Day 46: Te Kuiti to Mangaokewa Camp (20km, 8.5 Hours)

My last entry walking into Te Kuiti was day 44 of my Te Araroa hike; so if we assume the last year since then has basically been one big rest day, then that makes today Day 46. 

Paul has been my chauffeur today, for the 3-hour drive to Te Kuiti where I am picking up the Te Araroa trail. We waved goodbye to Rocco at 6am, and by 9am were in Te Kuiti having brekkie at a local cafe. My last good meal for a while!

I’m feeling rather nervous about today. It will be 23km, rough terrain so slow going apparently, and my pack weighs a ton with 7 days of food. And, it’s forecast to be 30 degrees in Te Kuiti today! 

Breakfast in Te Kuiti - at the same cafe where I ended last year’s hike!

Well, it’s 9:30am now, we’ve finished breakfast, and I’m posting this from the cafe. Mobile coverage will stop an hour or two into my hike today, and it’s likely that there’ll be no more for the next 7 days until I reach Taumaranui on January 1. So I’ll update this post with the rest of today’s (and the week’s) progress then.

Time to head to the statue of Colin Meads in Te Kuiti to hug Paul, wave him goodbye, and hit the trail. Here we go again. Wish me luck! 

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I waved goodbye as Paul left at about 10am, a lump in my throat as usual. 

10am pic: Bye Paul!

There’s always a sense of nervous anticipation when I start one of these walks, and today was the same. I’m alone now, and not sure what’s ahead, or how I’ll cope. So, deep breath, off we go.

The trail led out of town along the road for a few kilometres, before turning off through farmland along a stream.

The Timber Trail. That’s where I’m heading.

The first hour or two was along a reasonable trail, under bush, passing occasionally over streams. Cellphone coverage disappeared after one hour, so after one final text to Paul I put the phone into aeroplane mode to save power. As I was walking along, in my mind for some reason I was trying to recall the words to Pink Floyd’s Breathe In The Air - very appropriate title and lyrics I think (“…and all you touch, and all you see / is all you life will ever be”). 

Several little streams and waterfalls on the way

The route today follows loosely alongside the Mangeokewa River. The easy bit is the first part, on the east side. But I knew that once I cross over to the west side it’ll get pretty arduous for the last 15km. The path to the small swing bridge was guarded by blackberries - as usual I came off second best when battling through them.

Crossing over to the dark side. Damn those blackberries!

I’ve heard this section is rough…

15km - 5 hours. But the notes suggest 6 hours, and blogs I’ve read suggest even experienced TA hikers struggle through this part. Here goes!

Continuing to follow the Mangeokewa River

As expected, it was slow going. The trail was narrow and rough, continually up and down, frequently overgrown with long grass or blackberries, often needing to navigate by looking for orange markers. 

And, mud! I tried to find firm ground around the worst of it, but eventually the inevitable happened. 

So much mud!

Finally it was time for a rest and a bite of lunch.

Christmas ham sandwiches - thanks to Paul and Mum!

The trail continued on - clambering through bush, up and down hills, along narrow ledges, and through more bogs. Occasionally it would pass through farmland by the river bank for a brief reprieve, only to get rough again. I was exhausted!

Passing through forest…

Climbing over and under fallen trees

At one point the trail seemed to stop completely. I backtracked to see if I missed a turn, but no luck. I could either clamber down to the river below, or rock-climb up some steep boulders to the ridge above. I chose up.

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No sign of the path - do I climb up these boulders? (Apparently, yes)

Luckily, ‘up’ was the right choice - it popped out at a 4WD track with an orange marker. Whew!

It was after 4pm, and thunder started rolling in ominously for over a hour, with a little light rain. The final section of the trail wasn’t so bad, following the river through farmland, but I was exhausted and my feet were sore, so it was slow going. At 5pm all I could think of was sitting on the sofa with Paul, watching the start of The Chase. Why am I doing this?!

Not far now!

Finally, after sneaking through a field of rather curious bulls, there was the campsite. There were two other TA walkers already there, Peter and Bryce - the most I’ve seen at any campsite until now. But I barely had enough energy to put up my tent, cook up my beef curry dehydrated meal, and crawl into my sleeping bag.

 

Hello, tent! I haven’t used you in a while…

I was shattered, but I survived my first day on the trail! Tomorrow will just be road-walking - how hard can that be? 

My first day’s route (from my TA app)