Category Te Araroa

Day 33 (20 to 0 kms) After a few days rest and relaxation in Kerikeri, it was time to head North to Cape Reinga to finish the first 20 kms of Te Araroa walk. When I started from Cape Reinga,…

Day 32 (652 to 623 kms) Feet are sore and have blisters on both feet now. I applied some Compeed to the left foot, to see if that helps. I suspect it will not. Another hot day. At the half…

Day 31 (688 to 652 kms) Did not get a great sleep. Seems like the folks in Mercer like to drive their loud and throaty cars all night. Fortunately I was exhausted from the previous day, so when I finally…

Day 30 (722 to 688 kms) Today was brutal. I have declared this the hardest day on trail so far. I was warned it would be a hard day, so I was a little prepared. Unfortunately the hardest bits were…

Day 29 (747 to 722 kms) The day would start with a climb up to the viewpoint on Hakarimata walkway. I knew the climb would be tough, but it was a little tougher than I expected. One of the WWOFers…

Day 28 (777 to 747 kms) Janet and David fed me breakfast and drove me to my starting point. I could start anywhere, but planned to start about 8 kms outside of Hamilton, meaning I would walk first towards Hamilton,…

Day 26 and 27 (542 to 590 kms) It would take 2 more days to walk to Auckland city. The first day to Stillwater and the second day along the costal path and the north shore beaches. The forecast for…

Day 25 (513 to 542 kms) Wet start to the day and a wet finish. And everything in between was great. The plan to push on yesterday worked well, making it easy to catch the 12 noon outgoing tide for…

Day 23 and 24 (471 to 513 kms) Time to leave the beach and head up and into the forest, including the Dome Forest. We knew from others before us, that the trail would be muddy and slow. So mentally…

Day 22 (450 to 471 kms) Very late start today, due to the tides. The 6 kms from the start and 500 meters from the end of the walk is tide dependent. In hindsight, the first tide crossing was completely…

Days 20 and 21  (422 to 450 kms) My last rest day was at Paihia, 9 days ago. Before the trip started, I planned to take a rest day every 5 days, so I am a little overdue at 9…

Day 19 (392 to 422 kms) Day started with a water taxi ride across the water to Marsden Point. Blair was our Captain for the short journey. Everyone wanted to be in the first boat, but the second boat left only…

Day 18 (378 to 392 kms) Camped at the southern end of Ocean Beach for a reason, as today would be a big day. Not distance, but in terms of going up and going down. My fancy GPS watch reported…

Day 17 (349 to 378 kms) So nice to spend time at the Nike Bay Eco-Lodge and enjoy the hospitality of James. Our little group is well armed with information for crossing the river. We set off in high spirits…

Day 16 (322 to 349 kms) Started the day with crossing the footbridge between Ngunguru North and South. This bridge claims to be the longest footbridge in the Southern hemisphere. Originally built to allow kids on the South bank to…