- Days 16-20
- Kilometres this section: 187 km
- Total: 595 km
Our section began with another beach walk, one last time enjoying the wonderful views of the east coast of the Northland region. Because at around kilometre 450 we already entered the Auckland region – although still some 150 km away from Auckland city.
That evening we treated ourselves to another night in a hostel (Coastal Cows Backpackers in Mangawhai Heads). The owner has a good grasp of marketing and kept posting pictures in the Te Araroa Facebook group of the cakes she bakes for the walkers who check in. As an argument it certainly worked on me! And the carrot and banana cakes really were worth it.
The next day a long beach section with two river crossings lay ahead of us. The first crossing was still relatively harmless – the water came up to our backsides.
For the second crossing we needed three attempts to find a suitable spot to get across the river. The water came up to our chests, so we had to hold our packs above our heads. For safety reasons there are sadly no pictures of that.
We carried on through farmland towards another forest section. The plan had been to look for a good camping spot in the forest – but no such luck! So we had to cross the entire forest. The last kilometre in particular was quite something again (up and down, plenty of roots, mud, mud, mud).
Coming out of the forest we headed for the house of Matt and Jasmijn, who we had heard are happy to let walkers sleep in their garden. Luckily they were in, so we could pitch our tent and even enjoy a hot shower! Matt has three different businesses running (a local bacon factory, a caravan rental and something else) – and one day after we camped there, a fourth business was added: from now on every walker may pay 15 dollars for his hospitality…
We were doubly lucky, though, because on top of that we were invited to breakfast by a friend of the household in the cottage next door.
Better fortified than ever before on our trail, we set off through the next forest and celebrated passing the 500 km mark. At the end of the day we pitched our tent with a magnificent view.
The following morning took us through forests and meadows until we arrived in the charming “historic” little town of Puhoi. In wonderful sunshine we enjoyed a good burger in one of the oldest pubs in New Zealand.
While we were enjoying our burgers, some incredibly good news reached us: the manufacturer is sending the hip belt for my pack one size smaller to New Zealand free of charge (my current hip belt has become too big for me, and ordering in Germany would have meant 4 weeks plus shipping time to New Zealand)! Many thanks to Gossamer Gear and to Erin from walkingwithwired for arranging it!
After that, following many days in nature and in small villages, it was back to civilisation: one town after another, plenty of tourists, plenty of shops and, for us above all, plenty of road walking… so the rest of the day looked like this:
At the end, more good news: TA walkers are allowed to sleep for free at the holiday park we were aiming for, plus a hot shower, free WiFi… It is really great how many people out here support us!
Today we made our way to Auckland – the first big milestone! First thing in the morning, though, there was another river crossing. Despite the low tide the water came up to our chests – but that is routine for us by now!
Sadly I have inflicted the first wound on my shoes. Well, compared to Jan’s shoes they are still as good as new!
Following the east coast we now passed through countless holiday resorts towards Auckland, which was already visible from about 20 km away.
From Devonport we took the ferry: 12 minutes later we were in Auckland. Crazy – it was only three weeks ago that we set off from here. About as long as an ordinary holiday, really, yet we have lived through so many adventures that being back here feels far longer ago and far stranger.
Still on our way to the hostel, André and Moritz from Switzerland came bounding towards us, and not five minutes later we ran into Pete (USA) and Dan (Canada), with whom we have spent a lot of time on the trail. That will call for a good drink later!
Here we are:
