Ceud mile failte

14 May

Mangawhai Heads to Waipu

KM 419

Distance: 31.5 km

Elevation: ascent 783m; descent 804m

Steps: 47,300

Time: 8:00am - 4:30pm

This morning brought us an overcast sky for the first time in many days. It made for moody skies as we walked alongside the estuary, over a headland and down to the next beach. 

What struck us about the next beach was the fascinating geology. Clearly sandstone rocks but the variety of cliff  features and the colours in the rocks themselves distracted us and slowed our progress. 

The cliff face in these photos reminded us of columnar basalt, except it was definitely sandstone. The fracturing in the cliff causes pieces of broken rocks to look like concrete pillars. Feel free to leave comments if you can explain the geology.

The gravels and cobbles on the beach were all sorts of colours, from almost white, to purple to red. Again, all sandstone but probably with different minerals in them to create the colours.

This section of beach wasn't actually on the official Te Araroa trail, but it was a low tide route which met up the the TA. We took this because at the end was a natural arch in the cliff.

Langsview Track then took us up and up until we had impressive views of the land and ocean around us.

A peculiar find on the track was this dead wasps nest. We had seen poison bait traps along the trail so we assume this is what happens to the colony once it takes effect. As we understand the nest is made of wood which has been chewed up by the wasps into a cardboard like substance. 

Once we reached the bottom of the track we began a road walk which would take us all the way into Waipu. A portion of the road had a footpath such as the one in the photo below.

Waipu is a small community that feels a strong connection to a Scottish heritage as shown by this sign welcoming people in Gaelic. They also hold a Highland games competition every year.

We struggled to find a place to stay here because it's a holiday town and it's the weekend so all motels etc were full. Eventually we found a patch of grass next to the sportsfield which is set aside for campervans and motorhomes. There's no office so payment can be made online, so we set up the tent and deposited money to the relevant account. No one has come to tell us to move so I guess it's ok to stay. 

There's a Junior Circus Festival happening at the events venue nearby so there's an eclectic range of people around. Not that it matters because we're exhausted and will likely pass out moments after our heads hit the pillow.