Simon's Te Araroa Hike: Day 10: Puketi Forest to Kerikeri (27km, 7.5 hours)

I’d left my water bladder in the hut fridge overnight, thinking that cold water on the road would be a great idea. No, it wasn’t - it almost froze solid! Thank goodness the bladder didn’t split, that would have been a serious problem.

It was drizzling when I left the hut at 6:30am, and for the next 3 hours, but it kept me cool (though I had to be careful of my phone in case it got too sodden).

Much of today was supposed to be hiking through a farm, but because of seasonal operations it was temporarily closed. So that meant a road-walking detour for 20km, down gravel roads past farms, and back on tarsealed Puketotara Rd until I reached SH1.

The original route. You shall not pass!

I think I fancy a piece of Wensleydale, Gromit.

My 10am pic, sitting under a tree on Puketotara Rd.

Some nice young boys on bikes asked if I was an explorer. I guess I am! They wished me a merry Christmas as they rode back down their driveway.

SH1 was very busy, Christmas traffic I guess. In previous sections it has actually been quiet, but not today. I only had to go along it for 1 km, but there was a constant stream of traffic and I was hugging the verge to avoid it. Crossing a small bridge with no verge was rather scary - I had to time my run and charge across.

But after that, the track followed the bank of the Kerikeri river about 7km into town. This section was a lovely change - a shady trail beside the river, crossing a few electric fences en route.

Kerikeri river.

I started to encounter more people as I got closer to town, especially around the Rainbow Falls. A young Asian girl as was curious about my poles, and asked if I was a skier!

Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri

My shin was holding up OK, but my feet were starting to ache badly by this stage - an accumulation of the last few days!

A shady path under totara trees. But, time to turn off to Kerikeri town.

My backpacker accommodation was a couple of kilometres off the official trail, not far from the centre of town. The sun was out by now and this last part was hard going, but I finally made it. Hone Heke Lodge is where a lot of fruit pickers stay, but they have a dorm that they keep aside for TA trampers too. The owners were away for Christmas, but Clare and Daniel were a lovely young British couple looking after the lodge in the meantime. They spotted me trudging up the hill, welcomed me with a Fanta and a bar of chocolate, and showed me around.

As usual, I collapsed and rested my feet as soon as I was in my dorm. While the rest of the lodge is busy, it looks like I’m the only TA tramper passing through, so I’ll have the dorm to myself.

I finally surfaced, showered, shaved, put on a load of washing, and started to feel human again. I even managed to venture in to town to find provisions for tomorrow and for the days ahead.

I also found a beer! McLeods Chili Pils, mmmm.

Clare and Daniel also invited me along to the lodge’s 6:30pm pot luck Xmas dinner, compete with secret Santa. They even had a little pressie for me too!