM Today:

20

Weather:

Started with heavy rain, then got progressively heavier & heavier until it was heavy heavy heavy rain. Heavy man.

General:

Enjoyed a cooked brekky with my new pals, then hit the trail. It’s a great section through here but a lot of very similar scenes along the way. The forests and views never get old to experience but to just write about them all again doesn’t really do them much justice. I quite enjoy walking in the rain but it’s definitely better knowing the hut will have a fire and dry wood. In this case, it didn’t. Bog Inn is an old research hut built in 1960. Roof leaks badly all over and no dry anything to light a fire with. Just needed to eat and then find the driest, warmest corner to wrap up and hunker down in.

Body:

All good

Outlook:

Positive

Tune of the Day:

134. Stay Acoustic – Lisa Loeb

Day 134 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

4th June ‘19

Day:

133

Title:

Timber Trail Day 2 & the Timber Trail Lodge

KM Mark Start:

984

Start Location:

Campsite #11 wooden shack

KM Mark Finish:

964

Finish Location:

Timber Trail Lodge

Actual KM Today:

21

Weather:

Spitting in the morning then overcast

General:

Easy walking through some cracker native bush. Massive Rimu trees and Podocarp natives along the way which is great to see. Crossed some seriously impressive cable bridges today. The views over the forest from these bridges are breathtaking. Worth stopping to take it all in for sure 👀. I ended up at the Timber Trail Lodge for the night and met a group of people that had some truly amazing stories to tell about their travels to some epic locations around the world. A really welcoming bunch. Dave Bamford, Stu Gray, Karen Williams & Harry Keys…thanks for a great night and great yarns guys. Zero days all round – you’ve earned ‘em! The lodge itself is amazing, the food is next level and the people behind it all are super welcoming.

Body:

All G.

Outlook:

Not looking forward to the weather tomorrow.

Tune of the Day:

133. Ain’t no Sunshine – Bill Withers

Day 133 Images:

3RY Update Part:

132

Date:

3rd June ‘19

Day:

132

Title:

Timber Trail Day 1

KM Mark Start:

1006

Start Location:

Bennet Road Shelter @ Ongarue

KM Mark Finish:

984

Finish Location:

Campsite #11 wooden shack

Actual KM Today:

22

Weather:

Frozen this morn, then sun came out. Anything in the shade stayed frozen.

General:

Woke up chilled to the bone. Everything that has moisture in it = frozen…I snapped a hose in half trying to turn it on. Trail was cool, it follows the historical railway, once used for transporting timber. A few major feats of engineering on display. One of them being the Ongarue Spiral. Which allowed the lokeys transporting the timber to gain elevation quickly in difficult terrain. Found an old hut that I used for shelter as rain was forecast overnight.

Body:

Cracker

Outlook:

Thumbs up

Tune of the Day:

132. Lightening Crashes – Live

Day 132 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

2nd June ‘19

Day:

131

Title:

39 Years of trying…

KM Mark Start:

1032

Start Location:

Taumarunui

KM Mark Finish:

1006

Finish Location:

Bennet Road Shelter @ Ongarue

Actual KM Today:

26

Weather:

Light rain, then overcast then patches of sun.

General:

A day of scenic road walking to get to the southern head of the Timber Trail.

Highlight – After 39 years of signalling to train drivers (with over enthusiastic arm pumps) to toot their air horns, I finally succeeded. Huge day for everyone/me. Who ever you are, I thank you.

💪🏼💪🏼…🛤🚂🎼…🙌🏼😆🥳

Body:

All good

Outlook:

Feel like there is a mental hump to get over @ the mo. I am kind’ve at the ‘have come a long way, but still a long way to go’ point. I think it’ll be after Auckland where I’ll start to feel like I might actually get there.

Tune of the Day:

131. Mad World – Mad World (Donnie Darko)

Day 131 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

31st May ‘19 and 1st June ‘19.

Day:

129 & 130

Title:

Big Angry Wet Ostrich

KM Mark Start:

1059

Start Location:

Owhango

KM Mark Finish:

1032

Finish Location:

Taumarunui

Actual KM Today:

29

Weather:

Heavy rain all day.

General:

129 – A country road walk through some scenic reserves and farmlands. Rained heavily all day so my head was down, just pumping the legs. Some nice geology and bush along the way. Still more wild goats…I am surprised at how many they are all over NZ. I smell them well before I spot them, they staaaank. The highlight was hanging out with a big, wet, angry ostrich.

130 – Zero day, to prep for the upcoming Timber Trail.

Body:

Primo

Outlook:

All good, Keen to get my gears dried.

Tune of the Day:

129. Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz

130. Steal My Kisses – Ben Harper

Day 129 & 130 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

30th May ‘19

Day:

128

Title:

Mud Slide

KM Mark Start:

1094

Start Location:

Te Porere Redoubt Upper

KM Mark Finish:

1059

Finish Location:

Owhango

Actual KM Today:

37

Weather:

Rained

General:

Rained heavily all night and all day. The trail was through a muddy bush track (42nd Traverse) that was flooded. I had 35km to cover today which was made a little more difficult in these conditions. I ended up walking in the dark when my torch stopped working, which was actually the crappy day’s saving grace! Both sides of the bush trail were lined with bright glow worms for 100’s of metres at a time. Pretty sweet walking through that for the last few KM’s.

Body:

Good, tired.

Outlook:

Happy to have that day behind me.

Tune of the Day:

128. Freaks – Timmy Trumpet

Day 128 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

29th May ‘19

Day:

127

Title:

Tongariro Crossing

KM Mark Start:

1121

Start Location:

Mangatepopo Hut

KM Mark Finish:

1094

Finish Location:

Te Porere Redoubt Upper

Actual KM Today:

28

Weather:

Gale force winds and cloud for the morning, clearing in the arvo.

General:

What a morning (& night). Crazy strong winds buffeting the hut all night and me all morning. Made it to the Red Crater, Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake after almost convincing myself to turn around. The winds just got progressively stronger with altitude and the moisture in the air started to freeze as the wind chill dropped (see photos). I stumbled across a lady who had frozen up (with fear) at the summit, I had to physically pull her in the right direction over the pass. All’s well that ends well though and we got over safely. She was pretty relieved and happy on the other side.

(Not all heroes 🦸🏻‍♂️ wear capes 😆)

Miraculously after ~10 mins on the peak at red crater the clouds opened up for the first time in days and I got a view of all the sites Tongariro Crossing has to offer. After taking my time to enjoy the sites I carried on down to Te Porere Redoubt Upper (Historic Maori Warfare Trenches), where I set up camp for the night.

Body:

All good.

Outlook:

Happy to get that window of weather…it was not forecast, so a nice surprise.

Tune of the Day:

127. STOOPID – 6ix9ine

Day 127 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

28th May ‘19

Day:

126

Title:

Tongariro National Park

KM Mark Start:

1131

Start Location:

Whakapapa Village

KM Mark Finish:

1121

Finish Location:

Mangatepopo Hut

Actual KM Today:

11

Weather:

Overcast for the first while then heavy rain.

General:

Stopped for a coffee at the prestigious “Chateau”. Amazing building with a high price tag to stay the night. I was without a doubt the most under dressed (& poorest) in the place.

Walked the Mangatepopo Track in the heavy rain which just caused the track to become a stream. Today’s section has the nickname trench track because the trail has been eroded out to such an extent by the surface water run off, that it’s created trenches. The water just channeled straight into them today. The images of maps below are from an old magazine I found in the hut.

Body:

Cracker

Outlook:

Fingers crossed for a miraculous change in weather forecast.

Tune of the Day:

126. Bombtrack – Rage Against the Machine

Day 126 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

27th May ‘19

Day:

125

Title:

“Secret” Micro Brewery & Golden Rapids

KM Mark Start:

1151

Start Location:

National Park Village

KM Mark Finish:

1131

Finish Location:

Whakapapa Village

Actual KM Today:

21

Weather:

Rain

General:

Took Mangahuia Track from National Park to Whakapapa. The track winds itself through forest and marshy areas. The marshy areas are created from the weathered volcanic materials which weather down to clay. The clay creates an impermeable dish that water sits in and overtime becomes a marsh. With very few plants being able to survive in these conditions the ones that do establish themselves are usually only found in these ecosystems. The rivers are bright orange and yellow with the extremely high iron content and are aptly named the golden rapids.

Met two legendary locals who invited me back to a “secret micro brewery”. What a set up! 6-7 incredible craft beers on tap that they had created from scratch. For a hobby, they are really nailing it. Terry and Chris…thanks so much for a great night! Really enjoyed myself and loved getting a wee glimpse into how you guys are living up here! Those chillies though!!?

😆🍺🌶🌶🌶🌶🍺😆

Body:

Good!

Outlook:

Weather forecast is not looking good, so I’m going to do the Tongariro Crossing on Wednesday which is the best of a bad bunch of days.

Tune of the Day:

125. Father of Mine – Everclear

Day 125 Images:

3RY Update Part:

12

Date:

26th May ‘19

Day:

124

Title:

Ghost City

KM Mark Start:

1151

Start Location:

National Park Village

KM Mark Finish:

1151

Finish Location:

National Park Village

Actual KM Today:

0

Weather:

Fine

General:

Had to suss out a plan for the Tongariro Pass. There is a fine weather window in 3 days so will try and time it right to be attempting the Pass then. It’s not gonna be pretty (because the weather’s not great), but I can’t wait around forever. Not much goes on in National Park (at this time of year anyways), pretty much a ghost town. Apparently it picks up a lot over ski season. Image below is of Mount Ngauruhoe at sunrise.

Body:

Bril

Outlook:

Head down

Tune of the Day:

124. Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

Day 124 Images: