TA Day 38: A marathon to Rangiriri

It was a marathon day for Rangiriri. No, literally. I walked 43 km or 26.8 miles. To date, this is the furthest I have backpacked in a single day. Although I have yet to run a real marathon, I hope it doesn’t take me the 12 hours this hike took.

It was an unexpectedly long day due to some trail conditions. I knew I was in for a long day, but I started a little later than expected, taking off from kilometer 699 just before 8:00 am.

While where I was walking had remained mostly dry, the South Island and parts of the North Island, including the Waikato region, had recently been hit by days of extreme wind and heavy downpours. Although I arrived in Waikato a week after the storm had passed, there was evidence of flooding everywhere and the rivers were still rising.

The night before I had been warned that if I chose to cross the river at km 703 I would probably be in water up to my neck. With that in mind, I knew I would probably have to do an extra 5km to detour over a bridge.

Sure enough, when I got to the river; I found the water overflowing the banks. Unable to see through the murky water and knowing I had some open wounds on my feet from blisters, I opted to get my shoes wet as I walked through the tall, wet grass to cross a bridge along the road.

Walking over uneven grassy farmland takes time. Especially if there are a lot of hoof prints that have been caked by mud. Fortunately, I was able to meet friendlier cows.

I kept an eye on the clock as I went, knowing full well that the detour added a couple of extra hours despite the short distance.

However, I really didn’t want to take a super short day stopping in Mercer. Deciding to move forward, I knew I was choosing a long day. Rangiriri, about 26 km away, was the next available camping spot. I would have no choice but to continue. As for the distance, I knew what I was getting into. However, I didn’t know what awaited me along the way or how long it would take.

After Mercer, I encountered an uphill climb along the Whangamarino track. Despite being only 3km, it was a challenging hilly hike in the heat and with little shade.

The trail led to the Whangamarino Redoubt Historical Reserve, which housed a British military post in 1863. The redoubt contained a pair of Armstrong 40-pounder cannons used to attack Māori at Meremere during the Waikato War. The reserve also preserves the TeTeoteo Pa Maori defensive site.

When traveling or hiking, flexibility is key. Decision making is also an important skill.

Still overwhelmed by recent storms, the mighty Waikato River (Aotearoa’s longest river) continued to overflow onto the adjacent TA road. Although less pleasant, I found myself walking alongside SH1 until the road turned away from the highway.

Here I was left with a real decision. Continue following the path and you won’t be able to access the trail again for quite some time. Or follow the path and hope that the next 20 km along the river are not completely underwater. Not wanting to walk on the road any longer than necessary, I decided to try the trail.

As I turned off the road and headed toward the river, I encountered my first small obstacle. A group of large orange fish swam across the trail as I approached. As much fun as it is to see fish, I prefer them out of the way.

Looking at the water and a school of small black fish swimming nearby, I began to question my decision to follow the trail. Here I was alone, not sure if I would be like this all the way. At that point, it wasn’t too late to turn around and hit the road.

I knew that if I continued, I would fully commit to the path. Determined, I found myself exchanging shoes and socks for sandals and wading through the water.

I could see some dry land in the distance and hoped the path would stay on higher ground. In general, he was right. There were some areas where I had to detour or carefully step on logs. It was slow, but overall it was pretty good. I then hit 718.5km just before the Meremere Dirt Track Club Circuit.

The trail disappeared into a flooded fish field. The remains of a fence were still visible, providing some “higher ground” to step on. With my sandals on, my pants rolled up, and my sticks outstretched to test the depth of the water, I reluctantly began to splash around in the dark brown water.

My poles kept disappearing into the dark water as I searched for a shallow path. Halfway across the flooded field, as I tiptoed and hoped it wouldn’t get any deeper, the legs of my pants unrolled completely and the water rushed past my knees.

When I managed to cross, my clothes had acquired a new perfume of dead fish. I was also worried about my wounds getting infected from the disgusting water.

I took my time cleaning and re-bandaging the blisters on my toes and heels. Fortunately, most of the cuts had come a long way in terms of healing.

After a brief snack and a nervous glance at my watch, I continued on. Despite knowing that I still had almost another 20 km to walk and that it was almost 16:00, I felt optimistic that I would be able to reach Rangiriri by nightfall.

Luckily for me, after 720 km there were no major water crossings. Most of the land was either away from the river or high enough not to be underwater. There were a couple of flooded paddocks, but even in those I was able to navigate without getting too soaked.

Walking through the paddocks meant fun encounters with friendly cows. Also, opening and closing a lot of doors and sometimes jumping over a couple of fences and even moving under one.

As the trail dried out the views along the Waikato River became more beautiful. Finally, I made it out of the farmland and onto the road just in time to refill my water at the Te Kauwhata pumping station.

From there, the trail ran along the road for a while and then turned off into the meadows. Walking in these paddocks was especially challenging because the terrain was very uneven and every 100 meters or so there was a stile to climb. Not wanting to sprain my ankle and starting to feel tired and slightly stressed as it was getting late, I ended up walking along the adjacent road from 729km to Rangiriri.

I continued even as the sun set over the river, and with each step I knew I was getting closer. Finally I reached Rangiriri hotel to camp and spend the night. It was a huge relief to arrive shortly after the sun set. It was a very long day and I didn’t get to camp until after 8:15 p.m. When I set up my tent and tried to wash up a bit, I didn’t end up eating dinner until almost 10:00 p.m.

Long day, but good. I was camping alone for the night in a green area near the hotel. Even though I was alone and there was quite a bit of noise near the highway, I managed to get some rest and took my time getting up and going the next morning.