Congratulations, you've made it through the week!

29 May Maunganui Bluff Campsite to Te Rerenga Wairua KM 0 Distance: 40km Elevation: ascent 654m; descent 515m Steps: 59,000 Time: 7:35am - 4:20pm And we're finished! 149 days after we took our first step from Bluff at the bottom of Te Wai Pounamu/South Island we were standing at Te Rerenga Wairua/Cape Reinga at the northern tip of Te Ika a Maui/North Island. But it was an unforgettable day for many other reasons apart from finishing* our adventure. Weather conditions overnight had been windy with a couple of short rain showers but thanks to the wind our tent was dry inside and out. A rare joy! For the first time since we have known them Aud and Pol left camp before us because they had decided to do the final 40km in a single day, whereas we planned to camp at Twilight Beach. Stopping at Twilight would give us a short and relaxing 12km walk in which we could take more time to appreciate what's around us, reflect on what lay behind us and prepare for the end. Oh, and time to eat ...

28 May Hukatere to Maunganui Bluff Campsite KM 40 Distance: 30km Elevation: ascent 5m; descent 6m Steps: 41,700 Time: 7:35am - 2:20pm Pretty special day on Ninety Mile Beach today,definitely not boring as some TA walkers hsve claimed. Thanks to the fact that we had stayed in a cabin, and had access to a kitchen with electricity, we had a very relaxed morning. For the last time on the trail we were able to get going without packing up the tent, and without having to use our little gas burner to heat up water for coffee. We were also able to refill our camelback bladders without having to filter the water. Partially thanks to these modern conveniences, we were on the beach in time to watch the sun come up over the dunes. Today looked very similar to yesterday - just walking up 90 Mile Beach, a nice wide flat hard-packed sand beach. Today the presence of pipi was much more obvious, in fact they kept squirting Eliza's legs as she walked past and over them. While we did not ...

27 May Ahipara to Hukatere Lodge / Campsite KM 70 Distance: 32km Elevation: ascent 6m; descent 6m Steps: 45,300 Time: 7:15am - 3:15pm We set out in the pre-dawn light, so were priveleged to see a rosy-fingered dawn over the southern end of 90 Mile Beach. For those of you wondering, no, it is not actually ninety miles. As close as we can tell, it is just under 100km, so more like 63ish miles? But let's be honest, "Ninety Mile Beach" has a good ring to it! Look at these smiling faces at the beginning of the day - super excited to be on the beach and within sight of the End! And it is absolutely lovely. You can see how wide the beach is, and this photo is less than an hour after high tide. Granted, not all of the beach had this expanse... some had even more! By the time low tide came, the beach must have been 100m or more wide. We officially passed under 100km to go today. Since we're on the beach, which is ever changing with tide and time and sto...

26 May Takahue old school hall to Ahipara KM 101 Distance: 16.5km Elevation: ascent 85m; descent 125m Steps: 24,000 Time: 8:30am - 2:00pm The generosity of last night's hosts continued this morning. There was a range of breakfast foods left on the kitchen bench for us to help ourselves to. Someone even offered to cook us some eggs. We declined the eggs. You know when a person is extremely generous but you get to the point where you feel like it's too much, or you feel a little guilty for accepting so much? We reached that point. But not before we took four mandarins for the road. We said our goodbyes, hoping that we will be able to come back one day to return some of the generosity.   We walked out the gate and toward Kataia, the first planned stop for the day. Not many photos today. A long row of (presumably) native trees planted along a property boundary caught our attention.There was a variety of species, including pohutukawa, one of which was in flower. This man...

25 May Makene Rd Campsite to Takahue old school hall KM 132.5 Distance: 21.5km Elevation: ascent 1042m; descent 1032m Steps: 39,000 Time: 7:40am - 5:10pm Today was one of the worst days on the trail for Vaughan. It was one of the tougher for both of us. The day started out just fine, with the rain having passed overnight (by the way, it stopped raining long enough last night so that Vaughan did not have to cook in the toilet). We almost immediately got started onto the Raetea Forest Track... or so we thought. See, we have gotten very used to following the trail on The Trail app. It's well marked out on a topographic map, so you can see the black dotted line of the trail on the map; and it's also overlaid by a line following some previous hiker's GPS track.  Well, the first few kilometers of the Raetea Forest Track have apparently changed since both the topographic map and the GPS trail were recorded. Because we soon found ourselves in dense bush with no trail, l...

24 May Blackridge Campsite to Makene Rd Campsite KM 154 Distance: 23km Elevation: ascent 404m; descent 631m Steps: 32,000 Time: 8:30am - 2:30pm A short day ahead means a casual start to the morning. After yesterday's frozen cream cheese episode we were finally able to enjoy our bagels. I'm sure some long-distance walkers would judge us for carrying such unnecessary 'glamour food' weight. We have no regrets. Shortly after starting out this morning we came across a sign that simply said "Kauri 1944" Presumably it means that the kauri behind the sign were planted then. Making them nearly 80 years old. So, still young! Many of you have asked how we dry our clothes. Ok, no one has actually asked that, but now you're thinking about it. Packs are versatile objects and here you can see Eliza's being used as a clothesline. Underwear, hankie and socks. Classy! Coming down out of the kauri forest gave us views of inland Northland. Which is...