A Dangerous Business

Dates: 8th-9th November 2023

I didn’t go to Paihia. Nothing could’ve convinced me to go walking straight away after the horror night I had after arriving in Kerikeri. I’ll spare you most of the gross details, all you need to know is I began coughing basically non-stop from 10:30pm till midnight, eventually forcing me to make a beeline for my dorm room door and throwing up in the carpark outside. I was coughing so hard I vomited. This is exactly what happened to me in May and that cough lasted for around two more weeks afterwards. That completely settled it for me, I was going to stay put in Kerikeri for a day. Honestly, I wanted to call an ambulance and get it looked at because of how debilitating it had become at night, even though deep down I knew there wouldn’t be much they could do for me. Instead I called Healthline, a 24/7 medical advice service. Once I explained my symptoms, they basically said what I thought they’d say: the only cure is rest.

That’s the single most frustrating part of these types of illnesses. I want a quick fix so I can get walking again which just isn’t possible in this situation. So not only would I now be spending one day in Kerikeri, I had to consider potentially staying another day to give myself the best possible chance of recovering quicker. As I looked into it, the only real downside I could see with staying an extra day would mean a greater risk of not reaching Palmy by Christmas. With that said, I’ve been speaking with my family over here and they’re perfectly fine with picking me up wherever I am on Christmas Eve and then dropping me off in the same spot when I’m ready to continue walking, so there’s no real need to be concerned with that.

For the time being I decided on just one rest day. When I went to explain my situation to David at reception, he offered to drive me into town to see a doctor which I gratefully accepted. The price was a bit steep, so I’m hoping that my travel insurance will cover it. As expected, the doctor confirmed it was just a post-viral thing; no Covid, no bronchitis, no chest infection. I was relieved that it wasn’t anything too serious, but again, it meant there wasn’t anything I could do about it except rest and not walk. So that’s what I did, deciding to spend two days in Kerikeri before heading off on trail again. This sadly would mean leaving Marlon, Vadem, and the rest of Team France, although I’m sure our paths will cross again at some point. Before walking back to the hostel, I stopped my the chemist to see if they had anything that could at least help me get some sleep. They recommended this herbal mixture, which I can confirm did help me get some sleep at the expense of ruining my taste buds.

Beyond that, I really didn’t do that much at all. I went into town for coffee a couple times, bought some food for my stay, but I mostly just chilled at the hostel. Over the next few days, many of the hikers I had met so far began to roll in. Tom, Vicki, and Melly all rolled in on my first rest day. They had all done the Raetea Forest and gave the typical report of lots of mud. Linda also arrived, as did another Aussie named Maeve. My second rest day was a lot quieter and not as many people filed in, the notable highlight being Eric. One thing you need to know about Eric is that he operates on Eric time. He wakes up late, gets going around the time most of us are thinking of stopping for lunch, and arrives at camp around sunset or later. It works for him, so no judgement from me.

On Wednesday night, I was invited to share a meal with Team France as they would be heading off the next day. Even though I can’t understand what they’re saying most of the time, I’ve still enjoyed their company. Hopefully I can catch up with them at some point. I farewelled Marlon the following morning, with Vadem leaving a bit later on the coach. His feet are still in a pretty bad way so he’s skipping the next part of the trail which is mostly on forestry roads. Kinda sad to think that we formed a party of 5 on Ninety Mile Beach and now just 2 remain. Well, Sonja and Mirjam are still together, just a couple days behind us. There’s been talks about having an official reunion either in Auckland or Wellington, but that remains to be seen.

In the meantime, I’ve got to start thinking about the next few legs of Te Araroa. The east coast of Northland does not have many big towns, so resupplying might become a bit of a hassle. There’s also a few long legs to do too, including a 30+ km day from Paihia. I can’t confirm yet whether my body is up to it, but the only way of finding out is stepping back onto the road.