We left Oz with a desire to do little more than continue our surf bum life style. Before long we had bought and equipped a new van and headed for the coast, Piha in particular, New Zealand’s premier surf spot. However things were a little different in New Zealand. Instead of waking up sweaty and ready to hit the refreshing water, we woke up freezing. The sand was black, the winds howling and the skies grey. If the beach hadn’t been surrounded by awesome mountainous forest and the sea full of quality waves, we might as well have been in England.

My desire to get a new board and hit the waves had been quashed by the thought of slipping on a cold wet suit every morning and shivering my way to a cold shower afterwards. I know this shouldn’t have been a surprise, and had I done any research or even thought about the new country, would have known better. But I didn’t. Rather than simply right off the country, I decided to embrace the culture here and do as most travellers do… enjoy the great outdoors.

The streets of Auckland are littered with people wearing hiking boots and walking gear, the sight of thermal socks under a pair of sandals is not a rare one. Among the backpackers, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of german hikers and a decrease in amount of British drunkards. It was against my nature, but I decided to get into the spirit of things, and become a hiker. Ash and I bought tents, thermal socks, wooly hats, sleeping bags. Ash even bought some proper walking shoes and a thick green army jumper. We have got an SAS survival handbook, our waterproofs, and I think… are fully equiped. We got a free trial at the gym and I stated as a reason:

“Improve leg strength and cardio fitness for hiking”

The actual reason was to have free warm showers for a week, but the thought was there.

It didn’t take long for our suntans to fade, and we got any partying out of our system in Auckland. The plan was to ease our selfs into things with a night camping in Waiwera and a few days at a festival in the forest. Eventually we hope to do some more strenuous adventuring and maybe spend days/weeks at a time on a mountain or in the forest. We cannot claim to be hard hikers yet… but we are ready.