24 October 2026

Kaitaia to Krishna Sanctuary 

0 km/0mi walked 

I wake up when the rustling starts. I do not want to get out of bed! Nooooo! Curl up into a ball and face the wall again. Soon Mash appears, asking if I want breakfast. I mumble some variation of “yes please” and immediately go back to sleep. He appears again, offering coffee. That works. 

Breakfast is scrambled eggs and an odd amalgamation of leftovers. Ever had a cold McDonald’s burger? Surprisingly good. We spend the morning lounging around. The original plan was to do the rest of the road walk to Krishna Sanctuary, but the TA trail app itself warns against walking on the “dangerous highway” and advises hikers to get a lift. Um, okay? Why make that the trail, then? Izzy, Sibylle, Hannah, and Thijs have scheduled a ride with Gordon, who owns the shuttle company that brought us Keith, from Beachcomber to Krishna, and Mash arranges for us to join. Sure, we skip a few miles, but after last night’s long trudge, I’m not exactly keen to torture myself with road again. Plus, our bodies could all use a rest after the beach.

So today turns into a day for resting and taking care of business.  Mash puts a load of laundry in while I work on packing up. Izzy has a gas transfer valve gadget to move stove fuel from one container to the other, so I use that to transfer from her giant Jetboil canister to our smaller one that’s almost empty. Later we go to Pakn’Save for resupply and then across the street to the mysteriously named The Warehouse (it’s basically kiwi Walmart) so Mash can get a big straw hat. (Even with sunscreen he was getting burnt on the back of his head.) 

It’s good that the hostel is so chill with us hanging around after checkout, because we take over the place. When Mash and I return from the shop, everyone is spread out on one of the tables outside with all their resupply items, repackaging and figuring how to best fit stuff in. Izzy is having problems with her pack’s hip straps, so her solution is to attach kitchen sponges with rubber bands. Weird things in backpacking tend to work, but it’s still hilarious looking, and we all get a good laugh. See, this is the kind of thing I miss when I’m not thru hiking. Sitting around a table with people you just met, working out problems together and having a good chuckle. Camaraderie, lightheartedness, joy. 

After we’ve mostly sorted that out, it’s time for nonverbal phone time. Everyone’s inside in the sitting area, lounging on furniture and staring at their rectangles. So I lounge and look at my rectangle too, right before I fall asleep. At 3, Gordon comes to pick us up in his mini bus, with his golden retriever Fred in the front seat. Seeing the road as we’re driving on it, I’m immediately so happy not to be walking on that in the heat of the day.

At Krishna Sanctuary Gordon takes a photo of the group and then leaves us to walk through the gate to the house to meet our caretaker and host, Abhay. I was expecting a full-on Hare Krishna cult complex, like Yellow Deli vibes on the AT, but it’s really just this guy and his wife, and, for the time being, an injured TA hiker named Matt. The sanctuary is in a beautiful location, perched on a hill that tumbles down past a flowing creek and into the valley below. On the hillside there is a garden full of fruit trees, vegetables, and spices. Matt shows us to the camping area, we set up our tents, and then we immediately go to the creek. Izzy, Hannah, Mash, and I put our feet in. It’s frigid, like needles, but it feels amazing on my screaming feet. Thijs one-ups us all and gets all the way in, then Sibylle follows suit. 

We gather for dinner on the porch of the main house. It’s an Indian style dal and rice dish with a papadam on the side. It’s delicious, and so good to have some different flavors and vegetables.

After dinner Abhay takes us on a garden tour to explain some of the plants. His philosophy is that everything in the garden should either be edible or have a nice smell, or both. He also extols the virtue of food as medicine, squatting to poop, and rinsing off your butt with water from a bottle instead of using toilet paper. Go off, king. 

Later in the evening Mash and I hang out in the hiker cabin and chat with some folks while I write. Then it’s bedtime. (With some new blister popping first. Ever had a blister under your toenail?) The creek flowing in the distance is sweet, sweet music. This day was lovely. Sanctuary indeed.