Day 31 - Kaniwhaniwha Stream

I couldn’t wait to get going this morning, zero day took away some of the soreness, and I was itching to get on to the next sections. Here on out, the trail seems to get better and better for a while. 50% of NZ’s population lives Hamilton northwards, which is insane when you look at a map. That means more wilderness and less people as I make my way SOBO. 

That being said I still need to get out of Hamilton. It took a while to get out of the suburbs. As we were walking down a bike path a group of bikers came up to us knowing we were TA’ers, not uncommon, but they were friendly enough to give us all Mars Bars. Legends. 

11am photo, breaking at a gas station with an Aussie walker named Johnny. He bought me a popsicle. Legend. 

The next section was absolutely beautiful. Dramatic pastures loaded with sheep. Blue skys and hot weather.

Tomorrow’s challenge, Mt. Pirongia, shrouded in clouds. 

I reached camp around 5pm, 37km day. I still had so much energy I, even with 4hrs sleep, I was very close to starting tomorrows challenge up the mountain. I held back. There was some caves nearby that I wanted to explore as well. 

Excellent cave exploration, tight squeezes through limestone caverns. 

Camp for the night. Lots of walkers here tonight. The most I’ve seen in one place for a long time.