Tātou Araroa — Episode 10: Ankle Breakers, Hut Fury and the Trail of Glory.
Progress: 1032.3km — 34.32%
Te Kuiti to Taumaranui — Timber Trail towards the mountains.
Not often you get to cross Aotearoa’s 3rd longest suspension bridge!
After 72 blissful hours at the idyllic Hunt’s Farm involving lots of napping, tea (with real milk) and smores by the fire, we set off on our merry way out of Te Kuiti. Sarah’s cellulitis abating, with the help of antibiotics and Voltaren, enough for us to press on.
First up was the Mangaokewa Stream, if there ever was a walk of two halves this would be it. A scenic and serene stroll along the stream for the first 10k caused us to mock the many bloggers and vloggers who’d literally been bought to tears by this day.
And then we crossed the bridge.
Mangaokewa North Road — 12km — 5 hours read the sign. This is never good. We’d been cruising at near 5km/hour pace so far, so the potential drop to a little under half that speed was a concern.
We soon realised why. The trail entered open and undulating farmland with all but small slithers of land closest the stream fenced off and out of bounds. Cue many many hours either climbing incredibly steep muddy banks with footholds the size of a stamp or siddling across the slippery sloped shoulders of the river. Either way it was hard going, throw in there a huge amount of spiky blackberry bushes and we felt most glum.
Some 6 1/2 hours later, a sign! “CAMPING 2.8KM” — followed by a stile and finally a gravel road to guide us home for the night. Home for this night was a twee Trail Angel’s field complete with water, a shelter and (every trampers favorite) a picnic table.
We exercised gratefulness that evening, grateful that Sarah’s leg had held up, grateful that we remained, on the whole, kind to each other and grateful an anonymous farmer would put aside some of his land for us lucky folk who walk this trail.
Amidst the drama of the day was also a swim, unfortunately for my phone rather than me — more on this later.
A transititional morning followed, with nothing of note other than a tasty carrot cake muffin and bacon and egg crossiant in the small town of Bennydale.
Early afternoon we arrived at our task for the next 4 days, Pureora Forest’s Timber Trail. 85km of primarily mountain bike track labeled by some of the aforementioned bloggers as “85km of the loveliest, easiest walking on the whole trail. They were not wrong.
Trail markers every KM helping time fly by!
Phone Drama II: Our approach to the Timber Trail was met by horizontal rain. Our yearning for tree cover justified a check on Sarah’s phone to see if we were definitely on the right path. We were, however the 5 seconds of phone out of pocket were enough to send her phone now into meltdown too.
The 18km to start the Timber Trail towards our first stop, the delightfully titled Bog Inn Hut, passed mercifully quickly. We wondered at the huge Totara trees and the incredible mosses and lichen that gave all around us a wild and verdant hue.
Bog Inn Hut, a 4 person “Basic” hut, looked like somewhere Shrek might have been happy. It was out of the rain and had four pretty much complete walls so we didn’t complain. The thought of getting here and getting a fire going sustained us well though the last hour.
The fire however proved to be a step too far. The lack of dry wood, the windiness of the hut and, perhaps Bill’s fatigued and frustrated mind, couldn’t make it work. It had compounded a difficult few days of tough tracks, broken phones and rain and signified perhaps a low for us both. As we drifted off to a slumber, wearing every article of dry clothes we owned, we knew tomorrow would be better, and we were right.
Day 2 on the Timber Trail between Bog Inn Hut and Piropiro Campsite was an absolute joy. The firmly packed and well marked trail, combined with fascinating information boards about this trail’s forestry origins were but two of the many pleasures we experienced that day.
One of many stunning bridges
Sun was another, huge suspension bridges were too. Some spanning over 100m they were highlights on an already spectacular day.
Our mood was further buoyed by the promise of the Timber Trail Lodge with its a beer and pizza awaiting. Arrival at the lodge at 3:00pm after a nice gentle 20km saunter was an amazing feeling. We consumed 2 pints of their most pretentious craft beer and a shared a pizza. We also met Sally, a 67 year old lady whose aiming to walk and cycle Te Araroa on her own this summer.
To further enhance our jubilant mood I also reconstructed my phone after laying it on the table to dry. It turns on, has full battery and is showing no signs of damage following its swim two days prior.
We left the less poor people to their dinner of Roast Lamb and floated the final 500m to our campsite. A quick feed and we were in bed by 8.00.
Sunlight through the dense and verdent bush.
Day 3, 26km of again well maintained and gently undulating trail. Maramataha Suspension Bridge at 154m, the third longest of its kind in NZ, was it’s highlight together with deep cuttings whereby the surrounding flora forms a rich green tunnel as you walk through the section cut from through the earth. We made good time and hit 15km before our habitual shared tuna sachet (Peri-Peri) and individual peanut butter wrap drove us the final 11km to the final camping stop of the Trail, #10 Camp (so named as it is 10 miles from the original trailhead).
Not a roadsign you see very often.
Finally this morning we awoke to a cacophony of birdsong at 5.30am, began walking by 6.15 and completed the rest of the trail. Highlighting today was the Ongarue Spiral, a 360 turn in the trail that drops underneath itself, though the hillside and then continues onwards. Built to lessen the angle of descent for the logging trains it’s now a signature moment on the Timber Trail.
In our final few kilometers of the Trail we hit perhaps our most significant milestone to date; ONE THOUSAND KILOMETERS. From beach to forest, to mud to sand, from gravel to tarmac and city and town, Te Araroa has already left an indelible mark on both of us and we’re both so eager to see what it has in store next.
What’s next is a tough one,at time of writing, we’re at Taumaranui Holiday Park and will head onto the town of Owhango tomorrow and onwards again across the 42 Traverse towards the mountains of Raupehu, Tongariro and Ngarahoe. The trail should take you up around and between these three giants but the weather potentially has other ideas for us this week. Stay tuned!
The “Why”
Since we’ve hit 1000k I’m reminded again about the “Why” — we are tackling this amazing challenge to raise awareness and hopefully some much needed funds for Mental Health. If you’re able to spare anything, the link is HERE