The man running the local branch of the Department of Conservation tells me that the track can be done in a day. It is about forty kilometers long and will get me to where I start. I am highly motivated to be back before darkness falls and traps me in the wilderness or one of the two huts along the way. With the first light I am on my way.

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Since I read Robinson Crusoe I think that a true island has to meet certain criteria: Do you get there by boat? Is there only one settlement or less? Can you walk around it in less than a week? I am told that New Zealand has three major islands, but only one of them meets this romantic requirements.

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