Te Araroa: thru-kayaking

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A risky kayak portion of the Te Araroa up the Waikare Inlet in the Bay of Islands leaves the Blissful Hiker wondering if, in the words of James Agee, kindness watches for her.


In this episode: 

1. The Blissful Hiker takes her first "zero" day – walking no miles – in Kaeo and tries green-lipped mussels and Whangaroa oysters for the first time. 
2. She gets care for her infected pink eye picked up on "Conjunctivitis Coast," the Ninety Mile Beach in straight line winds.
3. Nervous on her first day hiking alone, she immediately loses her trail notes.
4. In Pahia, she rents a kayak and paddles with four hikers who take off, leaving her behind and bereft. 
5. A night of star-filled wonder and new creatures humming and buzzing in the bush remind her she came here to challenge herself and that includes being vulnerable to fear and rejection.

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
–James Agee

MUSIC: Suite by Ernst Krenek as played by Alison Young, flute and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic and Charles Johnson
available on iTunes

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