Start – Cape Reinga
Finish – Twilight Beach Camp
Daily Distance – 12km
TA Distance – 12km
Day 1! Sleep was pretty elusive last night as excitement finally took over from trepidation, so I was
awake with many hours to spare for my taxi to Cape Reinga with Greg from Tua Tua rentals. The 2.5
hour drive flew by with rolling hills, easy conversation and best of all a long cuddle with his dog Diesel
who was making the journey with us. On the way we stopped to pick up Martina, a young swiss girl who
was hitching up to the cape to start the North island section of the TA on her winter break from work.
While I had been fairly set on starting this journey alone it was actually nice to have someone to share the
first steps with. Having seen so many pictures of the Cape Reinga lighthouse with hikers bravely setting
their course for Bluff it is strange to now count myself among their number.
Honestly, much of today was spent with Martina and I walking in companiable silence simply trying to
absorb and process the experience. It was helped by the walking being generally easy along hard packed
beach sand and well graded paths. The day’s notable exception to that statement was encountered within
the first 40 minutes though. Having arrived at high tide the route passes over some rocks which were
simply impassible with such high water. The options were to backtrack to the lighthouse and follow an
alternative route or to back up slightly and climb the sand dune ridge that overlooked the offending rocks.
Simply put, things that look simple from the bottom are not always so straightforward when you come to
do them. While the mission was successful and the beach attained it was bloody hard work and really not
the gentle introduction my body wanted. Other than that it has been a short day with camp reached at
15:00 where I broke out the celebratory wine to toast a successful first day. It was a pleasent end to a day,
even more so as my rucksack currently feels really heavy courtesy of an overzealous food shop in
Auckland where I bought twice what I need.
Twilight camp is a lovely spot, nestled among the dunes. With toilets, clean water and even a gazebo for
cooking and recreation it seems luxurious. Surprisingly busy with 17 tents pitched tonight, which makes
me think that the TA is more popular than I believed. The bustle of excited folk is nice and we are all
happily pulling together to help those who haven’t gotten used to their tents and stoves yet. I have enjoyed
the community today, but have escaped back to the solitude of the beach to write this. Tomorrow will be
a tough day covering 28km, but for now I have a beach, rolling waves and the sun slowly sinking over the
water and that is enough.
Highlight of the day – First steps
