TA Days 73 to 77: the Long Road to the Tararuas

Greetings from the Kahuterawa recreation center, where I am sitting sheltered under a picnic structure. It’s sunny outside, but the strong winds make it feel quite cold.

I got here over an hour ago, just after 3:30 p.m., and I’m questioning my decision not to walk to the next shelter five miles away. Summer is here in Aotearoa, so it doesn’t get dark until 9pm. Even though there is enough daylight to get to camp and knowing that some of my friends from the trail will be there, I have told several others that I will be staying here for the night and that I really don’t want to just disappear since there is no phone service.

Also, I can feel a blister forming on the bottom of my left foot. So, I’m trying to pace myself and not push too hard. Time is running out for the North Island and with the holidays approaching, people will go their separate ways. I want to stay together as long as I can.

Very soon we will start the Tararua Mountains. I’m looking forward to spending more time on the trail and hope the weather holds up over the next few days.

Getting to this point has been quite an adventure. The walk through Whanganui was pleasant along the river. I even climbed the Durie Hill tower to enjoy views of the city before heading out of town.

From there, I had to walk quite a bit along the road. In total, it was a 40-kilometer (25-mile) day to the Koitiata camp. After several days of “rest” on the river, even with a fairly light backpack, my body no longer felt accustomed to carrying the weight on my back. The roads are also extremely hard on my feet.

We had a few kilometers of beach leading eventually to the crossing of the Turakina River. Our tired legs met the river at 7:30 p.m.; maximum low tide. From there, it was a short walk to Koitiata.

Absolutely exhausted, I immediately collapsed on the grass. I lay there for a long time before crawling on my hands and knees to pitch my tent. I didn’t have the energy to walk to the picnic table that was only 10 meters away, so I sat outside my tent making dinner while I organized my gear.

At sunset, I had enough energy to walk with my dinner to a small picnic table on an observation deck. Nice and relaxing to see the colors melt in the sky.

The next morning I woke up quite sore. After eating breakfast and packing up my tent, I headed out early to the beach trail. Although not as much as the day before, I still had about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to walk.

The walk along the beach continued and was uneventful. No other people, no interesting marine life came to shore.

Eventually the beach turned into a logging road and then paths through farmland. It was so hot outside that the roads were melting. With each step, the ash tree caught on my shoes and trekking poles. I was also very aware of how much water I had left. As the miles came and went, I wondered if I would have enough water to make it to Bulls. It was going to be close.

The only thing I could think about was buying a slushie and ice cream as soon as I got into town.

Instead of walking all the way into town, I ended up staying a few miles shorter at Mayhem Roost. I took a glorious cold shower (because I was melting from the heat) among the trees. Then, I found a nice shady space to spend time. That night I was able to sleep inside a hut in a real bed (whoo).

Hoping for another warm day, I woke up early, had breakfast and started walking towards Bulls. I appreciated all the bull-themed murals and puns. Surely it was a “memo-a-bull” that happened.

I also encountered the first NOBO (northbound) hiker I saw. We had a nice conversation before going our separate directions.

I caught up with Triple C and we took a break in the shade at Mt Lees Reserve, before continuing towards Feilding. When we got to town, we had lunch and met up with Sarah and Distance Frog.

After a quick trip to the supermarket, we walked past some dinosaurs and entered Timona Park for the night.

Thursday morning we slept in and took our time getting up and going. Sarah and I left together and Triple C quickly caught up with us. After a short visit to the bakery in Bunnythorpe, Distance Frog caught up with us too.

The road to Palmerson North was mostly sidewalk, some farmland, and a short stretch of road.

Shortly after reaching the 1500km mark on the trail, we almost failed. We were walking on the sidewalk when out of nowhere a car crashed into the sidewalk and went completely over the sidewalk we were walking on. We jumped out of the way and the car barely touched Sarah’s post. We were very lucky.

Both we and the driver (who was quite young and probably inexperienced) were shaking.

Luckily, we made it to lunch, the grocery store to resupply for 8 days, and emerged unscathed from the trail angel.

I really enjoyed camping at the angel’s house. There were three housemates my age. One of whom had been a Rotary exchange student in Austria. I was also a Rotary exchange student in Finland, so it was great to network and hear their experience. We ended up talking until after 11:00 p.m.

I loved the walk from Palmerson North. It was beautiful to walk through the gardens and green corridor. There was also a friendly parrot asking for scratches. We definitely spent at least half an hour scratching it.

On the way to Kahuterawa, we also reached the halfway point of the Te Araroa trail! It’s exciting to move forward every day.

*Note: This post was primarily written in mid-December.

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