Day 76: Ōtaki to Waikanae (21km, 5.5 hours)

I was stiff and sore when I woke up. It started drizzling as I finished packing up the tent, so I skipped breakfast and headed straight off. Though luckily there was a coffee cart and a bakery on the Ōtaki Main Street, where I grabbed a roll for later.

Mine’s a mocha!

Conveniently there was also a loo where I stopped to drink my coffee. After my small bout of diarrhoea at Ian and Frank’s shelter over two days ago, things had been backing up. Let’s just say a cleanup was needed on aisle 3. Luckily the loo was well kitted out with plenty of soap and a hand dryer. Let’s never speak of this again. 

I was off properly at 8am, with The Gambler (good old Kenny Rogers) in my head. I remember 28 years ago I knew all the words to this when I was climbing Kilimanjaro. Today I managed to piece together the first verses and chorus, but then there’s a big gap until the “and somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even” end bit. 

But, you got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em. Singing that made me think about the TA. I’ve spent 76 days on the trail, spread over 4 summers, and it has been challenging all the way. Maybe I’ve done enough. Maybe Wellington will be where my TA journey ends. It was a very sad thought, that this might be my last TA adventure. Endings are hard. But everything does end. I guess we’ll see.

I thought about trying to recreate my mental TA playlist on Spotify - though the Chesdale Cheese song will be hard to find. My very first song at Cape Reinga was Two of Us (Supertramp). It brought back a lot of memories - I had a few tears in my eyes for a while.

I cheered myself up a bit by planning the three craft beer bars in Wellington where I’m going to have a beer to celebrate finishing the North Island: The Rogue & Vagabond, Hashigo Zake, and Little Beer Quarter. 

Crossing the bridge out of Ōtaki - that’s the Kapiti coast out there. Thinking of songs and beer

I was worried earlier that I’d spend today dodging cars on the expressway that goes from Ōtaki to Waikanae. But luckily, the old SH1 still exists alongside, with very little traffic and a nice wide verge. The last 8 km even had a dedicated walkway - luxury! This was a much leas arduous walk today than yesterday.

See? Wide verge! No cars!

The Tararuas are hidden in cloud today. It’ll be cold, wet and windy up there.

A late breakfast under a plum tree - ham roll and plums 

At one point I zagged when I should have zigged, and missed a turnoff towards a shorter route. So I ended up on the wrong side of Waikanae and added an extra 3km to my trip. D’oh! I also noticed my right achilles is looking red and inflamed, where I’d tweaked it two days ago. I’ve been favouring it ever since, but it still hurts when I push off on my toes. I’ll have to watch that - luckily I have a tube of Voltaren in my pack.

Eventually I hobbled into Waikanae, and finally to my destination at about 1:30pm.

Stopping in Waikanae for a much needed homemade lemonade 

Today I’m staying at River Pa - a ramshackle lifestyle block just out of Waikanae, where TA hikers can stay. One of the owner’s daughters, a very confident 7-year-old, showed me round the facilities. Hot showers, a washing machine, a kitchen, a communal hall with mattresses to sleep on - and only $10 for the night!

My bedroom for the night. From the look of the windows this is an old church

River Pa. The hall on the left is where I’m sleeping

After having a much-needed shower and clothes wash, I was joined by six other hikers. Four of them had come over the Tararuas today. They had perfect weather over the top of the ranges, but said it was easily the most exhausting hiking they had done in the North Island. Just as well I’m not up there now trying to battle it in bad weather!

I’ve realised that I’m now four days ahead of my original schedule (Paul, you were right!). It looks like I’ll be getting in to Wellington now probably on January 9. So from the comfort of my mattress this afternoon I moved my flight home to the 11th, sorted out hostel accommodation in Wellington, tended to my sore leg, and pottered on this blog. 

Only 5 days left to go!

Today’s route was from Ōtaki down SH1 to Waikanae. The blue route marked above is the Te Araroa - I’ve reconnected with the trail!