Day 79: Paekākāriki to Porirua (28km, 8.5 hours)

I was up early, and on the road by 7am. It was a beautiful clear day today, great weather for tackling the Escarpment Track (if only it was like this for the Tararuas!).

The Escarpment Track runs for about 10km along the top of the hills between Paekākāriki and Pureora Bay. There are warnings about exposed tracks, steep climbs and descents, narrow tracks, and about not walking it if you are afraid of heights. But on a good day like today, the views out to sea should be amazing.

Great views of Kapiti Island as I walked down the beach

Are we ready? Yes we are!

The first 30 minutes was mostly under bush, and relatively flat. But after that there was the infamous climb to the Lookout - an hour of steep tracks and endless stairs. It was a slow painful slog, all the while trying not to look down as there was a very steep drop to the coast below. 

Starting the climb to the Lookout

Wow!

Pausing for breath. Not quite there yet…

At the top. I can see the South Island from here!

My first ever panoramic photo. (Well, this is actually attempt 6 - the first 5 were woeful)

What goes up must come down… the steps going down were even steeper than those going up. My vertigo started kicking in, so I inched down painfully slowly. The trail undulated up and down for the next two hours, until reaching Pureora Bay.

It’s a long way down to the rocks below…

Going down

10am pic: Ooh, a swing bridge!

Ooh, another swing bridge! Followed by more stairs up?!?

Getting a passerby to take a pic. Makes a change from the selfies!

My final view of Kapiti Island. Goodbye Kapiti, you’ve looked stunning today!

The Escarpment Track was awesome - best views (and weather) I’ve had on this trip. And while it was tiring, it wasn’t as exhausting as I had been expecting. By 11am I’d emerged in the little settlement of Pureora Bay, and after a break and lunch from the local dairy, it was time to push on.

After a hard morning’s work, a healthy lunch

I still had 16km to go today, to get to Porirua. It was almost all on a pedestrian/cycle path loosely following the highway, so was a reasonably pleasant walk, through little coastal towns like Plimmerton and Paremata. But after 4 hours of plodding on hard paths, my feet were hurting by the time I passed through Porirua and reached my campsite.

Passing through Plimmerton

Nearing Porirua. And Wellington!

OK, I’m still going the right way

Tonight I’m at Camp Elsdon. It’s seen better days - I guess it used to host school camps, now it seems to be home to a few itinerant workers and some very run- down motor homes. There’s one other TA hiker here too, Steve - a retired American, I met him briefly in a Paekākāriki yesterday. He’ll be finishing in Wellington too.

The view from my tent - Camp Elsdon in all its faded glory

My little corner of grass for the night. 

Probably the last dehydrated meal I’ll eat on this trip. Let’s make it a spag bol again

My inner monologue and mental playlist didn’t really feature today - I guess I was too distracted by the views! But I’m aware the end of the road is looming - tomorrow I’ll be in Ngaio, and after that Wellington. Finishing will be very bittersweet.

The local residents have just turned up their music. Sigh. Let’s see if I can get some sleep.

Today’s route