Frame ‘n’ ek!

Frame ‘n’ ek!

CookieGot a feeling there’s going to be a lot of funny signage as we make our way across New Zealand :)

Sound advice?

Sound advice?

Nicky Some words of wisdom spotted outside the vets in Kaitaia. He clearly has to handle something more formidable than your average rabbit. Picturing a caged lion in there getting a root canal or something!

So now we’re finding it quite poinient on our last night before the big day ( being dropped off at the remote tip of a country in the wind and rain! ). So wish us luck… We might need it :)

In a way I guess you could say we’ve run away from the world for a bit. But as the big drop-off day draws closer I think the alternate meaning is resonating more ;)

Hot Mail

Hot Mail

Bump Goes The Possum

A lot of cute but dead possums

NickyI didn’t know what a possum was when we started this section. But you might be excited to hear we got pretty up-close and personal with a fair few these past few days! Unfortunately they were all dead :( Face down in the dirt. Quite distressing to see what you initially think is a domestic house cat spark out on the path ( very nearly becoming a gutsy mush all over your boots… ) These cute animals although protected in Australia are considered pests here and so are hunted and shot for fun. We saw 9 and a half possums in total ( the half was pretty gross! ). One of them left out in an advanced state of decomposition, ( grim! ) but all laying mid path. We assumed it was the work of hunters leaving their trophy kills for everyone to see ( which i thought was a bit sick ) but as it turned out the jungle had been laced with Potassium Cyanide to poison the poor fellas.  Not great to find that warning sign only on exit of the forest after days of not being able to properly wash our hands. Fingers crossed we’ve not ingested any!

They probably eat a lot of crops(?), but I don’t know. Seems like Mr.Possum has a bit of a raw deal here :( Poor fellas.

Out of Gas and Out of Cash

Mangamuka Saddle

CookieI’m not quite sure if today’s turn of events was a blessing in disguise or not? Nicky was sick of the jungle and pretty tired when we rolled into Mangamuka Bridge looking to re-supply. We only had $20 left in cash and the store didn’t take Visa or MasterCard, neither did the cafe, nor the pub/hotel.. Shite. Note to self – carry more cash (hope there’s no muggers reading this ;) Maybe we can get one of these Eftpos cards, they seem the only plastic taken around here.

Anyhow, $20 of food wasn’t going to get us to KeriKeri so we had to hitch to the nearest town with a cash machine. Blooming Kaitaia, where we started from! Well probably turned out for best because Nicky’s getting a good rest in a comfy motel and we can get a bus from here to KeriKeri tomorrow, missing out the next bit of jungle (much to Nicky’s delight).

Nice easy day through the Waitangi Forest

Waitangi Forest

Big Cock hits the spot..

Big Cock Drink

Tutukaka

Tutukaka!

Track Closed

Track Closed

Eddie Murphy??

In case of emergency, contact Eddie Murphy

NickyEver wondered what happened to Eddie Murphy’s career? Well, we’ve blown his cover. He turned possum and weasel poisoner … Runnin the jungle. I even spotted ‘Axel’ markered on one of the trap tags. Filling the days humming the theme tune from Beverly Hills Cop as he clamps down on those evil forest criminals…?