Duck, duck!

8 May

Rangiriri to Pokeno

KM 684.8

Distance: 36.2km

Elevation: ascent 480m; descent 519m

Steps: 53,100

Time: 7:15am - 5:15pm

We set our alarms early again to get going for another long day. We're doing a few of these in a row to make it to Auckland - heads up, Auckland people, we'll be there soon! So we were all packed up by 6:45. The cafe just next door to where we had our tent opened at 6:30, so we decided not to bother with muesli and instant coffee...

We walked up to the cafe, signs all saying it opens at 6:30, 7 days a week, but it didn't quite look open - chairs were still on tables, and the music was turned up loud for the employees. But the front door was open, so we stuck our heads in. Turns out they were planning a late opening, so they could prepare for the massive rush that would be Mother's Day. But they very kindly offered to make us up some eggs and bacon on toast, and of course coffee, to get us on our way with full tummies.

We therefore actually got started walking a little later than we might have wanted, but with full bellies that saw us through for much longer than normal before we needed to start snacking. Despite it being slightly later, it was still foggy. Like, really foggy. The sun wasn't even visible as a disk, more just an impression of slightly brighter sky. We were walking right along the Waikato River, and even the ducks and geese were loving the fog.

Why were they loving the fog, you might ask? Well, yesterday was the first day of duck hunting season. So yesterday morning and evening, and again this morning, the quiet stillness brought by the fog would be broken by the sharp reports of gunfire. And if we were close enough (or if the acoustics of moist air were just right) this would be followed by the sound of ducks, geese, and any other birds nearby flapping frantically away.

At this point the trail was a gravel road along the river, so we started off the day with a very quick 8km to this pumphouse, one of three such pieces of infrastructure feeding water to the local small towns as well as countless farms and vinyards in the area. The sign in front of Vaughan says: "Walking the Te Araroa Trail? Need Water? Help yourself to this free supply of Drinking Water!"

Past this pumphouse, the road diverged from the river so we were diverted to walking through paddocks or, often, the strip of land between paddocks and the river. Most of the time this was relatively flat and easy to travel, but there were a few sections that were overgrown, especially with gorse, that led to scratched up limbs and some mild cursing.

We also passed in close proximity to at least one maimai (I'm not sure if this is a New Zealandism, or a duck hunter-ism, either way I've only learned this term for a duck hide recently). We only noticed it, and the hunters in it, after we realised that the 20 or so Canada geese and mallards were not actually moving, and were in fact decoys. Eliza immediately called out "Humans coming through, don't shoot us!" and Vaughan had to reduce the number of birds he was recording as having seen on that section of the river.

The trail then spit us out onto State Highway 1. Eliza had been dreading this section, because walking along 100km roads is not fun, and this is a motorway section (US audience, think "freeway"). But it turns out that the trail is actually through the reserve land next to the motorway, so you are generally well off the road. In fact, we really enjoyed some of that part of the trail - you wouldn't know that the motorway was even that close! (You can juuuust make out the guard rail of the motorway in the upper right of this photo.)

And when it came time to cross the motorway (again, a prospect Eliza was not looking forward to) we found that the trail cleverly routes you under a bridge, so you don't have to take your lfe into your ability to run quickly with a heavy pack and tired legs!

Unfortunately, not all of the trail today was like this - a very short section of trail leading into Mercer was... crap. Again, more close encounters with gorse. And unmarked track. And generally overgrown track. And track leading straight up and down hills because it's just easier to tell people to follow a fenceline than actually make an interesting trail. (Yes, there may have been a little more cursing during this 2.5km section that took us nearly 2 hours to complete).

Once we finally arrived in Mercer, we were sad to see that we had timed our trip poorly, in that the local cheese shop is closed on Sundays. Vaughan had been looking forward to this cheese shop for at least a week now, and Eliza was looking forward to whatever Vaughan would buy at this cheese shop. So we treated ourselves to iced coffees in consolation for the last section of trail, and for missing out on good cheese.

We had one last short section along State Highway 1 and then a slighly longer section along some stop banks to get to the north eastern end of Pokeno, to finish our day. The stop banks were more easy, flat walking - basically a 4WD track raised a few meters above the surrounding farmland - and we only had to walk through one herd of cows in the entire 6km section.

 

We got to our stopping point for the day, which was where the trail met up with State Highway 2. Vaughan's former colleague that lives in Pokeno had offered to put us up for the night, and even to come pick us up wherever we finished! This turned out to be very lucky for us, because we realised that the trail along State Highway 2 is not as well thought out as it is along State Highway 1 - the first thing we would have had to do on SH2 is to go across a bridge that is one lane of traffic in each direction with no pedestrian crossing area. In other words, run the gauntlet. (In the trail's "defense", this is only due to a recent re-route of the trail; but it really is not safe!) Our hosts for the night, Andrew and Theresa, saw our predicament from where they had pulled over a few hundred meters the other side of the bridge, and moved their car back to our side of the bridge to pick us up.

They then brought us home, cooked us a dinner, complete with several salads and a homemade cheesecake! They will then drop us off tomorrow morning a few km from where they picked us up (yes, we're "cheating"; no, we don't care; no, there aren't any official rules about this for doing Te Araroa, you can skip little bits just fine or skip large bits, no one cares) so we'll end up not having to walk any of the dangerous State Highway 2 section. 

Bub, you asked and you shall receive: pictures of a stile (not covered in blackberry). We've climbed over hundreds and hundreds of these in our trip so far, they've become second nature.

Between these and opening your standard farm gate, it makes it possible for the trail to cross any number of farm fences and boundaries between paddocks without having to awkwardly climb, and probably damage, the fences.

Except for when you see a 2-headed cow and realize you need to run away quickly, that is...

(Ok fine, it's actually just one cow standing behind another one, with just the perfect angle for this photo. But still.)