Just a quick update to say I'm back alive and well from my multi-day tramp into the Tararuas. Starting at Otaki Forks our intention was to hike the Southern Crossing, up to Field Hut, have lunch, then push on to Kime Hut on the top of Mount Hector. We'd sleep there then walk along the top of the mountains to Alpha Hut, spend a second night and then walk on down to Featherston where we'd catch the train back to Wellington.
We set off at 9am and met a single hiker on his way back down. He was laden with an excess of equipment I couldn't hope to carry, including crampons and an ice axe, and he informed us that he'd had the same plan, but the snow on Table Top (3 hours from Kime Hut) was just too deep and soft to get through, so he'd come back down to Field Hut, spent the night there and just come back down to Otaki. He wished us the best of luck and said maybe the snow would be better for us. We then passed two more groups of people who said a similar thing. After 2 hours steep hiking we came across the first signs of snow. Just a light covering here and there, all very pretty really. Another hour later the snow was a complete covering, but just the kind of snow we usually have in England, only a few inches thick. I was truly grateful to see Field Hut emerge on the horizon, and even more thrilled to see how well built and equiped it was. Fresh water to re-fill our bottles, a long-drop toilet, a fireplace with stove and pots and pans, and plenty of mattresses available to be used. We stopped for lunch as planned and two other hikers came into the hut for a rest as well. One was a local who does it all the time, he was wearing a tiny pair of shorts and had the world's smallest terrier dog keeping up with him. We asked about the snow and the mist (there was absolutely no view) and he told us Kime Hut was a complete fridge, no heating, no insulation, right on the mountain top with howling winds, not a fun hut basically. Also he told us of a guy who'd walked the Southern Crossing 13 times and had never seen the view!
We finished our food and wished the others farewell after filling in the Intentions Book at the hut and pressed on uphill. It was another 45 minutes up steep snowy bush until we came above the bush line. The wind then hit us, and the snow got deep, and soft. One step forward, foot feels secure on the snow, weight goes on, foot goes through the snow and up to your hips. Foot sinks into a hidden unknown river underneath the snow caused by all the melting, and slush goes over your boots. Some steps we'd be able to walk on the snow, then without warning, the next few steps we'd be up to our hips in snow and our feet in the melting river. We thought we'd push on anyway, we weren't yet at the table top and it could all perhaps get better there. We could still see footprints in front of us so we knew we were still on the trail, and maybe the snow on Table Top would be harder so we walk on it. This was not the case. We reached Table Top and were glad for some degree of flatness for another hour and a half, but the snow was, if anything, deeper, softer and worse. One leg would sink under and I'd topple forward, instinctively I put my arm out to stop me, and my arm went in up the my shoulder. It was only the saving grace of my hiking stick that allowed me something to push back onto my feet. It was really hard going and we were being so careful whe suddenly my heart froze as Kerstin's leg sunk in yet again but this time it was coupled with a cry of pain. Oh God, has she broken her ankle? Has she twisted her ankle? What's happened? She'd stepped onto the very edge of what was a small bridge under the snow, slipped off the edge and scrapped her leg all down the side from her ankle to her knee, right over the shin. Amazingly, she wasn't badly hurt and was still completely able to both stand and walk. The reality of how far from help we were, and how easy it would be to need that help hit home. The weather was getting worse and it was only 3pm, another 2-3 hours of sunlight. Then in the distance, like a beacon in the night, we saw a signpost, a real man-made object! Lifting each leg out in turn and then sinking straight back in again, we pushed on with a renewed vigour to see when this god-send of a signpost would say. It read "Field Hut - 45 mins, Kime Hut - 2 hours". Our hearts sank a little as it had taken us about 2 hours to get to this point from Field Hut. Going on this basis, we'd be walking for around 4 hours before reaching Kime Hut, if we could even find it with the rapidly deteriorating view around us, and the footsteps which had now ended. Reluctantly, but knowing it was definately the right choice, we turned around and set off back to Field Hut, one hip-high snow step after the other.
We got back to Field Hut before 5pm and changed into out warm clothes. I realised to my dismay that I'd been foolish enough to not put my rain cover over my pack (not a mistake I'll ever make again) and most of the contents of my bag was wet. Kerstin did a great job of keeping the fire going with only wet wood, although I'm not sure how warm it kept us, I think it just helped occupy our minds. Now realising that we were going to heading back to Otaki the next day, we happily feasted on double food and hot chocolate until we could stay awake now more.
It was actually quite a good night in the hut. I feel as though I had somewhat limited sleep due to Kerstin's snoring, but if you ask her, she'll say the same thing about me. Well this was only going to be a quick update but it's fairly comprehensive actually. I'll write more on my time in Wellington and what happened after the night in Field Hut another time. There are photos to accompany this journey which I'll upload soon. Also this has been written on Kerstin's laptop, which is german, so if my z's and y's are the wrong way round in places, you can blame the Germans. :-)

I've made it to Wellington, it's a really relaxed and friendly city, a bit like Brighton but larger. I'm off to walk the Skyline track today then doing a three day tramp starting wednesday (which will be my first multi-day hike since arriving). More to come soon!

Annette and Tim dropped me off on the Coromandel-Thames coastal road right outside my new hosts, Pat and Peter. An elderly couple who lived on a lovely plot secluded and away from anyone else, they put me to work straight away putting dug-out topsoil into bags. I was nice to watch the sun go down as I worked, and I hoped for a good week or two. As it turns out, I got an increasingly unsettled feeling as I spent time there. Pat and Peter were very friendly and accommodating, but I really felt as though I shouldn't be there. I was unable to sleep all night and by morning I had convinced myself that I should leave. And so I did. On foot. I figured I was half way between Thames and Coromandel, and since I knew Coromandel well, I'd go back there. It should be about 20km, so about 5 hours walk. No problem for someone intending to walk a country. Plus I thought I'd hitch along the way, and surely get picked up after an hour or two. What I failed to realise was that it was Saturday, and no one in the area gets up early or leaves to take the coastal on a Saturday. Except huge lorries you would never believe were expected to traverse roads this narrow, at such speeds! After walking for about an hour and a half, I came across a sign that read 'Coromandel - 35km' and my heart sank. Still, I'll get picked up, I tell myself. I had to get there today, because there's nowhere to pitch a tent on the coastal road, so I keep walking. Almost 5 hours after I started walking, I stop, shattered and aching, in a tiny verge by the side of the road. I hadn't seen a car come past me for over an hour and a half, and I felt ready to pitch tent precariously at this spot and collapse for the next 24 hours. It was then that a family people-carrier type car with a couple in their 40's pulled up gently next to me. They offered me a lift and I didn't even ask where they were going.
I explained my story to them and was silently dismayed that it still took over half an hour in the car before we reached Coromandel. They if I wanted to come back to Whangarei with them, since I had no real plans. We'd been getting along pretty well so I thought why not? Warren and Debbie had a wonderfully homely home, we drank wine and told stories and laughed by the fire. I stayed with them overnight and decided it was time to leave this toe of New Zealand. My curiosity for the Thames and Coromandel area has been sated. I book a bus back to Auckland, with the intention of either doing a few days in a hostel, or seeing Adam back in Titirangi. It turned out that Adam and Gill are in Vietnam on holiday, so I send a text to Cee Cee and see if she fancies a visitor.
Cee Cee was overjoyed to hear from me, and my timing was perfect as there were a number of people who I'd met in the Urewera there to celebrate on of their birthdays. My arrival for such an occasion was not only welcomed by all, but again, with a feeling of almost that I was expected. The next day it was also the Powhiri (pronounced Poor-Firi) for Awhitia, the girl who had sung the bones vibrating song for the New Year. Powhiri is a traditional ceremony held by Maori when they start a new job. They bring the spirit of their ancestors to the new place of work and sing and dance to welcome the person and their spirit into the building and the role. Awhitia was being given a job within Mount Eden prison, to help work with the prisons in helping to reduce the number of Maori prisoners, and to help with their reintegration into society. It is the first time that a Maori has been chosen for the role. There were loads of people there! It was really nice to see how much everyone in the Whanau (family) and friends supports everyone else. I was told that the number of people was not unusual either, that they hadn't all come because the role was a big deal, but that they always turned up to celebrate and spiritually welcome someone's first day in a new job. There was, of course, lots of Kai (food) and the ladies did a beautiful Haka. It was yet another great example of how loving and family orientated the Maori are.
I've been staying with Cee Cee for a week now. Candice is also here (my host who took me to the Urewera and Kingitanga) trying to publish a book which has taken many people here with a great flurry of interest. I believe it will be called 'Mu' and concerns itself with the ancient land of Mu and Lemuria, Atlantis and spiritual issues concerning us in the run up the 2012 mayan prediction, written by Debbie Greenwood. Hopefully it will be launch either on 21 September, or 11 November, so keep an eye out for it perhaps.
Tomorrow I'm going to stay with Adam and Gill and then on Friday I catch a bus all the way down to Wellington. I hadn't planned originally on going that far south until I walked there, but a friend I made while stuck in Sydney is there and offered to let me stay, and Paul from back in the UK has also relocated there. 12 hours bus ride, but dirt cheap, so all's good.

After my amazing trip to the Urewera I went back to Auckland with Cee Cee and Paul and stayed with Cee Cee for couple of days. They're a great pair and I laughed all day and night, and I had my first feeling of being a cat person, as well as a dog person.
I caught the nakedferry from Auckland straight to Coromandel to get picked up by my new hosts, Annette and Tim. I've always liked approaching places by water (even though my stomach hasn't always agreed) because of the great views you get. This ferry, however, didn't depart until 6:30pm so it was already dark before we left. I sat outside the whole way there, a surprisingly quick 2 hour ride, and watched intently for the lights of Coromandel to appear. Coming up to 8:30pm I knew I should be seeing lights of land but where ever I looked there was just endless black, until finally I see a single small light in the distance. We float right up to it and I see that we're about 100m from the shore at the end of a very long jetty, with about 3 cold people huddling under the one small light, as if for warmth. A crew man jumps over, ties us to the jetty and lays a wet piece of wood between it and the boat. I see a few of us waiting to get off look a bit cautiously at this means of support, but it takes is all ashore without incident. The 3 cold people step aboard and the boat reverses out and takes it's lights with it. Only now do we (about 15 passengers) realise how little this one light actually provides. The walkway seems to extend about 3 metres into the darkness, then disappears. I have only the brief flash of having seen the shore to remind me that it's only 100metres away, but there are no lights on the land at all and I'm supposed to be picked up. Where are they?
We all stood rather nervously, not speaking nor venturing into the dark for what seemed like minutes in end, until I remembered I had a small keyring-sized torch in my pocket. Suddenly I was the chosen person to first 'walk the plank' and I headed down with the nervous hoard following uncomfortably close behind. I've not been scared of the dark since I was very little, but it seemed a fear that easily came back to many of us there that night! As it turned out, once we'd gotten to the end of the jetty, it turned behind some rocks and up a hill, to reveal a car park (unlit) where I host was just parking.
Tim came to pick me up in a mail van with his grandson Jarren, and explained to me that he does the post for Coromadel up to Port Charles, hence the van. Annette was waiting back at home and they as a family were really welcoming and friendly. Jarren was only there for a couple of days but he was a great, clever young lad with a keen eye for archery. He and Tim would go out to kill rabbits with their bows and arrows, which to me seems an act of great skill! I had the most luxurious set up with Tim and Annette. I had a whole separate building to myself, including a living room, kitchen, bathroom, wash room, bedroom and balcony. Compared to my recent sleeping locations, this may as well have been a hotel! I was tasked with painting their outside seating area and I got a little more than a third of the way done. I went on the post run with Tim one morning and saw loads of the beautiful surrounding area to Coromandel, it really is a paradise They both treated me really well and I could happily have stayed with them for longer, but my new hosts in Tapu were already booked.