That evening after leaving our new Maori friend, we hiked on up a large summit and over to a small shelter to get out if the weather that was coming in. It was tiny but cozy as the seven of us piled into the old shack that could be the home of Shrek. We woke up to cloudy skies that were waiting to open up and pour so we took a long morning before heading out into the rain. It was a very long 18km, filled with mud and a downpour. We finally got to another much bigger and newer hut and started the stove to dry out and warm up. The next morning we woke up to the sun and got moving. It was still muddy and there was a bunch of climbing but we got to a nice pasture and set up camp near a bunch of trees. The next day was a long road walk into our next town to resupply where our wonderful friend Tapper made us a great dinner of burgers and chips. We had another long road walk ahead of us the next day but ended up on a nice track camped just off the trail. We were excited about the next day because we would finally be heading into Tongariro crossing where Mt. Doom is. The views were incredible as we climbed up the edge to a hut that wasn't for overnight camping but we threw our bags down anyway. Early the next morning we went up to the summit and were completely amazed by the mountain. The wind was pounding us every which way and around every turn we found amazing ponds of the bluest water. We had gotten up before many of the tourist so we had the first part of the day to ourselves before the place became extremely crowded. Made it to a holiday park that night and slept near the bus stop. The next day our group split up to do a bunch of different things. I ended up doing some slack packing and running along the road walk instead of hiking it. That night I got into a town and took a few days off to rest up. After I pulled a 50km day to get to the start of our river trip and was completely exhausted but met back up with the group and was refreshed. We got on the river the next day and had the most amazing first day. We lounged more than paddled but when the rain hit we had to keep moving to stay warm. It rained off and on all day and then poured all night harder than I'd ever experienced. Luckily my tent kept me dry and warm but there was some aggressive drying of gear the next morning. The river had risen considerably overnight so when we took off the next day we flew down the river at about 12km per hour. We floated down the river, mostly connected for the next few days and had an incredible time. On our last day,the river had gone down and the paddling was much more difficult against the wind so when a large boat came by, we tried hitching with it and amazing they stopped. They threw us the rope and we were flying down the river for a bit before it felt like my arms were going to be ripped off from holding the rope. We paddled into another holiday park and filled up on Chinese buffet. We took a zero the next day and went to a vintage festival in town before sleeping next to the river and then road walking out if town to a beach. The next few days were terribly hot and mostly along the roads which completely drained us and hurt our feet and joints. Luckily we made it to our next mountain range and were stunned by the beauty of it all. After playing some games while hiking, we got off track and really didn't feel like going backwards to get back on trail. We sat down and took out our maps and figured out a new route to meet back up with the track a little further down. It was a really great reroute and we ended up getting a hut all to ourselves. We made it back to the trail and crammed in a two person shelter for the evening. We climbed up to a nice spot to catch the sunset and read our books in peace. The next day is one of my favorites on trail so far. We summited a gorgeous mountain and got to walk along an open ridge for the day. We also took many breaks to play cards and enjoy ourselves. We ended to day with a swim in the river all together. We got into town the next day after hiking out of the mountains and slept next to a bike path before taking the metro into Wellington and officially finishing the north island of New Zealand. We spent a few days there, sending out some resupply boxes, cleaning/replacing gear, and celebrating. We even got to go to an amazing concert with a ton of other TA hikers. We caught the ferry that morning at 230 am and slept on the deck so we could catch the sunrise. Completely exhausted, we arrived at the south island and then took another water taxi to get to the trail head. We got to catch a seal playing with its kill and the clearest water I've ever seen. We got to the start and hiked on through the exhaustion until we found a camp spot and slept for a long time. We woke up to a swarm of sand flies and a Waka bird trying to steal our snacks so we packed up and moved on. We got to a resort on the island and heard of some live music going on later so we hung out for the day, soaking in the hot tub and laying in the sun. A bunch of other hikers showed up and we all danced and sung and played music until the sun went down. We heard about the plankton in the water that was bioluminescent so of course we went skinning dipping. The water all around us began to glow as we swam through the open ocean. One of the most incredible moments of my entire life. 1725km