Day 14: The Farm campsite to Helena Bay (16km, 4.5 hours)

It was chilly overnight, I had to put my fleece on inside my sleeping bag. But it warmed up after sunrise. I allowed myself a sleep in until 7:30am - it’ll be a shorter day today.

On the road at 9am. It’s all road walking today, though that will change from tomorrow. There seems to be quite a bit of holiday traffic, and not much verge on these roads today, so again I was crisscrossing the road or jumping into the verge pretty frequently to avoid cars.

My 10am pic. More roads today.

Passing through rural countryside. Unusually, this pic has a decent verge.

I stopped for an ice cream at the Oakura turnoff, and then on to Helena Bay. I’ve been following the same Russell Rd now for almost 2 days - the Farm was number 3632, my destination today number 1807. But before I could get there, a van drove by and someone called out “Simon?”. I was a bit confused until I realised it was Alex and Dave, my hosts tonight. They picked me up and drove me the last 500m to their place. (I’d already passed the turnoff to tomorrow’s trail route, they’ll drop me back to that point tomorrow).

There’s no campsite in Helena Bay, but Alex and Dave welcome TA trampers to camp at their place just off the trail. They’ve also set up a little caravan, where I’m staying tonight. Very cosy!

My home for tonight.

The first thing they offered me was a beer (I said yes please). Alex later drove me down to Helena Bay for a look, as the trail will bypass that tomorrow.

Helena Bay

Alex, with Kowhai and Toto.

And later I joined them for a chat and a barbecue dinner - chicken, sweet corn, potatoes and salad (and a beer and wine). Alex is an artist, Dave an ex-builder but about to go in for heart surgery soon. It was lovely spending time with them and sharing stories - in fact it was the most time I’ve spent with anyone all trip, apart from Donald and Anthony in Paihia, and Clare at the campsites on 90 Mile Beach. They don’t charge for anything, they just ask for a koha. 

Surveying the damage after dinner. Thanks so much for a lovely afternoon Alex and Dave!

Then, off to the caravan to do my blog, and bed. It will be a very long day tomorrow to Whananaki, I’ll need my beauty sleep.

PS: Checking the TA app, today I’m at the 293km mark. And home is 586km. I’m officially half way!