An unnecessary scare

22 May

Kerikeri to Puketi Hut

KM 197.5

Distance: 31.2

Elevation: ascent 675m; descent 378m

Steps: 46,600

Time: 7:30am - 3:45pm

After a wonderful rest at the Holiday Park, we woke up refreshed and ready for the day. Good thing, too, because our packs are heavy again! (Not as heavy as they were heading into the Richmond Ranges, but definitely heavier than they've felt in a while. Are we getting soft?) The Kerikeri river was looking lovely in the early morning light as we passed the Stone House and its surrounds - an historic site with both Maori and early British settler stories to tell.

Further up the Kerikeri river we came to the Rainbow Falls - we've visited these before - there are a whole lot of entrances onto the Kerikeri River Walkway, so you can walk as far as you want to. In fact, there were a lot of locals out enjoying this pathway today, all with friendly smiles. The smiles didn't even fade when a brief but drenching shower came past, although one or two did change direction and seem to head back to their cars. Luckily we had just decided to take a break under a well-leafed tree, so we stayed protected and settled in for the rain to pass, which it did in less than 10 minutes.

After a few more kilometers, the nature of the Kerikeri walkway changes a bit - this is probably just past the end of where most locals will go - and it becomes more of a narrow hiking trail that follows increasingly small tributary streams up into farmland. This whole section of track is actually in pretty good condition. There were several signs up from a local construction company who had gotten work to do some upgrades on this section of trail; some in late 2021, others earlier in 2022. So the boardwalks, netting, etc are for the most part well placed (we only had to walk through a short boggy bit). 

Then we came to about 15km of road walking. Very quiet rural roads, most of them metalled (gravel), so we didn't have to worry about safety. But it didn't exactly lend itself to photographic views (unless you like rural farmland, which actually is quite pretty!). So we pretty much both just put on podcasts and had our heads down into the wind.

We were stopped at one point by a man looking for the Puketi Forest Recreation Area, which was also our destination for the night. He was going very much the wrong way up a road we were coming down, so we were able to turn him around to go the correct way. He didn't seem entirely "with it", though, and we didn't exactly relish the idea of sharing the hut with him. It did look like his car was loaded up and possibly self-contained, so we hoped he was just looking or a good place to park his car.

An hour or two later, just a few kilometers short of the hut, we encountered him again. He this time was speeding back away from the hut. He stopped the car to tell us that he had encountered an angry man who pulled a shotgun on him, threatened to bean him over then head with a two-by-four, and claimed that this was his land. Our interlocutor was confused, saying he didn't know if that man's land backed up on DoC land or what was going on, and advised us to be careful, and to be ready to call the police if needed. He'd given up on the prospect of camping at Puketi and was off to find another place for the night.

Needless to say, we were a little trepidatious for the last few kilometers to the hut, and into the Recreation Area. We didn't encounter any crazy people, but we did pass several private driveways right near the (extremely obvious and well-signed) entrance to the Recreation Area. So our working theory (that we had already started on even before arriving at the hut) was that this man just really cannot follow maps or signs, had gotten himself onto someone's private property, and in general probably shouldn't be travelling on his own without a navigator.

Still, we breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the hut - both because we were missing out on the above drama, and because our feet were very ready for us to be done!

This is the last hut we will stay in on the trail, which also means for people starting at Cape Reinga and going south, this is their first impression of huts in New Zealand (especially if they are from overseas!). Let's just say that this is NOT a typical hut. 

A couple of differences, let's just compare this to Martin's Hut, which was the first hut we stayed at on the trail. Puketi hut has a floor, a proper (closed) fireplace, doors and windows that actually close, and bunks for 12. It also has power (!!!), mobile phone reception, nice loos (including a cold shower), a refrigerator, stovetop, microwave, and electric kettles -- all the comforts of home, truly! Martin's hut had... none of those things? It slept four, had dirt floors, an open fireplace that belched more smoke into the room than heat, one tiny window that barely let any light in, but gaps in the walls that let plenty of wind in, and one of the more dire long-drop loos that we saw on the trail (and that's saying something!). 

Shortly after we arrived, while we were still enjoying our coffee (Eliza) and soup (Vaughan), a couple of older women came up off one of the nearby short tracks, having come out for a day hike. They were out (successfully) looking for mushrooms, and showed these beautiful coral funghi to Vaughan. Apparently there are also some blue mushrooms in the area, so we'll be looking for those tomorrow, they're so beautiful to find!  

And then, just before dark, Aud and Pol made it to the hut, so we get to share this luxury with them - and possibly get to walk with them more or less for the rest of the trail! We are also one day behind another TA NOBO'er that Aud and Pol have met, but we have not. We know this because with the four of us tonight there are now exactly five names in the brand new hut book - we were so close to being the first in a book! (Second's not too bad, though!)

The final scare (or at least startle) of the day was when various phones started making an obnoxious noise: New Zealand's Civil Defense testing the mobile phone alert system!