The Trail of Horror

Although 20 hours of rain was forecasted for today, the sun was shining all day. Strange, but no one wanted to complain.

For me, however, it was clear that today was the day to master the Hell Trail.

Hell Trail? The route is notorious for backpackers in the hostel because it is supposed to be very strenuous and backpackers had such severe muscle soreness the next day that they could hardly work.

I was immediately thrilled - I had to try it out. After all, it couldn't be that bad, and besides, I have hiked in every German low mountain range, mastered several multi-day tours, and have a pretty good fitness level.

And it wasn't that bad in the end. I was on the trail for a total of 4.5 hours (tempo record!) so I was back at the hostel in the afternoon. I have to admit that I didn't feel like taking long hikes anymore, but I still managed to go to the supermarket (beans were all gone) and walk along the beach.

The challenge of the trail was more mental than physical for me, because at some point, sorry, I just didn't feel like it anymore. It goes through a hilly forest for two hours with quite challenging ups and downs. I was probably the only person on the trail, pure nature. But on the way there, I also lost my enthusiasm because I had no idea how much longer it would take. And then came the next uphill, the next downhill...

What's the point? At the end of the trail, you came to a road, which you follow for a while and then another hiking trail branches off to a Kauri. That one only took another 10 minutes and was relatively relaxed in comparison.

And then you stood in front of the Kauri. Hmm. Everything for a tree.

Don't get me wrong, Kauris are still impressive, but I think the journey was more the goal.

After a mini-break, it took me another good two hours to get back. But this time I packed some music and that made it much easier.

Because I was hiking in the forest, I wasn't directly exposed to the sun (I also didn't put on sunscreen... Oops...), but it got so warm - I was sweating buckets because I was also wearing long sleeves, jeans, and hiking boots. Phew.

But I still had to take some photos, so there was always a little break to catch my breath.

At this point, I just want to point out how much effort the New Zealanders make to protect the original nature. The areas in Northland are kiwi habitats, so dogs are prohibited. There are also traps for possums, which like to raid kiwi eggs. Before entering the Kauri forest, you were asked to clean your hiking boots. And Duncan also told me that no more forests are allowed to be cleared in New Zealand.

Great compliments to the New Zealanders!

However, I still didn't see a kiwi ;)

Back in the hostel, I had to wash off the sweat first and then took a little break. The supermarket had cottage cheese and potatoes on sale, so I will cook again tomorrow. But I immediately ate the cottage cheese with an orange because hiking makes me hungry. My first dairy product in days...

Feeling nicely exhausted, I checked a few job ads and wrote applications again. I'm curious where it will take me in the end.

Tomorrow I will visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, in case someone wants to read up on it. Otherwise, I will provide a concise report.