TA Days 46 to 50: Trail Meetings from Whatawhata via Pirongia to Waitomo

And we are back! Back on the road after resting in Hamilton and back by tram!

Greetings from Waitomo, where I’ll be taking a zero day to raft some glow worm caves. We’re at 891km and have enjoyed a lot more trail action over the past few days.

On Monday afternoon, I took a short hike from Hamilton through farmland and the Taitua Arboretum to Whatawhata. The arboretum was beautiful with its large trees and flowers.

Although brief, I finally saw Distance Frog on Whatawhata for the first time in almost two weeks. After walking together to Auckland, we went our separate ways while taking some time off the road.

After one more night in the comfort of a real bed at my friend’s house, on Tuesday morning I set off again. A short stretch of road from Whatawhata became a farmland trail along a river, then a dirt road, before finally becoming the Karamu Footbridge.

Of all the farmland I have passed through, the Karamu may be the most beautiful! Rolling green hills, interesting rock formations, lots of cows and sheep. I’ve never been to Scotland or Ireland, but I imagine they’re pretty similar.

I was glad to have cloudy weather for this track, instead of the previous hot and sunny days. From there a short stretch of road became the Nikau Trail to Kaniwhaniwha Campground.

Kaniwhaniwha is where the real magic began. Not only was Distance Frog there, but also another friend I hadn’t seen since river course training in September! We also met some other friendly hikers.

The area next to the campground was beautiful with lush forests and a lazy river. We spent a lot of time submerged and I found some peace watching the currents flow while the cold water soothed my aching feet.

Unfortunately, sleep continued to elude me that night. After several unexpected snacks, I took a short walk at 3am to get out of my tent for a bit. The sky was clear and the stars were shining. When I got back to my tent, I had breakfast: a multigrain wrap with about 100g of peanut butter, ground flax, chia and sunflower seeds, and a bunch of dates rolled inside. At least I couldn’t worry about being too hungry to fall asleep again.

I maybe fell asleep for an hour before waking up around 5am and starting to pack, so I could leave when the sun came up.

With “snail mode” activated, I slowly began my ascent through the forest to Pirongia. I went up and up. It took me three hours and the help of some music and my own bad singing to have enough energy to make it to the top. Even though clouds obscured the view, I climbed the top tower to see the «view.»

From there I headed to the Pahautea Shelter, where I chatted with some hikers and trail workers while having a snack. I even got a glimpse of the foothills before the rain finally came.

Although not as muddy as Raetea Forest in Northland, Pirongia had some wet sections. Past the cabin, the path continued to climb before a long and somewhat slippery descent.

Fatigue hit my legs in the last kilometer, I had a few slips and dipped one shoe in the mud. It was a relief to finally get to the bottom.

From there it was a 9km walk to Jo’s Funny Farm for the night. It wasn’t a long walk, but the winds were howling and the rain was pounding. By the time I got to camp, I was completely soaked.

However, it was a happy moment; reuniting the German couple and marking the reunion of four of the five tram members! We also saw two friends we hadn’t bumped into since Paihia over a month earlier!

That night, twelve of us hikers had a giant sleepover; camping in a garage on mattresses, sofas and cots. A cozy evening with friends as the rain lashed down all night.

The next morning, I took my time getting up and getting going as it continued to rain. Fortunately, when I left, I only had to deal with a few sparks.

I was quite enjoying the walk through the forest, until km 867 when I unexpectedly hit my head. I was busy staring at the ground trying to navigate a particularly muddy section, when the next thing I knew I was falling backwards into the mud.

My backpack and my left hand saved me from getting wet. It took me a few minutes to realize what happened, as my teeth also hurt, I had no vision, and I felt out of place. I’m pretty sure I suffered a concussion from hitting my forehead on a branch.

After getting injured, I found the last four kilometers to camp quite tedious. It was a relief to finally walk up to 871 km and rest.

Being a fairly short day, we were able to spend a lot of time relaxing and playing cards inside “the hangar”.

On Friday morning it was time to travel to Waitomo. I think we’ve all turned around while crossing some farmland at one time or another.

There were some slippery sections on clay terrain and a river crossing along the way. Cold, but easy to navigate. Overall it was a nice walk around the city and a pleasure to chat with different people on the way into the city.

At the hostel we got a surprise; We met a guy who we started the Te Araroa trail with on September 26th. We hadn’t seen him since Raetea Forest on October 2, but we often wondered how he was doing. It’s great to see Ben crushing it!

The last few days have been great reconnecting with old trail friends and making new ones! People definitely make life more memorable.

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