Walking our own trail

20 May

Punaruku to Paihia

KM 248

Distance: 28.5km*

Elevation: ascent 648m; descent 682m

Steps: 43,000

Time: 7:10am - 3:30pm

*today included a diversion and a bit of hitching, so despite walking less than 30km we made 44.5km(!) on the Trail

Last night's accommodation was one of our favourite backpackers of the journey. We efficiently prepared and ate breakfast and were underway relatively early, again enjoying the sunrise.

Ahead of us lay nearly an entire day of road walking primarily because of yet another diversion from the permanent trail. Firstly, Russell Forest tracks are closed to protect kauri trees as we have discussed earlier. Secondly, a walkway from Opua to Paihia (tonight's destination) is closed because of a unsafe pedestrian bridge in need of repairs. 

The first 10km was along the same road we walked last night; quiet enough that we felt safe walking on the verge. Except maybe when there was "wandering stock" that eyed us very suspiciously, especially after they had been startled out of their morning breakfast by a very loud sneeze from Vaughan.

The second 10km section passed along a remote, unsealed, rarely used road which goes through the middle of a kauri forest. So it was a really nice walk, in fact it was like we were walking along a really well formed and maintained forest track. The way was lined with beautiful kauri specimens which were impressive in height, although still relatively young. Even though we know how big these trees are, it can still be deceptive in person. Eliza stood back to take this photo, and it surprised her how long it took Vaughan to walk to the tree's base for the photo, even knowing how big these are.

Kauri bark forms intriguing patterns. As a protecion measure against epiphytic plants gaining a foothold on the bark, pieces of it slough off leaving a patchy appearance of new and old surfaces. One of the signs of a tree infected by kauri die back is weeping/bleeding of sap from the trunk, as might be the case in one of the photos below.

On the way up this road we met another TA walker! Tamsin from Auckland is walking the 450 section from Mangawhai to Cape Reinga in memory of her sister who died of ovarian cancer a couple of years ago. She was great to talk to, and it had been quite a while since we had met another TA walker.

After lunch the road joined up with a sealed and much busier road. We walked this road for about 20 minutes, criss crossing to try and stay on what we considered the safest side based on the upcoming corners. Neither side of the road offered more than a metre of clearance, and usually only half that. With vehicles doing in excess of 60 km/h we decided that it was too unsafe for us to continue walking so we stuck out a thumb to hitch the rest of the road. The very next vehicle stopped to pick us up. We threw our packs in the tray of the ute and jumped into the front, sharing the two seats between three of us (including the driver), thankful that we have both lost around 10kg each. It was still a tight squeeze. The driver enlightened us on the oyster industry in the Bay of Islands. His operation harvests 9 tonnes of oysters 3 times a week! 

That ride got us to the road to Russell, and a short distance from a walkway there. No more road walking! This is also where we went entirely off Trail. The official diversions don't have us going to Russell at all, but we knew of this off-road trail from previous visits to the area, and were keen to reprise it. This also meant we could avoid the second diversion (Opua to Paihia) by getting a ferry direct from Russell to Paihia, so it was a win-win. If you're ever in the area and want a few hours of walking through some beautiful bush, not too far from pubs and cafes, just look out for these signs.

The first section of this track was across boardwalk through mangrove swamp. At low tide, this is great bird-watching territory, with several species of rare native (and in summer, migratory) birds present. Unfortunately, we hit the tide just wrong but still enjoyed the scenery. It was less than 5km for us along this pathway, but we still got to see two different types of wetland as well as some forest, and the back of the wastewater treatment plant and the transfer station - again, all great birding locations!

We made it to Russell by 2pm, and happened across our trail friend Aud there. She and Pol are staying in Russell with family for a couple of days, so while we've been chasing them for the last week, they'll be chasing us now. It's entirely possible we'll see them again on the trail.

After confirming the ferry time, we got beers and waffle fries at a pub, and did some quick planning for the next couple of sections. This is when we realised that we only have two more resupply points needed - Kerikeri and then Kaitaia - to finish the entire trail!!

Despite the gusting westerly winds, the ferry trip from Russell to Paihia was really smooth. The skipper spent most of the time on her phone, scrolling, since the harbour was fairly empty of boats today. Once off the ferry at Paihia we had a short walk along Ti Beach to our accommodation. In the distance, you can see Waitangi, which is where the founding document of New Zealand, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, was first signed in 1840.

We are staying in Te Tiriti Hotel, which is owned and operated by the local iwi and is very close to the Waitangi lands. There is also a holiday park here, operated by the same Trust, but we decided to splash out - had we mentioned that part of our aim in doing Te Araroa was to spread some of our Auckland lockdown money in the provinces? We've been doing pretty well with that!

Two great things about this place:

1) it has a bathtub. You'd think after getting alternately wet from rain and from wet foliage for most of today that we'd want to stay dry, especially our feet. But as soon as we saw the bathtub our eyes lit up and we had a soak. Nice.

2) The grocery store is next door. So we bought a big salad, some chicken breast, an olives, feta and sundried tomato mix, some cans of wine, and a tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. One of the better feeds we've had in a while (not including home cooking when we've stayed with friends and family)!

Tomorrow: Kerikeri!