- Days 10-15
- Kilometres this section: 187 km
- Total: 408 km
After a restful, sunny day in Kerikeri we carried on to Paihia on the Bay of Islands.
There we had to cross the bay by a rather awkward route to reach the point where our trail continued: first a short car ferry crossing, then an attempt to hitchhike 25 km. Sadly only half of it worked out – there was barely any traffic on the road… And those walked kilometres do not even count officially towards the 3000 km…
Back on the track it was riverbed walking again! Two hours in the cool water also saved me the trouble of separately icing my slightly strained Achilles tendon.
The path ended at a small hut where a few fellow walkers had already made themselves comfortable. We decided to spend the night on the benches of the hut to spare ourselves camping in the rain. Mistake! We were pestered by mosquitoes all night long, which barely let us sleep…
By way of consolation there was particularly good trail cuisine the next day.
Or rather, Jan’s understanding of particularly good food:
After a few peaceful hours through green farmland it had us again: the mud. This time not the kind that soaks shoes and socks right through, but very nasty, very very slippery mud. Well, let us just say: Jan spent part of the evening sewing up his trousers…
The next morning at Whananaki we crossed the longest footbridge in the southern hemisphere and spent the morning hours enjoying the view along the coast – a day could not possibly start better!
In the village of Ngunguru we found this lovely surprise at the roadside: hidden inside a microwave, all sorts of little useful things were waiting for walkers. Linda simply knows what you can end up missing in your pack: she walked the Te Araroa in 2011 as one of the first.
In Ngunguru we had to switch to a boat again to cross another bay. Gladly, if this is the paradise you land in afterwards!
The next day held not only two smaller river crossings, but above all a larger bay crossing – this time not by boat but on foot, and therefore only possible at low tide. That was not until the early evening, so we could take our time over the rest of the route with plenty of breaks and even a yoga session.
Halfway across the bay we stopped at the Tide Song BnB. We had heard that true trail angels live here. Rose and her husband Hugh not only let TA walkers camp in their garden, they have also built a small cabin, a shower with hot water… and then Rose surprised us with a home-baked nut cake as well – so kind, so delicious, so good to find yourself in a warm living room!
The alarm went off at 5:50 in the morning so that we could continue the bay crossing in time with the low tide. Before that, though, Rose provided us with breakfast, and there was even time for a coffee before we could wade through the water towards the morning sun.
After that it was back onto the beach. And as lovely as the view of beach and sand and sea may be, today’s few beach kilometres made one thing clear to me: I would not want to walk Ninety Mile Beach a second time! Once is entirely sufficient!
And so with today we have completed the 400 kilometre mark!
A few more statistics:
- Days on the trail: 15; of those
- Days with wet shoes: 9
- Days with no shower / a cold one / a warm one: 4/2/9
- Nights in the tent: 8