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| My bowfin 2 tarp tent in New Zealand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDVUFzlJX2Y |
I brought and declared my tarp tent when I went through customs in Auckland, so I thought I better use it before I leave! Customs took my tarp tent to a room out of my sight where they checked it for bugs. They kept my tent for at most 10 minutes before the little window under the sign that said "Bio security" opened and they told me I could have my tent back. The customs agent directed me to a table where I could stuff my tent back into its bag. Declaring the tent probably cost me half an hour at the airport, so I needed to use it! Plus the tent took some room in my suitcase.
Sure I could have gotten a tent in New Zealand, but not a shires tarp tent! I did not have a lot of room left in my suitcase for clothes since I packed my day pack, a tent, my sleeping quilt, my cook set and everything else I need for backpacking. Good thing my backpacking gear is all very light, I had to keep my suitcase under 50 pounds for the long overseas flight.
My friend in NZ had never been backpacking before and she was keen to try it. I found her a reasonably priced and light backpack at REI and had it mailed to her before I left. REI charged
$20 for international postage and there were no customs fees. I've found the outdoor gear in NZ to be very expensive the $20 postage fee was of no concern due to the $$ she saved on this tent.
I decided to keep this an easy trek so my friend might enjoy it more and want to do more hikes with me in the future. The trip was 8 miles in total with 500 feet elevation gain in and 300 out.
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| Elevation gain on the way out is calculated in the graph. |
It was a beautiful hike and we had a lot of fun. The only thing that took from the hike was the trucks driving up the river bank. It turns out the a lot of people own vacation cabins in the forest park. I think the cabins are grandfathered in. I was so glad that I filtered or boiled all of our water. I did not know what was upstream of this water so I did not risk drinking it unfiltered.
8 miles with 800 feet total elevation gain.
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| Summer down under |
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| Massive Rata tree |
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