Our past and future

16 May

Reotahi Bay to Ocean Beach

KM 380

Distance: 18 km

Elevation: ascent 908m; descent 890m

Steps: 34,400

Time: 7:15am - 2:30pm

The sound of kiwi calling in the distance stirred us from our slumber just before 6. It had been surprisingly warm overnight, is this what to expect from the 'winterless' north? And our tent was dry! No dew on the outside, no condensation on the inside. That's a first. Sadly a short amble along the path before daylight didn't turn up any kiwi sightings. Once we had muesli and coffee in our bellies we were ready to tackle Whangarei Heads and enjoy these views.

Firstly we followed the coastal road around the headland to the start of the Te Whara/Bream Head track. We were warned in advance of the number of steps which start the track. Someone had helpfully numbered every hundredth step, the last one we saw was step 1300, but there were several hundred more after that.

Eliza almost tripped over this gecko which was ambling across the track. Pretty hard to miss.

There was more undulating terrain and more steps before we finally reached the highest point of the day at 11:45 which we decided was an ideal place for lunch. Peanut butter on wholegrain wraps and a piece of fruit today. And gummy snakes of course! In one direction we looked back at the coastline we have walked for the last few days.

And got to watch the shifting shadows on the ocean surface as clouds scudded by in the wind above us.

Looking in the other direction gave us a view of our future for the next couple of days.

We also came across a few fascinating funghi.

From the summit the track descended as quickly as it had ascended and we found ourselves on Ocean Beach. More exposed than the last couple of days, we walked into a headwind for 4 km until we reached the turnoff for our accommodation tonight. A local farming family has set up a large shed for cooking, eating, and mingling. There's abundant grass for tenting and a handful of basic cabins, and an old caravan, for people who want to sleep indoors.   

We'll be in this cosy cabin tonight, instead of our tent, because the climb today left our uphill and downhill muscles pretty tired, and because there's a strong wind blowing.

This is the view from the cabin doorstep. Thanks so much to the Jagger's Camp owners!

The owner of the property, Murray, stopped by later that night with some equipment to repair the device charging station and we had a good long chat with him. The camp was originally established as a gathering place for family and friends. One Christmas a TA walker stopped by and asked if they could stay. They encouraged Murray to open it up as an official campsite for the TA and they have enjoyed hosting many people since. It's become a very popular campsite on the trail and Murray said him and his family had enjoyed meeting lots of TA walkers over the years.

The shed is called The Bittern's Rest, bittern being a particularly rare and cryptic bird in NZ. It turns out there are 4 living in the small wetland on the property.