Auckland to Hamilton to Christmas
Happy Holidays everyone! To be honest, it hasn’t really felt like Christmas being in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s warm, the days are long, and family is missed. Luckily, we have created a second family here in New Zealand and have been able to celebrate with them, kiwi-style.
The last time I wrote one of these updates, we had made it into Auckland’s city center. From there, Trevor and I decided to skip about 170 kilometers of road walking and took a bus to Hamilton. Each hiker has a different approach to this section of trail, which meant we skipped ahead and met new hikers all while keeping in touch with those now behind us on trail. From there we’ve hiked through some beautiful forests that remind me of little fairy lands, seen lots more sheep, mountain biked, and eventually gathered to celebrate Christmas.
Highs
We hit the 1000km mark on trail while in the middle of mountain biking the Timber Trail, just north of Taumarunui. This was an exciting, yet sobering, moment as we realized we were about a third of the way done with trail distance-wise. Yet, it still feels like we’ve only just begun.
Mountain biking was quite an adventure. I have only mountain biked once before many years ago, so I was a little anxious for this two day, 84 kilometer experience. The first day started out fine with a flat 5 kilometers through the forest. Then we climbed up, up, up. Biking was more challenging than walking and I had to hop off the bike and push it uphill many times. Once we made it to the top of the mountain, we got and amazing view of Mt Ruapehu, Lake Taupō, and Mt Taranaki.
Then it was time to go down, down, down.
The speed gaining going downhill and the unevenness of the track had me anxiously death-gripping the handlebars and brakes on my bike. I am not an adrenaline junkie. On a particularly bumpy section with a drop in the middle, my back wheel slipped and I fell. Hard. I cried out, picked myself back up, and kept going to our camp spot half way through the track. No injuries, thankfully. I was so happy to rest my tired legs and arms after the first day of biking.
The second day on the Timber Trail was a bit easier with more gradual climbs and descents and more gravel trail sections. A bit more my speed. By the end of the second day, I could say I enjoyed the experience overall and gained some comfortability with the sport. Now, I won’t be getting into mountain biking regularly, but I could be convinced to take on gravel-biking as a new hobby - moving up my chances of saying yes to riding the Tour Divide trail with some friends in 2026.
;)
Right now it is the day after Christmas and I am sitting at the windowsill listening to rain come down. The past two days we have spent at a house on the south side of Mt Ruapehu with 8 other hikers and 2 van-lifers. We have cooked and barbequed lots of fresh, delicious food. We sat around the campfire on Christmas Eve while Trevor and I showed all the Europeans and Kiwis how to make a s’more. We have rested and laughed and enjoyed each others company while intermittently calling family at home.
Most of the people we celebrated Christmas with were from the first few weeks of trail. While we had split up near Auckland, we made a point to meet back together for these holiday festivities.
I am in awe that we have met so many amazing people over such a short span of time - compared to how long it takes to make friends in other environments. We all have similar views on life and are sharing (sometimes traumatizing) experiences. Friendships happen fast and we’ve found strangers that we want to spend the holidays with. How cool.
Lows
I hit a rough couple of days in the middle of this stretch of trail. A tough trail day then a long road walk had me questioning if I even want to be out here hiking for 4 months. So much so that I wrote a whole post just about processing those emotions, read it here - To Be Her.
I feel like everyone on trail goes through something similar at some point. Whether it’s because of homesickness, fatigue, or just a boring stretch of days, most hikers have a desire to stop or take a good break to reset. I know I’m not alone.
Another low from this stretch of 16 days on trail is that time is moving quickly. I’m glad I journal a little everyday because days are starting to blend together and it feels like not too many days ago we were bussing to Hamilton. Before we know it we will be done with the North Island and a majority of the trail. I want, I need, time to slow down and to soak up all of these moments of awe and laughter on trail.
Musings
I don’t have much to report in terms of musings in this section, other than my recent post already linked above. I am enjoying the trail overall and the process of it all - good days and bad.
Although, now that I am sitting here and words are flowing I have thought of one more “musing”. One of the things I enjoy most about walking so much everyday is that it is boring sometimes. The boredom and lack of input into my brain allows more original thought to come through. I think more clearly and my creativity spikes - it is then that I often write or record my thoughts to expand on later. Lately I have been feeling a surge of creative, feminine energy that I believe is due to the decrease in time online or listening to music and podcasts. I think it would be harder to get to the essence of my thoughts otherwise. We are so rarely bored in regular life - or we have to be intentional about creating that environment. This is a gift. Artists need boredom, and I would like to consider myself one.
Until next time.
x
Sydney