Day 34: Mercer to Rangiriri (26km, 8 hours)

For some reason I woke in the evening last night, and checked my phone. There was a surprise text from Julie - apparently the Pokeno police had contacted her to say my credit card, ID and money had been handed in at the police station.

D’oh! It had probably fallen out of my pocket when I was walking back from buying my dinner earlier at the Mobil Mart (yes, a pie). 

I phoned the number Julie gave, and caught the policeman on him way home - he said he would arrange to have some colleagues drop it off to me in the morning. 

Morning came, I packed up and waited outside for the police to arrive - for 2 hours! I was cheered up though at the sight of a guy in a mobility scooter, wearing a mask, towing a trailer with a little dog in it, loudly playing soul music, driving very very slowly through the Mercer McDonalds drive-thru. There was something quite joyful and uplifting about that. 

Still waiting…

Finally at 9:30am the police arrived with my cards. What a relief! Thank you Julie, the Pokeno police, and especially the very honest guy called Gerald who found it and handed it in - otherwise this could have been the end of my TA!

(Update: it turns out it wasn’t my sister Julie who alerted me after all, it was Julie Debreceny the associate principal from Western Springs College! She must have wondered why I was being a bit over-familiar in my replies. Thanks again Julie!)

Thanks, Pokeno police!

After a quick nutritious McDonalds breakfast I was finally off. Only 3 hours behind schedule, and a long day ahead.

10am pic: my first stile of the day (but there were many more!)

Straight out of Mercer is the Whangamarino Track, leading over the hill through scrub land to a Maori pa site. But, problems - with probably only TA walkers using this track, and with very few walkers this year, it was hideously overgrown, and the trail markers were often hidden. Worse, the path shown on my trusty TA app didn’t match what little trail I could find.

I think this is the way… or is it?

For over an hour I was hacking my way through undergrowth, gorse, dense bush, down steep slopes, over boggy streams, at times going in circles trying to find some evidence of the route. There was a lot of cursing! Finally I popped out somewhere where there seemed to be trail markers (though still very little actual trail).

Muddy shoes

Looking back towards Mercer

The TA notes said to allow 50 mins. Took me over 2 hours!

Even more behind schedule now, I needed to push on.

Passing under the main road again…

…and now alongside the highway for a while.

The rest of the route followed along the bank of the Waikato all the way to Rangiriri - still over 20km away. Initially it was a rough trail - often overgrown and very poorly marked. But after passing Hampton Downs it was mostly walking through farmland along the stopbank (a raised ridge in case of flooding). 

I passed another TA tramper, Graham, coming in the other direction, we stopped for a quick chat (and I warned him of the route ahead). So that’s 2 TA hikers sighted so far - they do exist! Apparently there is another hiker Andrew walking about 1 day ahead of me - in fact Graham said that Andrew mentioned there was a ‘Simon’ guy who was following him down the trail! I think someone I met earlier messaged Andrew to say I was behind him - but almost certainly we will never get to meet.

Passing by wetlands

Hampton Downs racetrack. No, I’d rather walk.

You… shall not… pass!

Lunch by the river

Walking along the stopbank

 More wildlife blocking the way. They were big - but pretty placid.

And, turkeys!

Great view down the Waikato

Selfie time.

This is actually a boardwalk over marsh. I could barely see it, and I was walking on it! So overgrown.

Hardest bit over! Now on to Rangiriri

Yes, I do! Thank you, Te Kauwhata Water Association.

The final 8.5km was walking down a country road. I was pretty exhausted by now, and my feet were starting to hurt. So, head down, only 2.5 hours or so to go.

Actually it was quite a nice country road

Finally arriving at the Rangiriri Hotel

By the time I checked into my little single room at the tavern it was after 6pm, and I was shattered. After a shower, beer and pub dinner, I was back in my room collapsed on the bed, too tired even to update my blog. Never mind, I plan on starting late tomorrow, there’ll be time to do this entry in the morning.

I’m a bit concerned about my sore heels, I’ve been hobbling around since arriving at the tavern. But, it’s time for sleep.

Today’s route