Thursday 2O January 2022 / DAY 1: I lost my beautiful Mum in 2021 and in honour of her courageous battle against all odds I’ve decided to walk the length of the country, Aotearoa New Zealand, from Cape Reinga to Rakiura / Stewart Island. It was here that I holidayed with my Mum and Dad on their 20th wedding anniversary - age eight.
My wife, Jo, had planned to join me on this journey, at least for the walk along Te-Oneroa-a-Tōhē / Ninety Mile Beach, unfortunately, an injury to her foot (I literally ran over it with a two-tonne Toyota Highlander) prevented this. In hindsight, though it was possibly a blessing in disguise as these next five days would be relentless! This is a word I use a lot on this walk.
We'd bought two tickets for the flight up with Barrier Air costing us $184 each so it was a shame we couldn't use Jo's ticket. A tearful goodbye to Jo as I boarded the light aircraft (a Cessna Grand Caravan (C208) for you plane spotters) bound for Kaitaia, where a guy named Greg would be picking me up and driving me to Cape Reinga.
Not long into the flight, I noticed a guy dressed similarly to me, in shorts long sox, tramping shoes, etc. We didn't engage in communication but when we landed it was apparent he was starting the Te Araroa also. Greg thought it was him who he was picking up and not me. This guy (named Richard - check him out on Insta @outdoors_withsalty) was going to hitchhike to the Cape so it was fortuitous for all concerned that we were all there at the same time. Richard paid his $80 for the ride to the Cape and a visit to the local supermarket (Richard needed food - which ended up being a pack of bread buns and two packs of crackers) and an Outdoors shop (I needed gas canisters as I couldn't carry these on the flight) we were off. I also left a resupply or bounce box (these are boxes filled with food, equipment (in this case my La Sportiva Kaptiva trail runners and iPad) that trail walkers send ahead so they can collect them at their next port of call) with Greg to drop off at Beachcomber Lodge in Kaitaia where I had pre-booked my accommodation.
Greg runs a Bike Rental business in Ahipara https://tuatuarentals.co.nz (more about that later) and lives and breaths the Northlander laid-back lifestyle. The stories he told us on the car trip had us in stitches. A bloody good bloke! We reached Cape Reinga around 2:15 pm, said our goodbyes to Greg, and proceeded to the lighthouse.
According to Māori mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800-year-old tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki-a-nui, using the Te Ara Wairua (the Spirits' Pathway). It's a very mystical place; if you haven't been here, you must. The collision of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean does generate a pathway of sorts as the resulting foam stretches off into the distance. I'm not a religious or spiritual kind of guy, but when I stood beneath those signposts, with my photos of her in my hand, a little bird hopped around my feet, then would flitter off and fly overhead singing the most beautiful of songs. No one lly aware of it but me as it was one of my mother's favourite birds, if not her favourite. She would tell me how they would lay their eggs in the long grass and hover over the nest singing merrily. It was a great feeling to think that perhaps my mother was here watching over me as I took these first steps on this epic adventure.
Richard is a keen outdoorsman and we swapped stories as we walked. It was great having companionship for these first few days on the trail. He had already completed the South Island leg of the Te Aroroa (TA) and was about to complete the North Island in one walk-through wh as I would walk the trail in stages - stopping when work contracts came in or I just wanted a warm bed to come home to.
We eventually got to the Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite at around 6 pm just as a rain shower passed over us. The campsite was named Twilight, a micro campsite, with a small open-air shelter and a water tank. It was a mere 12-kilometre walk (little did I know, I would never walk this shorter distance again). The campsite was positioned a few steps up from the constant sound of breaking waves - something I’ll need to get used to for the next five days. We could cook and dry our clothes underneath the shelter however the visitor book mentions possums coming into tents so it could be a restless night. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few rodents may join in as there’s a bit of litter lying around. All in all an excellent start to the Te Araroa Trail. Oh and the weather - perfect - cloud cover, not too hot, ocean breezes. As for the walk - lots of different gradients and scenery from bush to Martian-like landscapes, dunes, and of course the endless beach.
TIME: 3:42. DISTANCE: 12.25km PACE: 16.06 ASCENT 202m CALORIES: 1,088
Friday 21 January 2022 / DAY 2: A restless sleep at Twilight campsite. I waslly feeling like a bonding Kumbaya (interesting originals of this word btw https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2018/02/kumbaya-history-of-an-old-song/) around the campfire so slipt off to bed around 9 pm. My first night in my $90 single-person tent.lly is small - I feel like a caterpillar crawling back into its cocoon. Once I'm inside and tucked up in my sleeping bag I pull my pack in and close the vestibule around it like a makeshift door.
I was asleep by 11 pm but up again from 1 am until 3 am (this was to become a common occurrence). As suspected a rat or something scurried past the tent in the middle of the night. I'm not a big fan of rats, I blame it on reading James Herbert's disturbing 1979 science fiction horror novel Liar, the first sequel to his debut The Rats (which I chose not to read after reading Liar).
Eventually, 6:30 am came around as it tends to do after 6:29 am and it was time to get up. It was light outside as I packed away my tent and stretched my soon-to-be very achy body. A feral cat was slinking around the water tank - perhaps that was what I heard last night? Richard was also up and packing away his accommodation. He mentioned while on the South Island leg of the TA, a walker had suggested doing a range of yoga-type exercises before embarking on the trail - I follow these exercises every day - well... when I remember. Before long I was off on my second day of walking which would make it very clear to me what I had got myself into.
Richard stayed behind, yet I was sure this fit young fella would catch up with me soon. I felt no desire to eat breakfast deciding instead to have a muesli bar along the way (who said breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Oh that's right my mother). Some good climbs out of the campsite through low brush and the familiar reddish cracked clay landscape. Then up to the top to look over Te-Oneroa-a-Tōhē! (the long beach of Tōhē). This is arguably a more accurate name than Ninety Mile Beach since in fact, the beach is just under 56 miles (90 km) long. Still, a very intimidating sight when you know you have to walk it. Down plenty of stairs and onto the beach.
Rich was half an hour behind me but when I turned to see him I saw nothing. Fatherly Instinct told me to wait for him but that soon dissipated (he’d done the South Island TA / he knew what he was doing) this really is a trial of management, manage your food intake, water intake, setting yr own speed, but mostly (so far) discomfort and pain management. From a blistered toe to aches in every part of your body. It’s a case of just pushing through. Frustrations like no water in the tank or an uneven tent site or the constant sound of waves all need to be dealt with and put aside. In saying that I feel it’s a trial best done alone so you're not having to keep up or slow down for someone else. Just take everything at your own pace.
Rich caught up and after a quick conversation at what we’d seen on our travels, namely dead fish, dead seagulls, a dead Gannet, later a herd of wild horses, and a young fledgling seagull whose parents were none too happy to see us so close. In the distance, we could see an outcrop of land and we guessed, correctly, that this was Maunganui Bluff and the campsite was just around the corner but boy did it seem like a long time to get there! In part, because I thought there might be a shortcut through the foliage to the rear of the campsite - unfortunately there wasn't.
Our first sightings of people since leaving the Cape were fishers on Wakatehāua Island which is adjacent to the campsite we were staying t tonight. When we (actually just me) limped into the campsite the remaining four campers abruptly pulled down their tents and left. The wind was not good for fishing - so they high-tailed it. However our neighbours, before leaving, offered us watermelon, apple juice, and a freshly caught Kahawai which we enjoyed immensely. As the campers left I strode down the beach and into the waves to bathe my fatigued body - it was here when I noticed the agonising pain of raw flesh subjected to cold stay water. Earlier in the day I had sat down on the sand to have a bite to eat - some sand must have fallen into the back of my shorts and while walking rasped my buttock cheeks together like
sandpaper. Not pleasant and a rookie move on my part. Where I bathed the sea was angry! - supposedly why the fishing is so good here lly did not want to go out too deep -no further than just above my knees. I could feel the gaze of the fishers watching me thinking to themselves "He'd better not go out too much further!, there's no way we could save him" I made it back to the campsite slightly less grubby but no less sore. The cold shower was a relief afterwards, I applied Lucas' Pawpaw Ointment to my groin area. This stuff is a game changer and it became my "go-to" whenever I got wet and needed to keep on walking without looking like a duck.
We settled down to dinner prep - me Kahawai, chicken soup with peas. There was a camo fee of $10 per person which included the Tank water, a standard toilet, with cold showers so we’re living it up. As I climbed into bed that night I wondered what I had got myself into - my body hurt, my feet were stinging with burst blisters, I was gaining a rash on the sides of my hips where my pack rubbed against me and my shoulders were in much need of a massage. I was not expecting this however I had no expectations I’m just hoping my body adjusts and adjusts quickly.
TIME: 10:38. DISTANCE: 31.21km PACE: 19.43 ASCENT 68m CALORIES: 3,458
Saturday 22 January 2022 / DAY 3 Rich sprinted off early leaving me alone at the campsite to limp around and organise my mind body and soul not to mention packing down my tent and repacking my pack. 28 kilometres to Hukatere Lodge. Quite a test of endurance from the pain in my feet, a complete pain which never subsided which in some way was good as it didn’t identify certain areas or blisters. I spoke to myself and sang badly as I was alone in the heat and the sand and the constant sound of waves crashing to my right. It was such a test of mind over body to endure the aches and the monotony of it all. Despite all this, I made it my mission to collect as much litter as I could carry along the way.
You'll read a lot more of this on my journey south - my astonishment at what people in this country throw away. my utter discontent at the sheer laziness of people littering this beautiful country of ours. My straw hat also ended up in the bin as its ability to prevent sunburn was severely compromised by the number of holes it now had in it. I found this on a footpath in Auckland so no loss here. Unfortunately what I did lose was the tripod part of my GoPro camera kit, which would make it harder for me to film myself walking like in the film clip above. I hate losing equipment, however, it's generally down to me not securing my gear properly and checking and rechecking everything is where you placed it. Operator Error!
Four-wheel drive vehicles speed past with a friendly wave or perhaps a chagrin salute to the idiot walking the length of the country. They were off to find the perfect spot to launch their Kontiki (essentially beach longlining, using a small raft or float to pull your hooks out to deeper water. In the past, people would use logs and even balloons – these days they're motorised contraptions costing around the same price as your first car! Imagine that, sending a $1000 piece of plastic into the ocean on a piece of string hoping you'll retrieve it). I'll stick with a surf caster any day of the week.
Rich was well, yet I could still see his silhouette in the distance as it grew larger when he stopped for breaks or chats with locals then smaller as he speed off again. I would follow his footprints on and off before they were taken by the encroaching tide or follow the many vehicle marks as they would take the path of the firmest sand. Thanks to little rain the creeks were easily crossable in my Trail shoes (I chose to wear an old pair of Asics FujiTrabuco Trail Running Shoes opting to not wear my new La Sportiva Kaptiva Trail runners for fear they would get ruined) - perhaps a couple of sturdy plastic bags around each foot would have helped to keep my precious feet dry as each step into the water made it clear to me where each of my broken blister's were and reminded me on every footstep from the creek until the water dissipated from my shoes.
The wind and shade of passing clouds were a relief but as the day progressed the wind died and it was the relentless heat of the sun. On making my way to Hukatere Lodge I caught up with Rich as he had thought the Lodge was elsewhere, so had to backtrack onto the road I was now on. However, when we both approached the driveway entrance a metal gate stood in our path with a NO VACANCY sign hanging from a padlocked metal chain. Nevertheless, on closer inspection written on the sign was a phone number to call providing us with information on where to find the key and which bank account number to pay the camp fees into. This was one of the best campgrounds I've been to on this Trail, and still is, with warm showers, a kitchen, a real toilet, bbq and a cabin which Rich and I shared. Not only that, but our Lodge owner permitted us to eat anything out of the freezer which included sausages, hash browns, and chicken bites in tortilla wraps. We had a Royal Feast! While I collapsed on the bed and dozed off, Rich set about busily drying out his tent from the morning dew the previous night, airing out his shoes, washing and drying his walking clothes, and charging his devices. You learn a lot, if you take the time, from other walkers - see what they do to benefit their walk. The cabin cost $40 each. A great spot
TIME: 7:22. DISTANCE: 30.91km PACE: 14.19 ASCENT 67m CALORIES: 2,465
Sunday 23 January 2022 / DAY 4 Only 17 Kilometres to walk today - or so I thought! Richard said he'll walk the 31 kilometres to Ahipara township while I had planned to stop and rest up at Ngapae Holiday Park. This will hopefully give my body time to rest up and recover. Rich trudged off around 8:00 am while I stayed behind a little longer knowing it would only be a short walk for me. It was good to have some alone time to sort through my belongings, clean up my feet and re-bandage them.
I left Hukatere Lodge around 9 am after a big cleanup (I was able to leave behind the plastic full of litter I had picked up from the beach earlier so that was a relief). I also left a kind Thank You note to Gabrielle (our Lodge owner). More of the same today - sand and dunes, and surf for as far as the eye could see. As I got closer to Ahipara, and the end of Te-Oneroa-a-Tōhē / Ninety Mile Beach it became a little more crowded. It was Sunday after all so families, friends, fishers and nudists were all out in force!
At around midday I met up with a family out fishing with one of those expensive contiki I wrote about earlier- this one was a Shark Torpedo like you see on the Tele' - As Seen on TV Adverts "but wait there's more". They pulled out a deck chair for me, poured me a cuppa and offered me sandwiches and biscuits! - truly the most hospitable people I'd met yet and my first introduction to Trail Angels (A Trail Angel is someone who provides a service to a weary hiker, whether it be a spot to camp. for the night or a hot drink, or shower, without any expectation of anything in return) Just as I arrived they were bringing in their catch (the second one of the day) as we chatted while they retrieved the line with two good size snapper and a kahawai hooked up - maybe this Contiki fishing is the way to go?
Such great hospitality that I could only repay by digging a hole for the fish's offal to go into. A disgruntled teenager (too cool to be out with his parents) hung back in the back of the wagon until he was ordered to help with the fish by his mum. I must have been almost an hour chatting away with them all - later on, Rich told me he had done the same thing and got the same amazing hospitality. It's as if they were prepared in advance for us crazy trail walkers.
I finally set off for Waipapakauri and the Ngapae Holiday Park campground. my GPS told me it was another kilometre inland from the beach. My water was running low and I was sore as all hell! Following my map, I located the campground only to be told when I got there that it was closed due to the firefighters using it as emergency accommodation. On the journey up from Kaitai Airport Greg had told us of the massive peat fires that were burning in Waiharara, just north of Kaitāia, which began on December 18, 2021, At its peak, the fire engulfed 2800 hectares and a significant amount of the Kaimaumau wetlands scientific reserve. Firefighters called the blaze one of the most challenging and complex fires in New Zealand's history. In any case, it was back towards the beach I go, no rest for me. I was down trodding and disheartened and must have looked it as a couple of locals offered to take me to Awanui Hotel which should have some accommodation available. I had to decline as it was in the wrong direction. So off I trudged for a further 12 kilometres to Ahipara township.
I knew Rich had booked a cabin at Ahipara Holiday Park but I remember Greg saying he had a house in Ahipara and a bed if we wanted and all the Thai food we could eat so I texted him, and he replied, “I can ride an ATV up in an hour to collect you - I'll leave in an hour so you can get a sweat up!” With my water bladder empty and the pain in my legs, unbearable Greg rocks up on one of his rental quad bikes LEGEND!! I hop on and we speed towards Ahipara. Greg spots something in the surf so pulls over and retrieves it - it's a decent size Snapper with only one side of its body filleted - who does that?!. He hands it to me and we carry on speeding down the beach which by now is full of swimmers and sunbathers.
Off the beach and into the township of Ahipara we navigate the suburban streets giving Rich a blast of the horn as we enter the Holiday Park. We bet him! We have a good laugh and I book into a cabin for $95 per night it’s a great holiday park with all the amenities one could think of. Rich and I grab the last two remaining cabins. Meanwhile, Greg returns with some beers and then shoots off, saying he'll return later to pick us up for dinner at his place. Rich and I sit and relax in the blazing sun as the day draws to a close. I notice I have an alert on my watch.
I've got a Garmin Forerunner which records my time, pace, distance etc. It also records and sends an alert to Jo if I have a fall. I'm assuming when Greg picked me up on the Quad bike the change of speed from walking to riding on the back of the Quad bike set the alert off. I phoned Jo immediately, thankfully Jo was at the supermarket at the time and did not take her phone with her so did not receive the alert message. That was a close call, if she had received it and she phoned me I would not have been able to hear her call above the noise of the Quad bike and that may have set off a search party for me! Greg, true to form, rocks around on his Quad bike and we both clamber on and race off to meet Greg's wife who runs a Thai Takeaway outlet from a Caravan parked on the beach.
We also meet his two children who are frantically racing up and down the beach looking for one of their iPhones which had dropped out of one their pockets as they were Quad biking around the rock pools. They do this for around an hour or more before they triumphantly return home with the phone in hand! Back at Gregs, where he runs his business from his house Tuatara Rentals we sit down outside with our beers and a bottle of Bourbon. The conversation ranges from COVID Conspiracy theories to Gang thuggery in Ahipara. It's obvious he's well-known around town and not to be messed with.
Greg's wife delivers a beautiful home-cooked Thai dinner to our table and goes back inside to be with the children. The meal is amazing. Pork Belly cooked on the BBQ vegetables cooked to perfection and a lovely homemade Thai dipping sauce. The beers and Bourbon go down a treat before a neighbour shows up and we venture into Greg's garage, but not before Rich has a wee spew in the garden. We are giving a tour of all of Greg's electric bike collection that he's brought over from China to use as rentals and then given a history lesson on his father and the four tours of duty he did in the War. There's a photo of him doing a wheel stand down Masterton's Main Street in a parade. It's fascinating stuff.
He shows me a photo of Eden Park from when it was first built. I mention to Greg that this needs to be kept safe for future generations to look back on I hope this happens as it's a treasure as is Greg and his wife's incredible hospitality. As midnight approaches Greg offers us two e-bikes and we speed off into the night reaching speeds of 50km with blurred vision and no helmets. We make it to the Holiday Park but the gate is closed and locked so we manage to heave our e-bikes over the gate and make our way to the cabins awakening campers as we go. What a legendary night!
TIME: No Data DISTANCE: 31.0km PACE: No Data ASCENT 67m CALORIES: No Data
Monday 24 January 2022 / DAY 5 On getting back to the Ahipara Holiday Park cabin last night I found it hard to get to sleep, even after such a strenuous day! Perhaps it was the coke, or the adrenaline still rushing through my body or the very hot cabin with the constant sound of Mosquitos buzzing around my head. Anyways I watched some of the movie “Aliens” directed by Ridley Scott (gosh that’s a shocking script) with incredibly bad dialogue!
I ended up falling asleep around 5:30 am and up at 8:00 am with my body still aching. Rich had a tree frog in his cabin through the night, so he too did not get much sleep. We rode the e-bikes back to Greg's place at Tuatara Rentals in the morning and while Rich walked the long arduous road to Kaitaia, I took advantage of Greg’s offer to drive me to Kaitaia. A friendly wave to Rich as we passed him walking along the road with hardly any verge to keep him out of the way of oncoming traffic made me think to myself, "I had made a wise choice". This dangerous road walking I was yet to experience on the Te Araro Trail, but before long it would become a large part of this trial.
Greg dropped me right outside the door of Beachcomber Lodge and Backpacker. He couldn't help but laugh as I struggled (mornings are always tough!) with my ailing body to the reception area. As the name suggests Katāia is a Māori name which means "ample food", and this accommodation is situated opposite the Beachcomber Restaurant and KFC so these would be my 'goto' dining places as I was planning on taking it easy over the next couple of days and staying put.
At the Beachcomber Lodge and Backpacker, I was met by an exuberant wahine who offered me two options; (1). a cabin to myself with an ensuite, TV and a little kitchenette or (2). a bunkhouse ($35 per night) with 4 beds which I may need to share (I learnt later that the lodge was almost completely empty of visitors so there would have been no one to share my cheaper bunkroom with) so I blindly took the larger more expensive single room at $135 per night. I picked up my bounce box from here also. It's always a relief to find all my equipment or food intact. It's a little like opening a Birthday present and finding all the things you had forgotten you'd packed.
I was delighted to see on the flashy brochure that the accommodation had a pool and spa- feeling that a much-needed soak in a hot tub would do the world of good for my symptoms. However, I was told that the pool was closed (it was an unsightly Palmolive green colour) and the spa pool was undergoing maintenance, but might be available in the afternoon. With this information in mind, I headed off to KFC for lunch and looked forward to a spa later in the day, this was never to be the case - it was never fixed while I stayed here. I hot shower was my alternative solution and I spent a long time in here!
On close inspection of my feet, I noticed blisters on my left foot, inner heel, inside both big toes and second toe and inner little toe and possibly one on the front ball of my foot! On my right foot on both sides my heel was cracking under my big toe and inside my little toe. Also, my big toe's nail was turning purple-black in colour and looked like it might come off.
Rich turned up after his 20km road walk just after midday. He booked a bunkhouse, a little further along from my unit, We chatted occasionally as I'd walk past his door to go to the laundry or reception. This would be the last I'd see of him. I spent the rest of the day updating my previous day's activities on Facebook and repacking my gear. While weighing my pack it indicates a weight far higher than I've ever had before! This stresses me a little until I put on my reading glasses and notice I'm using pounds rather than kilograms! All the same, I really need to get my pack weight down for the Ratea and Omahuta forests. I reduce my weight by loading a lot more gear into my bounce box to send on to Kerikeri Holiday Park (I've since learnt this place s now permanently closed for business) tomorrow.
TIME: No Data DISTANCE: No Data PACE: No Data ASCENT No Data CALORIES: No Data
Tuesday 25 January 2022 / DAY 6 I moved into a less salubrious room here at Beachcomber Lodge and Backpacker for my second rest day in Kaitāia. A bunkhouse which I imagine I’ll have to myself for the night. I then wandered into the Kaitāia township and sent off my bounce box to Kerikeri (it would be six days until I reach here) and picked up some essential items from the pharmacy, Compeed® blister patches (thanks Pete) These were fantastic! Oh, and of course, I had to add a custard square to the mix. (my mother and I would make these together when I was a young boy - they never came out as good as the bought ones though).
So a relaxing day if not a little anxious thinking of the days ahead. I just need to remind myself that I have all the safety, medical and emergency needs to get me through. “Walk your own walk”. Packing and repacking my pack today getting it down to a respectable 13kg currently with a little more to add. More weight means hard work and an increase in the likelihood of leg injuries - not what I want. And I'll be walking alone from now on with Rich a day ahead of me (I did have the expectation I might be able to catch up with him but the legs weren't coming to the party on this occasion).
Thinking of a high-carb pasta meal tonight and the Beachcomber Restaurant was just the place to get it. Chicken fettuccine - no complaints although I wished they’d asked if I wanted a dessert. Bathed my feet in warm water and toilet duck when I got back to the dorm to get rid of any infection, showered and was about to repack my pack again! Gawd! What a boring post! Later.
TIME: No Data DISTANCE: No Data PACE: No Data ASCENT No Data CALORIES: No Data
Wednesday 26 January 2022 / DAY 7 Woke up at the gentlemanly hour of 7:30 am - it’s hard leaving the comforts of a real mattress. “TBH” I haven’t gotten up too early on this trip and I would be road walking for 90% of the day today anyhow. The day started with a crazy man and ended with a crazy man yet poles apart. Pack loaded and flung over my back, I passed the "Palmolive pool" dropped off my bunkhouse key and made my way out of Kaitāia. As I was walking through the township with the shop owners lazily opening their stores and the social benefit queue lengthening, a man, who was high as a kite on something, - let’s just say he was high on life - sprinted past me only just avoiding me - then he stopped, crouched down in front of me in a starters position, facing me, like he was going to run a hundred metres, except I was in his way - then bang! the imaginary starters gun goes off (perhaps in his head) and he sprints towards me all crazy-eyed, laughing to himself, expecting me to flinch and then narrowly misses me and sprints off somewhere else - maybe to get “high on life” again.
NOTE: The Herekino Forest was closed for Te Araroa Trail users due to Kauri die back (Kauri dieback is a plant disease caused by the microscopic soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora agathidicida(Pa). Spores from the pathogen infect kauri roots and damage the tissues preventing the uptake of water and nutrients causing tree death. It can kill kauri of any age and location). However, this is widely contested and there are many theories as to why the Herekino Forest has been closed. Hence the road walk to Kaitāia
Walking out of Kaitāia is not the most pleasant and the Te Araroa Guide says it’s best avoided. There is not a lot of curb space on either side of the white line and I was constantly crossing the road (SH1) to get more room so I wasn’t a liability. For any oncoming cars, I would move a metre off the road and for trucks, I would get as far away as possible, stop and give them I friendly wave as the 30-tonne articulated beasts hurtled past me showering me in water vapour. My first time on this trip walking in the rain - however by mid-afternoon it had turned to blue skies again - typical Auckland weather. Litter covered the sides of the road and in places where vehicles could pull over this seemed to be an opportune place to cast away their trash. Bags of soiled diapers to household furniture littered the ground before me.
Highways turned into narrow farm roads then gravel roads as I journeyed to the foot of the Ratea Forest. This place appears to attract people with a need for higher learning and by that I mean spiritual. Large signs with quotes from the bible, one I hadn’t heard before implied someone named “Cindy” was on the side of the Devil. From the sound of my foot impressions, on the ground, a new sound enveloped me. The sound of chanting, and before long I came across the source of the sound - a fenced in farmhouse with the Aum symbol (a little like the numeral 30 - in fact, this is where we get the number 30 from - as the Hindus created our modern number system) painted all over the fence and letterbox. It's an incredibly important symbol in the Hindu and many other Indian faiths. Amit Ray, a Hindu Spiritual Master describes Aum "Aum is not just a sound or vibration. It is not just a symbol. It is the entire cosmos, whatever we can see, touch, hear and feel. Moreover, it is all that is within our perception and all that is beyond our perception. It is the core of our very existence." I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto! (actually, I've never been to Kansas).
From gravel, it turned into a farm track of sorts - fit for a quad bike or some serious 4wd fanatic and it was about 2.5km (not 1.5km as the sign said) up the track I found my home for the night. Previous to this, and at the base of the Maungataniwha ranges I spoke briefly to a woman who was off on an afternoon stroll - she glowed with the happiness and energy of a nature-loving hippie from the '60s.
I was now halfway up the Takahue Saddle Road (the first hill walk of my trip) and at a spot that was set up by an American family who recently returned to the US as they didn’t like the new policies around wearing face masks and maybe a fear of needles, I'm not sure of the details. In their rush on leaving they neglected to connect the shower or tap for running water. However, luckily I could fill my flask from the large IBC caged water tanks nearby as I was running low on water. Thank goodness for that small rain we just had. Phew!
After dinner or was it before? As I sat on the picnic table shirtless enjoying the sun and solitude an elderly man arrives on his quad bike, red track pants, green sweater and an opened black raincoat framing his torso, He wore Jandals exposing the dirt beneath his toenails which mirrored the state of his fingernails. On the hike up the hill, I noticed a security camera with a brightly coloured sign saying "Smile your on camera" I must have triggered this and he was coming to greet me.
His name was Adrian or Jigwie, although I suspect he has many other names he goes by. And then the conversation began. He was originally from England, which was evident in his north London accent. He was around at the height of Pink Floyd's early fame and would often hang out with the band and take LSD. He dressed up in a monkey suit for the widely acclaimed Stanley Kubrick film "2001 A Space Odessy", yet it was his friend who finally got that role as he "was more convincing as an ape".
He’d written a letter to Putin on how he thought Putin should stop the atrocities in Palestine (which involved pouring LSD into the Israeli water treatment plants) He meet Salvador Dali while he studied art history, telling me he went to the famous painter's house in Figueres. Spain and was asked to wait by Salavadors wife, Gala, while Salavdor was entertaining guests. The interview with the great painter was full of grandiose aloof comments and he gathered nothing of much interest from Dali.
Jigwei told me he was in the midst of setting up a new school system in New Zealand specifically geared for young Māori. He had four wives (not all at once he hastened to say) The last one he showed me a photo of. She was a beautiful Brazilian bride - however, it took some time for her father to accept her relationship with this older unusual man. I really couldn’t get a word in as we switched from one bizarre topic to the next. Although he would stop from time to time and quiz me - if I was taking it all in however I was usually still trying to figure out if the last thing he told me was at all accurate! Crazy or not it was an interesting end to the day and I went to bed with more questions than answers.
TIME: No Data DISTANCE: No Data PACE: No Data ASCENT No Data CALORIES: No Data
Thursday 27 January 2022 / DAY 8 The night sounds of the forest were a plenty last night, Ruru and Kiwi. There also seemed to have been some altercation, possibly between vermin and foul, as the screeches woke me from my rest. I also learnt that I'd left my iPhone charging cable and adapter in the bunk room - not good. The familiar sound of Adrian’s Quad bike woke me from half-sleep - it was 6:30 am. He appeared as a carbon copy of the evening before - in red track pants, a green sweater and a black raincoat wearing Jandals. ‘I thought you’d have left by now” he said “no I told you I would be leaving around 7:30-8:30” I said. He left me some postcards with his details on them and reassurance that if I design some more postcards for them - that they’ll be shown all over the world and that I would like that!?
He invited me for breakfast at 9:00 am “Oats are good sustenance for a traveller” however I’d broken camp by 8 am and was on the track by 8:30 am passing his place with its many coloured flags fluttering in the air enticing some malleable mind to follow the road to Buddhism or perhaps an LSD mind-altering version of it?
The track meandered past small makeshift houses with tents and awnings and the usual malnourished pig dog barking for attention while a collection of old farm vehicles rusted away in close proximity. And then the climbing started, up, up and up - over exposed roots, and fallen trees and then down again and up again - it was relentless! is all I can say - I’m so very glad it was not wet though or muddy - it took nine hours to walk 18km!! On the summit of Ratea, I took lunch - a Bumper bar. Adrian said it was a spiritual place however I found that hard to accept with a large comms tower there and massive solar panels.
The bird life was pretty much non-existent up there, however, I did hear and see a Riroriro (grey warbler) (another one of mum's favourite birds - she would tell me how the cuckoo would lay their eggs in the grey warblers nest and when it hatched the cuckoo would grow so big it would push the other grey warbler chicks out - yet the grey warbler's mother would continue feeding the cuckoo thinking it was hers). I also noticed these large empty snail shells New Zealand’s largest snail (Kauri snail) is very beautiful and impressive as the size is 10 times that of our ordinary garden snail.
As my phone could not be charged I would have it off and turn it on briefly again whenever I thought I was going off track or could not see the next orange marker - my Garmin GPS oddly did not show this trail - only parts of I (for some reason I cannot upload the Te Araroa Trail to my Garmin 66sr device). With some relief, I started to descend and the fauna changed from tall forest to Manuka (tea tree) shrubs it was evident I was not alone as some massive hoof prints signalled there were wild cattle in the forest with me.
Bulls can get quite agitated when provoked so it was a “thank goodness” moment that when I startled a big bull from chewing its cud. It high-tailed in the opposite direction. The trail cut across a farm finally and my appearance was welcomed by a bollard of barking dogs eager to let me know I’d been spotted and to get off the property quickly. However, the owner was more accommodating and pointed me in the direction of the next campsite. Another gruelling 2km down the gravel road.
Opposite the small little campsite which had a long drop and little else (water was acquired from a nearby stream), was another makeshift house, tents, awnings, large water containers occupied by a grandmother and son I think. She was a powerful person who did not take too kindly to the establishment - I heard this as she was not one to talk quietly on the phone about her dealings with such and such and this prick who sat behind a desk all day. This went on well into the late evening even after I fell asleep I suspect - but they were up bright and early doing it all again at 6:30 am!
TIME: 9:27 DISTANCE: 19.40 PACE: 29.14 ASCENT 892 CALORIES: 3,164
Friday 28 January 2022 / DAY 9 The owner of the campsite I stayed at last night popped in to say Hello this morning as I was getting ready to move on. I was a little worried as he seemed rather gruff when he approached me, however, it soon became clear he was not a big fan of my neighbours or for that matter anyone of that ilk. (He was from Christchurch originally). We did have a good yarn about the different plants and native species around the area I had seen and heard over my journey- namely ruru and kiwi, also quail and pheasant. He has a little sign at the campsite where he offers people accommodation and a meal in return for help on their property - which includes setting pest traps around their farm and general farm labour like herding sheep and milking cattle.
I learnt about the noxious pampas grass, a South American species of plant that imitates the New Zealand native toetoe. It will spread to any sprayed, slipped or exposed areas and replace native ferns and shrubs. The toetoe produces drooping, light golden-yellow flowerheads from September to January while Pampas grass points upright, producing straight, dense and fluffy white/pinkish flowerheads from January to June.
I put a little more money in his honesty donation box after our chat - it was nice of him to say Hi.
And off I go to Mangamuka diary to, most importantly, buy a new iPhone charging cable. Jo had been phoning around nearby shops and service stations to point me in the right direction to secure this essential item. I passed a sobering sign that stated I'd only travelled 146km from Cape Reinga. Once at the dairy, I ran into my loud neighbours from the night before as they were buying burgers for brunch. I sat outside and spoke with the elderly son (he may have actually been the husband) for a while. He had a lot of life written all over him. His eyes were blood-flecked, and his skin weathered and worn over time, with amateur tattoos decorating his hands and neck like faded cave paintings. While we talked the grandma (or wife) circled, keeping a watchful eye on us but not saying anything. She eventually came around and we talked about the good old days before Omnicron. She was none too happy about how the government had reacted to the virus and the vaccine mandate.
Once they left I too grabbed a burger and sat outside and ate it while my phone charged. A fellow from Auckland popped into the shop and found out we had a friend in common from movie land, John Harvey. He also had lost his mum last year, a month after his father had also passed - so we talked about that for a while. Once we both finished our morning tea (he had a toasted sandwich) I was on my way again. More road walking SH1, cars, more trucks, more friendly waves. Road, then gravel logging roads up, up high into the Omahuta forest. Along the way, I passed manuka honey bee hives with the constant drone of bees flying in and out with their payloads. I keep a good distance away from their stingers. A Kauri Sanctuary with the remnants of a huge Kauri stump that must have supported a truly massive Kauri in the day now remained overgrown and forgotten. Much like the dead possums I was soon to become accustomed to seeing on a daily l bases, this one had crawled into the trap usually meant to catch rodents like mice or rats. Once inside it had gotten stuck once the rat trap had released its powerful spring on its curious nose. There was talk of a new campsite on social media just past Apple Dam campsite so I was keen to try it out but after a while, I was beginning to think I’d been duped! But like all things - put the Mahi in and gain the results! At the end of the gravel road was the campground complete with toilet and shelter. Time to charge my devices.
TIME: 9:27 DISTANCE: 19.40 PACE: 29.14 ASCENT 892m CALORIES: 3,164
Saturday 29 January 2022 / DAY 10 Sleep still not coming quickly for me - nodded off around 1 am. Then awoke throughout the night with fighting possums outside my tent. When you're in a tent the size of a coffin there's not a lot of distance between person and animal, whatever that might be. What a horrid screech they make. (I’m trying to think of any good quality they have) I remember as a scout I once had possum stew and I remember it tasting quite nice due to the amount of fruit they eat.
I was up early as I wasn’t sure what I was in for, with river crossings and steep unmarked terrain warnings due to recent slips in the area, according to social media reports on the Te Aroroa Trail. Packed up and on the trail and it wasn’t long before I was knee-deep in a chilly clear running river - wading downstream for around 5km.
It's a disconcerting feeling walking down a river- thinking to myself "am I even on the track?" A juvenile long-finned eel caught my attention as it bathed without a care in this clean oasis. Once the river met another it was a slight track diversion then over to the other side - I heard voices from afar and soon ran into three mid-twenty fellas who were hiking three trails in three days!
They offered me an Aeropress coffee, which I kindly accepted and we chatted, while seated by the river's edge, about all things outdoorsy from packs and boots to hunting and fishing. They sped off ahead, yet I soon passed them bathing in a nearby pool downstream.
The tracks weren’t as bad as I expected or had come across in the past so that was a relief. The trail then meandered thru Nikau palms which would shed their large frowns with a loud unexpected thud. The forest floor was littered with these large sundried leaves resembling rib cages of fallen soldiers. Soon large Kauri came into view and around them, boardwalks and steps were set in place so a trampers foot came nowhere near their roots causing the destructive kauri die back.
Once out of the forest, it was back on to gravel roads that went on and on, some with larger shingles which made foot placement hard at times. My Achilles was playing up and this gravel provided no mercy. The monotony of the walk was interrupted by my stopping and releasing the many possum corpses hanging from their ultimate fate, in pre-set possum traps, like rotting fruit. Once I released these cadavers I set the trap again.
One last bend or maybe the next, but at last, I approached Puketi recreation campground which I limped into. It was obvious I was nearing civilisation as the campsite was full of noisy campers - being Auckland's anniversary weekend. The 3 fellas had warned me of a loud woman who played cards all night long and laughed continuously. She was immediately identified and I made a beeline away from her and her eighties music to find a spot quieter. I had a cold shower, dinner and straight to bed with the sounds of giggling amorous campers around me oh and a crying baby!
TIME: 8:38 DISTANCE: 21.05 PACE: 24.37 ASCENT 1,214 CALORIES: 2,754
Sunday 30 January 2022 / DAY 11 6:30 start today. Up before all the other campers around me. Quietly packed my gear away, filled my water vessels, had my morning ablution and tip-toed on blistered feet out of the campgrounds. Forestry roads after forestry roads and the sounds of cicadas singing their little tymbals out! This little baby bunny thought the “be as still as you can” was the best option - not so in the middle of a road.
At one point I missed a turn-off and walked 1.5 km beyond it before I realised and made a disgruntled walk back to the turn-off (little did I know I was going in the correct direction all along). Once I found where the turn-off was a large sign upon an even larger gate read “AUTHORISED PERSONS ONLY” however my digital Te Araroa map (shout out to Far Out Guides) simply said I should go in this direction- which I did. A little way down the “driveway” I was met by the owners of the property who asked if I was lost, and, under some suspicion of what I was doing on their property, they directed me to a path that was parallel to their driveway so I hoped over the fence and continued on with the journey. As the path approached a farm I was then met by a woman riding a horse who told me the trail was closed (and if I had not gone thru the large gate with the smaller sign saying “AUTHORISED PERSONS ONLY”) I would have a seen possibly a larger sign informing me that this part of the track was closed and to continue down the road with which I had just backtracked!
The reason it was closed I found out was that it was still in progress - under construction - I found this out because I walked it nonetheless. Being on the weekend there were no workers on the track, just their abandoned equipment, spades, shovels, ground compactors etc. It actually was a lovely walk and once completed will be a lovely track to walk, even for a day tramp. I even took the opportunity to skinny dip in a cool stream with a little waterfall - and loads of Kōura grazing the creek bed.
Back on the track again as the construction on it became more and more scarce leaving the only way thru being to resort to bushbashing through scrub and gorse while still being on course. I spooked three goats across a bridge yet no troll appeared. I spooked a turkey and her chicks with a buzzard overhead looking for an easy meal. I spooked a Pukeko and some ducks as they sensed this strange four-legged creature (walking poles included) with a home upon its back trapsing thru their backyard.
Eventually, I hit the outskirts of Kerikeri (after I crossed a stile with a rudimentary handwritten sign warning trampers that this part of the trial was closed due to construction) And my first swing bridge of many on the Te Araroa trail. It swung unnervingly from side to side with each heavy footstep.
The trail then followed the Waipekakoura River as pods of tourists excitedly took selfies in front of the Rainbow Falls or hurriedly walked unladen with grins upon faces unaware of my efforts became all too common. Two or three however did congratulate me for my feat and encouraged me. As did a few cars blasting their horns and giving me the thumbs up. The temptation of stopping at the many boutique apartments or hotels, and backpackers I passed on the way they Kerikeri Holiday Park was significant.
However, I had booked here and sent my bounce box to this location, not only that but Jo was bussing up from Auckland to spend the next two nights with me and she had booked a deluxe suite.
On arrival I had a very thoughtful care package dropped off from my niece Charlotte and husband (who had been visiting Northland on their 10-year wedding Anniversary) - it contained fruit, a packet of chips, beer, beirsticks, foot bandages, a packet of peanut butter and salted caramel nuts! I was over the moon! Such a thoughtful gesture- thanks Charlotte and Kane.
The manager of the campsite rejoiced with me and my surprise gift - I told her why I’m trekking to Rakiura (as I tell most people if I get a chance) and she shed a little tear. COVID QR code scanned, vaccine pass shown, two nights paid. I then slowly walked the 100 metres to our room with pack, bounce box and my care package! After a hot shower and a beer I collapsed on the comfortable king-size bed a fell straight to sleep only to be happily woken by Jo’s knock on the door.
Her “happy to see me” face soon turned to concern when she noticed my many battle wounds and got to applying a plethora of creams and ointments. The two places we wanted to book for dinner (Cafe Jerusalem and the Black Olive) were closed Sunday and Monday so we resorted to Madly Indian which was a 10-minute walk down the road however I was not up to walking and we got a cab. It wasn’t until we returned that I noticed I’d left my key in the back of the taxi and we had to call the camp managers at 9:30 pm to get a new key. Ops!!!
TIME: 8:38 DISTANCE: 30.59 PACE: 16:57 ASCENT 329 CALORIES: 2,711
Monday 31 January 2022 / DAY 12 Monday Auckland anniversary weekend - first sleeping - in a while - up at 9:30am. When I say up - I was awake but didn’t leave the room until later that afternoon - catching up on repacking and recuperating while Jo sorted out medical needs, food, updating supplies etc. It’s so good to have my number-one support crew here with me.
The holiday park managers told us there were approx 110 workers who had come over from the islands to work in the orchards and farms around the area. Their laughter and beaming smiles reminded me of a trip mum, dad and I had made to Fiji when I was around thirteen. In the evening the workers would gather together and sing so beautifully (Mum would have loved that) At the other end of the spectrum a couple of campers, maybe retirees, just down from our suite would sit at their picnic table wedged between their large house bus and late model Toyota Prado, drink and smoke cigarettes while watching the world go by between their two gas-guzzling vehicles, only to go inside supposedly to eat.
When I did venture outside with Jo holding me close for fear of my legs collapsing underneath me, we had a stroll around the property, noticing all the little curiosities around the place, a tree stump with little elf doors, a bookcase with brick books and a large dragonfly. I convinced Jo that we should stay another night as it would give my legs and feet time to heal - really I just wanted to spend more time with her and visit the restaurants we had highlighted.
TIME: No Data DISTANCE: No Data PACE: No Data ASCENT No Data CALORIES: No Data
Tuesday 1 February 2022 / DAY 13 Kerikeri (The village was established by New Zealand's pioneering missionaries, around 1810, who called it Gloucester Town, but, thankfully, the name did not endure, however, the origin of the name Kerikeri is not exactly known. One definition of the word Kerikeri most widely known by pākehā (New Zealanders of European descent) is 'dig dig', or 'to keep digging'. It is known that Māori had extensive gardens in the area when Europeans arrived.
Kerikeri was the first place in New Zealand where grape vines were planted. There were over 100 vines planted on 25 September 1819. In the same year, the first citrus trees were planted. New Zealand's first commercial plantings of passionfruit were established in 1927, and in around 1932 the country's first avocados were planted.
So our two-day stay turned into three! We decided to walk into the township and pick up some more blister bandages. I also spotted a book by Guillermo Del Toro called The Strain. He’s made a couple of good flicks - let’s see how he writes.
Our main priority was to have lunch at our pre-booked restaurant Cafe Jerusalem which we'd heard so many good things about and it was the best thing we did …ok the second best thing we did! The food was outstanding and for me,it brought me to tears as I remembered my daughter's first birthday which we had at the Keren’s stunning home (in Brooklyn, Wellington). A beautiful Jewish Birthday celebration with Hanna wearing a crown of flowers and her being lifted, on a little chair, above the many guests, we had invited much to the amusement and confused look Hanna had on her face Mazel tov!
As we had also booked The Black Olive for dinner we really only had entree-size meals but these were great value for money. It was also a popular place - so I’m very keen to go back someday, I even practised my limited Hebrew - very limited it is!
Our tummies full - we wandered back to our room and promptly fell asleep before round two - dinner at The Black Olive. I had the scotch fillet and Jo had a kid-size fish and chips. Good meals but not comparable to our lunch.
TIME: No Data DISTANCE: No Data PACE: No Data ASCENT No Data CALORIES: No Data
Wednesday 2 February 2022 / DAY 14 The alarm rang at 6:00 am but I left it snoozing til 6:30. Jo loves it when my alarm goes off every five minutes. I was pretty much packed and ready to go, so it was just a case of strapping up my wounds and heading off! We both walked to the end of the street and there we said our goodbyes - 400m down the road we were still waving to each other, tears rolling down our faces.
Back on the trail again as it followed the Kerikeri River out of town I met the same woman I’d done walking into Kerikeri as she off on her morning run. She looked very surprised to see me again, asking if I was doing the trial again! (I doubt it!) My legs and feet felt good from my prolonged R&R so I took a few detours to look at some stunning heritage sites ie. The Stone Store. There was also a lovely smell of flowers in the air - almost like a daphne. (I’ve since been told these are ginger flowers and a noxious weed - I’m not convinced - will need to look into this)
Once I started the climb up into the forestry the pain made an unapologetic return. Soon I was hobbling like a duck with feet facing outwards to protect my Achilles but to no avail. I had no strength to visit the grounds at Waitangi, where the treaty was signed, which I would have liked, so I kept pushing thru to Paihia and a dorm room all to myself.
To my absolute glee, I noticed they also had a spa pool which I took full advantage of! I needed a cleansing shower afterwards to rid myself of any Cryptosporidium and/or Giardia but it was well worth it. Dinner was finishing off the foot-long sub sandwich Jo had prepared for me the night before for lunch. I really don’t feel the need to eat so much when I’m walking - hope it lasts when I stop!!
TIME: 9:35 DISTANCE: 28.96km PACE: 19.52 ASCENT 677m CALORIES: 2,765
Thursday 3 February 2022 / DAY 15 6:00 am alarm - as I was going to catch the 7:20 am ferry from Paihia to Russell, but with another restless sleep I stayed in bed a little longer (by now you’ve got the picture that I prefer my sleep in’s) I would have liked to kayak the Waikare inlet but it was far too windy and choppy for that. The Centabay Lodge owner waved me off and wished me well on my journey, he could see I was struggling to make it down the flight of stairs.
With a little bit of time on my hands before the ferry left I sat down and had a well-made flat white and blueberry muffin at a cafe named Third Wheel Coffee Co in Paihia. The cafe owner was a genuinely nice guy and he reminded me of a good friend of mine Campbell Read. I caught the 8:30 am ferry but before doing so I did some extensive leg and foot stretches while waiting in the queue (I overheard some girl comment “even I can’t get my leg up that high”)
Once across the inlet the quaint little town of Russell embraced me but only fleetingly. It will be nice to go back one day - (somewhere to retire to perhaps). I’m not sure if it was the stretches or the Nuromol I took this morning but my legs finally started feeling better - and once out of Russell, I struck a good pace with long strides. Serendipity stuck as I exited a bush track to join a gravel road and up-pulled a guy in a Ute asking where I was heading. He’d also completed the Te Araroa a year before with his wife. And he also knew my brother as he had worked at the Gas Development Project named Kupe in Taranaki many years before. He offered to give me a lift to the start of the official Te Araroa trail (quite a way from Russell) much obliged! I would meet him at the G.A.S station some 20mins away as he had a chore to do and it was a great walk thru the mangrove swamps for me which I didn’t want to miss out on.
Mangroves have always intrigued me, in part because they are not common in southern waters where I've lived before. Their life cycle is truly unique. The seeds start to grow while still attached to the parent tree so they can root themselves quickly when dispersed in water. Mangroves are able to survive in shallow saltwater due to their aerial roots becoming embedded in the mud of tidal bays, These serve as both a prop and a means of aerating the root system, and extracting the water. Excess salt from the seawater is collected by depositing a crusty layer of salt on the undersides of the mangrove leaves. When the leaves then fall from the tree, the rotting leaves of mangroves in sheltered inlets are rich in organic matter, providing food for worms, mud crabs, and mud snails. In turn, these creatures are eaten by nursery fish like flounder. Shoreline birds including kōtare (kingfisher) stilts and tōreas pango (oystercatcher) also feast here with occasional wintertime visits by taranui (caspian terns) kōtuku (white heron) and kōtuku ngutupapa (royal spoonbill).
Above the mangroves swamps of Orongo Bay Mt Tikitikioure can be seen. The mountain's name refers to the local Māori chief, Ure, and means "Ure's top-knot" it was used by māori as a safe haven for women and children when pas at Kororāreka ns Matauwhi was in danger of being attacked. They also used a blue pigment found deep in the mountain to paint their faces. This proved to be manganese (used to increase the density and hardness of steel) In 1874 after the decline of whaling in the area manganese ore was extracted from the site using a flying fox-type structure carrying buckets of ore one and a-quarter miles from the mines high up on the mountain down to the bay. Here anchored a ship (an ex-steamer named Maori Chief) acting as a terminus and providing the motive power. Up to one hundredweight in ore was carried per bucket. A clever tipping system offloaded the ore from the buckets directly into the shoot of the vessel loading alongside and the empty buckets were returned to the mines on the continuous steel wire.
I digress as along the walk I was set upon by a Belgian Malinois. The dogs the SAS used in those videos where you see some guy all protected by thick clothing and padding running away and the dog leaps on him and brings him down. The owner quickly brought him under control and no blood was spilled. The fact I looked remarkably like the guy in the video - with a stick in hand, had apparently set the dog off! Anyway, I caught up with Scott who now manages a billionaires property outside Russell with his wife - life is pretty sweet for Scott now. He dropped me off at the trail and off I set - up gravel roads and through the other side.
It’s unfortunate that the kauri due back has resulted in a lot of the tracks being closed hence the gravel road walking. It’s making more sense now why some walkers forfeit the north island and just walk the south. It’s almost tempting to walk a further 22km to Helena’s Bay today but thought against it as I did want to check out “The Hangar” what a neat place - an open barn turned into a library, come lounge equipped with a fridge, cooking facilities, bbq, hot showers, toilet, and a liveable Treehouse. Oh and a motor x/horse track.
As I arrived a family was just leaving after having a great day on their bikes blasting around the neighbouring farm. As I was making dinner a “WWOOFer” or "woofer" (a person who works on a farm, usually organic or ecological for the board and a meal only) popped over as she was staying in the tree house with her boyfriend the following night. We had a nice chat, mainly around horses and litter, before she left me to my soup-style pasta and sliced bier sticks. I decided to not unpack my tent tonight and just sleep on one of the many couches here - just me and the mozzies - I may regret this decision.
TIME: 5:12 DISTANCE: 28.05km PACE: 11.09 ASCENT 664m CALORIES: 1,661
Friday 4 February 2022 / DAY 16 Ok so not the best plan! I must have finally dozed off around 1:30 am only to be awake again in an hour or so. If it wasn’t the crowing peacocks, late into the evening and early in the morning before any typical farm cockerel I've known. It was the mooing cattle, but mostly the buzzing mosquitoes. Then around 4 am a possum stumbled the walk of shame across the entire barn roof as if it had just been given the “last drinks” call.
Packed and ready by 6 am and off I go. I noticed a cow walking towards me along the farm track with a farmer behind her. I get out of its way, then I hear the farmer shout “can you bring her down this way” not sure how that would work with him in the way. Anyway, the cow buggered off somewhere else and that seemed to annoy the farmer immensely as he gives me a wide berth. Not my only cow interaction of the day as I see a late model Toyota Previa pull into a paddock - no one gets out of the car just a couple of muttley old dogs. (This guy is all about working smart, not harder) As I walk past along the road I see a dilapidated gate open and further down the road another one on the opposite side. I put 2 and 2 together with clues from the shouts of “round ‘em up” from the car that they are corralling the cattle from one gate along the road and into the next. What could go wrong!!? My extensive farming background (yeah right) kicks into gear and I stand in the middle of the road to stop the cattle from going any further than their intended purpose and prevent any vehicle/bovine calamity. A loud musical toot from the Previa legitimates my action.
Before long I was again on a gravel road walking along through some stunning Aotearoa New Zealand native forest (Russell Forest Park). It's so beautiful to see these many hundred-year-old trees standing so proud and tall on either side of me. The kereru swept down from its high perch with the familiar heavy beat of its wings in front of me, the constant song of bellbird in the distance. However, before long this was interrupted by the pure negligence of the human race, and the complete disregard for Papatūānuku. Down the sides of the embankment were discarded rubbish, black plastic rubbish sacks brought up here only to be thrown into this lush bush. A car had been driven off the side of the road and left to rust, infants' nappies were strewn around the place like paper cups exposing their smelly innards. It was disgusting and it made me very angry.
The cost of living here is cheap as most homes have no power going to them, and a home can be anything from a shipping container to a tent or loosely arranged tarpaulin. Boats sit amongst other clutter with no chance of their bow ever caressing a wave. And then in the next valley, a Russian multi-billionaire has made his temporary home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Relaid & Chateaux where rooms cost $3000 a night. I was making good time and it wasn’t long before I was at Helena Bay. Small holiday batches, unoccupied, lined the beachfront. The sea was a dirty grey colour and the waves crashing on the beach reminded me of Houghton Bay, Wellington with the way the undertow washed back into itself.
Dave (Trail Angel) arrived in his white van, complete with a mattress in the back for guest overload. (He’s had 20 walkers stay at his place once) Dave was a builder by trade late 60s of age and had just had a triple bypass which gave him ten years “nine now” he calculated. I was given a caravan to sleep in which suited me. It also suited a swarm of ants. I was very tired after limited sleep last night so I took a power nap. Coco the large black Labrador paid me a visit and I soon met his mum Kowhai and a cat (part Maine coon) called Jack.
At 4:30 pm Dave offered me a “cup of tea” code for beer - in this case, it was lion red stubbies which kept coming every moment my vessel appeared empty. We sat down outside on their verandah over a simple, but wholesome chicken and salad meal. Alex (Dave's wife) is an artist (some years younger than Dave) and he would often sprinkle comments on his good fortune in this regard into the conversation.
Alex wore a flowing light dress like you might see Elizabeth Taylor or Joan Collins wear. She drank rosé wine and controlled most of the conversation which was mainly about art and artists so I was very happy with that. On looking through some of her work I noticed one, in particular, was from Mark Curtis a fellow design student who attended the same school as Jo and me. A mutual friend of both Alex and Dave came to visit, “Bad Boy Pete” it was really interesting hearing his stories of deer culling and deer capturing from the 70's. Hanging on to a deer while it crashed thru the forest seems an extreme way to make a living! After a hearty meal of chicken and salad, more beers, and more arty conversation it was time for bed. I politely declined the offer of an inhaling relaxant. These hosts "Trail Angels" are just the best as told by the many entries in their guest book.
TIME: 5:25 DISTANCE: 20.82km PACE: 13.26 ASCENT 159m CALORIES: 1,847
Saturday 5 February 2022 / DAY 17 Dave and I had arranged to leave at 7:45 am - I met him ready to go in the car at 7:55 am a little later than he may have wanted. Dave wasn’t understandably, as animated as he was the night before but it was great for him to take me to the start of the trail a few kilometres of road walking from their house. I slipped him a crisp $50 for his hospitality (in retrospect they're possibly making quite a good income with the number of trial walkers they have passing through) they're the only Trail Angel in the Helena Bay area and they marketing themselves quite well with signs all along the trail directing walkers to their accommodation. Some walkers do however skive off without paying a cent and others repay in cooking and cleaning (one particular couple Dave told me, a german couple would walk around topless while cooking and cleaning which Dave seemed to appreciate.
The track went through farmland for a while, unfortunately, I took a wrong turn and ended up knee-deep in a muddy creek, surrounded by marauding cattle, trying to relocate the trail again. After a lot of trial and error, I found the trail again (always the way on these farmland crossings). Once on the trail it caught up with a gravel road and soon it became decision time. Would I go left and attempt the “closed” morepork trail or take the bypass (the purple line) adding a further 15km onto my walk. I deliberated for a while before I turned right. I didn’t want to be the “bad “GrEgg” that could ruin it for the rest”. Haha see what I did there!!?
Gravel roads with the odd farmer trundling along in his Hilux or Ford Ranger. These turned into asphalt roads with little verges which had me hoping from side to side to (A). Get out of the way of weekend holidaymakers and (B). Use the gravel to cushion my feet falls as the hard roads we’re taking their toll on my feet.
At the end of a day's walk, I feel like I’ve tiny fractures in all of my foot bones. Wharanaki Holiday Park reached with a short reprieve from the road thru mangrove swamps. The camp manager had no cabins available so I’m shacked up in the supply room with two dozen life jackets and kayak gear. It’s a roof over my head and that’s all I need. There's a pool here which I took advantage of however, the state of my body may have discouraged a few campers from joining me in the pool, blistered and bandaged feet with inflamed red scares on either side of my torso. I few walkers have left their inscriptions on the walls - this one from Mick Beckers (a guy I followed on youtube® before embarking on this trip) reads “We travel not to escape life but so life doesn’t escape us. Happy trails”
TIME: 5:58 DISTANCE: 25.77km PACE: 13.54 ASCENT 287m CALORIES: 2,156
Sunday 6 February 2022 / DAY 18 Leaving Whananaki and my tiny home for the night and a little girl asks me where I’m hiking to “I say I’m off to Rakiura (Stewart Island) and I’ve got my mum in the back” she looks at me in a bedazzled way. I cross the longest footbridge in the Southern Hemisphere making sure all of my devices are securely attached- as it would be a long walk under the bridge to collect them if one fell through the gaps in the planks.
Once on the other side, it’s a beautiful coastal walk unsurprisingly around the coast. Another day of new scenery hampered a little by the low cloud and drizzle however good hiking weather. I pass the monument to the tragic Capitaine Bougainville freighter which caught fire in atrocious weather and sank on the 3rd of September 1975 taking with her 16 souls. The ship's captain lost his wife, infant daughter, and two step-children!
Moving on … There were some beautiful bays with cozy secluded modern batches on their shores - and “private property - no beach access” signs on their driveway gates. A couple, on a morning stroll, stopped and chatted for a bit which is a common thing I’m finding. Even the cows took an interest in me.
On the “things I saw list today” I spotted peacocks scurrying away as I approached (I think their COVID distancing protocol is a lot further than our 2-metre distance) I think I saw a matuku/NZ bittern. If it was I was rather fortunate as there are only 1000 or so in Aotearoa. I also spotted a pair of pāteke/brown teal residing in a small stream (also on the endangered birds list due to mammalian predators). Oh and a horse.
On reaching the Ngunguru river I sat on its edge and waited for my water taxi, owned by James (also the campground owner across the watery divide), to collect me. While I waited a woman came and chatted with me as her daughter and friend bathed in the river - she was a teacher at a nearby school and her Te Reo was super impressive, which I commended her on. Soon, from across the way a small aluminum boat approached the shore and James waved his arm identifying he was the guy responsible for my ferry crossing - I was given a lifejacket and told to remove my shoes as a precaution if we fell overboard. Once across the other side, I could fill my water vessels and we chatted inside his house James, and his wife was super helpful in explaining which direction to head in and how to cross the Horahora river as the tide was only just going out and the rivers were up from the recent rain as I decided to carry on, as I initially was going to stay in James's campsite and probably would have if there was a cabin available.
It wasn't long before I reached the Horahora river and my first major river crossing. Shoes off with my pack held high in a fireman’s lift I headed into the cold water following James's directions in which line to take while crossing the swollen river. Initially, it was only up to my knees then in 20 metres it was over my pant line, in 30 metres it was up to my chest height (this was concerning as James said it would be the deepest on the far side where the current curves around). It became shallower then deeper again about two more times as the river had gouged out its own deep pathway beneath me. Fortunately, the far side was only a little deeper than what I had already encountered. So it off with the pack, which was a big relief to my tiring arms, and on with my shoes and I wee dab of groin cream as my chaffed and raw nether regions certainly didn’t appreciate the influx of cold moisture around there.
Back on the asphalt roads and heading to Pataua. A campsite named Treasure Island (possibly named because if your tent is not on some sort of mound or relief you’re likely to get flooded if it rains - more on that later) Treasure Island is also a place my mother and father and I visited when I was 13 yrs old (although that one is in Fiji) some good times had there.
Support crew Jo had phoned ahead and advised the camp managers of my imminent arrival, however when I got there after 6 pm the office was closed. I asked one camper if there was a Bar somewhere as the information I had received was to (on my arrival) catch up with the camp owners at "the bar" and pay up. The camper looked at me with an odd look of disdain - as if to say "it's a campsite, not somewhere you go to drink" I put up my tiny tent in the rain - chucked my pack inside and went up to the kitchen/lounge to charge my phone/navigation devices. Fact: if you aren’t charging your iPhone 13 with the lightning cable it takes forever and a day!!
It was nice to be out of the rain, And as I waited for the battery bar to creep out of red I read trashy magazines on the Royals and who’s dating who in Hollywood (Jennifer Aniston and Lenny Kravitz). It was around ten when I begrudgingly took myself wet self out of the comforts of the building and into a claustrophobic tent. It’s not easy changing yr clothes in a solo tent. Next time you buy a washing machine or large appliance - climb into the discarded packaging box and try it for yourself.
Dinner was half an OSM bar. And then it poured down!!! All night long!
TIME: 9:04 DISTANCE: 32.62km PACE: 16.42 ASCENT 912m CALORIES: 3,305
Monday 7 February 2022 / DAY 19 What a sleep or lack thereof! The rain just kept on coming, pelting down on my small cheap tent. I’m very happy it kept me dry though. As I woke the next day I heard other campers up and about outside my tent grumbling at their misfortune.
It was only when I scrambled, like a cicada losing its outer shell, from my own tent that I saw what had happened overnight, and that their grumbles were well-founded. Far down the campsite stretched a pool of water covering at least 100 metres and any tent in that vicinity, not on higher ground was flooded - those fortunate to have some elevation were “treasured islands”.
The rain halted a little so I quickly packed my pack and took it to a drier location to repack properly. I found the camp manager and paid up. He apologised for the "peak time" camp fee of $28 which wasn’t as bad as I thought and after a croissant and coffee made my way out of Pataua. Covid denial protest signs and flags flanked my walk out of town. It was still raining with large puddles to contend with - walking on gravel roads - a couple of detours I was not supposed to take, and some interesting roadside sculptures.
Another estuary crossing over Ngunguru Bay (that certainly got the legs working, pushing against the tidal current with lead-like shoes filled with mud while navigating away from any deep drop-offs). A gravel road took me down to the coast and a long beach walk. But before I reached there a guy pulled up in his Suzuki Jimny looking like he’d just stepped out of some meditational healing health spa, tanned and glittery eyed he asked me (in his broken Austrian/English) where I was going and suggested I should not cross the river I was approaching due to the recent rain. I mistakenly thought he was speaking of the Whangarei Harbour and that I had someone picking me up, so declined his invitation to drive me to Ocean beach campsite.
Only further on down the road it dawned on me that he was referring to the river only a few kilometres away from me by Kauri Mountain Beach. This made the walk a little more anxious as I was not sure what to expect. Drownings in New Zealand’s 19th and 20th centuries were such a social phenomenon that they were dubbed “The New Zealand Death.” On reaching the fore mentioned river I was delighted to find I had company, a brother and sister who had been dropped off by their parents and were about to run along the 10km beach to Ocean Beach campsite.
We took some time to evaluate the river and work out the best place to cross and did it together- strength in numbers. With my pack balanced on my shoulders, the water level was up to my chest but only briefly as before long it became shallow again and we were safely on the other side. The pair ran off into the distance as I followed their footprints for the next 7 kilometres. As I hiked along the beach the tide was coming in and it would force me up against the dunes, the relentless waves lapping at my heels like a playful puppy.
Keeping in mind that I had minimal sleep the night before and running on a muesli bar, 2x croissants, and a coffee for the past 16 hours the body's reserves were running low! Not only that, but my phone was in the red. I was hoping to meet up with a boatie to ferry me across the Whangarei Harbour and stay the night at their place however I had no response to my phone calls and texts. Time was getting on and I had no place to stay once at Whangarei Heads.
The Bream head (Te Whara) track rises steeply from the beach, and I mean VERY steeply!! It was once an island although the waters around it have receded to create the Whangarei Heads Peninsula. I resorted to taking small slow “old man” steps but even then I was really tired, so I rested every 30 or so metres. I re-energised with GEL Energy gels and Bumper bars which required water to chase down - so this too became low! This track took me from summit to summit in wet slippery conditions and as I was in the cloud so the hallmark views were nonexistent. With a lot of effort from Bream Head Conservation Trust and the Department of Conservation (DOC) Bream Head is enjoying a regeneration. Birds including whitehead, North Island Robin, kiwi, kakariki, kaka, and Bluebird are returning. As I walked I would often see from the corner of my eye a flick of a tail in the long grass, I'm pretty certain this was the endemic Bream Head Skink. So it's a pretty special place.
Another historical attraction I may have stayed and looked further into was the Radar Stations built high up here in the 1940s The threat of a Japanese invasion during WWII prompted the building of such structures around the New Zealand coast. The remains of the gun battery and radar station at Bream Head are representative of the coastal defences of that era. The Bream Head radar station was one of the naval coastal warning stations, of which there were 16 in total. At least seven of these sites are now part of the (DOC) estate, including three in Auckland and two in Northland.
The Bream Head stations were armed with the 5-inch BL MkVIII from the US Navy. The Bream Head emplacement had some unique features, such as the disguised officers’ quarters, and the embedding of local rock into the Battery Observation Post roof to break up the outline It also displays a mural of the coastline on its walls. The boredom these soldiers endured day after day looking out on an endless sea must
have been mind altering!
Soon my water ran out so I resorted to supping puddles from tree roots and muddy pools (the taste was better than some tap water I’ve had!) the good news came when Jo texted (after spending over an hour searching online and phoning places) to say she had found a Trail Angel who had accommodation in Whangarei heads. She would not be there but I was welcome to make myself at home!
This kind of hospitality is what makes the Te Araroa trail so amazing! At this point, I was pretty broken by the hike over Bream Head and this amazing news brought me to tears. This part of the trail a 7km walk took me 6 hours and by the time I got to the accommodation it was around 8 pm. I immediately ran myself a hot bath in the outside tub and relaxed, taking in the views of Mckensie Bay outside the kitchen window. It was bliss! A big dinner (backcountry Moroccan Lamb) and straight to bed (queen-size bed included)
TIME: 10:02 DISTANCE: 29.26km PACE: 20:35 ASCENT 1,264m CALORIES: 3,421
Tuesday 8 February 2022 / DAY 20 Here’s a little piece of advice I took from a plaque at my accommodation last night.
“Look Forward, Never Look Back, Move Forward, Never Stand Still, Don’t Let the Clouds of the Past shade out Tomorrow’s Sun"
I had about an hour's walk to the wharf where my pre-booked and prepaid water taxi would be waiting for me. Along the walk,
I noticed a large double gate brandished with ornate golden designs, on further inspection (basically pressing my face to the rails and peering through) I noticed huge elaborate Buddhist statues high up on the hills inside the compound. Impressive!
Once at the wharf a fisher off on a morning jaunt offered me a ride across the harbour for free, it now became apparent to me why I was asked to pay the water taxi $40 in advance! (The standard cost was $20 I have since found out). Still, this trail is also about helping businesses along the way and it is frowned upon to scrimp and not use campsites or use local tourism operators.
This beautiful coastline is marred by the adjacent view across the harbour to the now, controversially, decommissioned Marsden Point Refinery and it feels very much out of place with its lush, rain forest surroundings. However, Marsden Point was where I was heading with my ‘not-so-honest seaman’ at the helm. He advised me that the tide was coming in and further down the coast and when I reached Ruakaka River it would be a long journey upriver to find a section to cross. With this information, I decided to take the road and skip walking along the beach around the Oil Refinery.
I couldn’t believe the number of trucks passing me along this stretch of road - mainly logging trucks barrelling past me, so I was grateful for the wide verge on either side of the road. By midday, I was already at my next booked campsite, so I cancelled this and continued on, with my legs feeling strong.
In Ruakaka I stopped at a pop-up Takeaway venue and had a bacon and egg burger - which was damn fine. And a coffee which was below-average. I then continued on along the beach towards Waipu. So many washed-up Puffer fish along this coastline apparently due to the recent stormy weather, They’re not to be handled as they have a neurotoxin in their skin however this did not deter the few seagulls willing to take that risk.
As I approached civilization the beach horizon changed from flat to little black dots of activity, 4WD Utes, surf casting fishers, and swimmers. As I approached one vehicle the owners made a hasty return to their Isuzu D-Max and sped off as their amorous skinny dip had been rudely interrupted by a lone hiker.
Back on the road again and walk through the Waipu township to Waipu Cove where my cabin awaited. Just before the campsite, on the side of the road was a pop-up community library where you can exchange books - I love this kind of community spirit. Here I am reading The Mothers by Bait Bennett.
A long day! Here I was able to wash and dry my clothes, (hobbling around the campsite in only a towel as my clothes dried was an intrepid experience) grab a hot shower and have a relaxing night's rest in the comforts of a secure and less confined roof over my head. I also took my second sea swim on the trip.
TIME: 7:44 DISTANCE: 33.0km PACE: 16:18 ASCENT 192m CALORIES: 2,569