The mighty Waikato!

6 May

Whatawhata to Ngāruawāhia

KM 755

Distance: 36km

Elevation: ascent 235m; descent 260m

Steps: 54,000

Time: 7:00am - 4:10pm

The star of today was the mighty Waikato River, Aotearoa's longest river. Much of today's walk followed the curves of this stunning awa (river). 

Again, getting on the trail early meant we were treated to another sunrise. This time made hazy by the Waikato fog. 

As we wrote in yesterday's post our tent was set up in the back garden of the pub. After we woke up we found that all the doors and gates had been locked and it took 10 minutes to find a way out onto the main street.

Before reaching Waikato's biggest city, Hamilton, we walked through farm paddocks, some with dairy cows and young calves. We came across this odd piece of the trail. The stile, which is used frequently to allow walkers to get over a fence, is overgrown with blackberry. Luckily there was an unlocked gate right next to it.

We are still seeing signs of Autumn all around us, including this stunning maple tree.

As soon as we reached the outskirts of Hamilton we made a beeline for a cafe to grab our first "proper cup of coffee from a proper coffee shop" in a while (thanks for that line Midnight Youth). We also discovered that saying that line out loud is a good indication of whether our lips have thawed properly. Try it on a cold morning sometime, you'll see what we mean.

Hamilton also meant shopping for new shoes for Vaughan. The old ones had started their life in Arthur's Pass, some 1393 trail km ago, and unknown km of walking around towns, or getting sidetracked (definitely not lost. never that.) on the trail. Although the upper was in really good condition, the tread had worn smooth and the sole was compressed and offerred very little cushioning. Unfortunately they could not be repaired so they had to be binned. The new shoes worked great for the rest of the day.

(Eliza notes: check out those leg muscles!!)

After buying the shoes and some lunch we headed for the river to find a place to eat the lunch. We spread the tent out to dry and ate lunch while watching locals walk too and fro along the riverside walkway.

The rest of the day was walking along the mighty Waikato River, and the beautiful walkway, to Ngāruawāhia. We've driven through this town countless times, and Hamilton more than a handful of times, and never knew about this path. It really is an asset to the area, and worth a visit. Lots of locals were out on it as well, both on foot and on wheels - it's good to see something this nice be appreciated. (And yes, it very much put Eliza in mind of the Green Belt in Boise.)

Later in the afternoon, with exhausted feet and legs, we arrived in Ngāruawāhia. Although not yet sunset, the sun had started to dip below the hills and we couldn't help thinking that we'd been on our feet from sun up to sun down. 

The motel we were planning on staying at had the 'No Vacancy' sign up. The only other option was at an already noisy pub. We decided to try our luck at the first motel and we managed to secure the very last room. [A very friendly person in a campervan saw us hesitating outside the pub, and said if we couldn't get a room in the hotel to knock on her door (just a few doors down from the pub) and let her husband know she had offered their front lawn for our tent. While we are happy not to have to have taken her up on this offer, it was generous of her!] Our new friends Pol and Aud are also at this hotel. After dinner we hobbled to the supermarket for supplies for the next few days. Today's impulse-buys? Thick fruit juice drinks. Apparently we're fruit deprived.