- Days 48-54
- This section: 135 km (plus approx. 100 km skipped)
- Total: 1609 km
From Wanganui we decided to skip the route to Palmerston North: 100 km – of which 8 km on the beach and the rest road. That did not sound like a tempting plan for the Christmas days…
Then, after the last days in the canoe: back on foot on the Te Araroa at last!
One last time we spent the evening with our trail family, Lukas, Stev, Morgan, Amelie, Dominique and André – the six of them are planning to be in Wellington for New Year’s Eve, while Jan and I would rather avoid that.
It is quite astonishing how quickly a level patch of grass turns into a campsite every time.
The next day we set off in the rain wearing our Christmas hats. That was not the weather we had wished for at Christmas in the southern hemisphere… Hm, somebody up there must have heard those thoughts, because shortly afterwards it started to hail!
We pitched our tent for the night on the Mangahao-Makahika Track.
A great spot, in principle: flat and sheltered from rain and dew by the trees. In the night, though, it began to blow so hard that I was afraid a branch might snap off and fall on us or on our tent… There was nothing for it: since I still wanted some sleep, I had to get out of the tent and satisfy myself by torchlight that no decrepit branch was hanging over us… The perfect camping spot is a tricky thing: in a meadow you have a tent wet with condensation in the morning; under trees the tent stays dry, but you have to worry about things falling from above…
The next day the forest path and the river crossed at least 17 times, which meant we got to carry out 17 river crossings ourselves. Wet feet are basically the normal state of affairs on the trail. The annoying part was only that the forest was so muddy that it turned into a constant alternation of dirty, clean, dirty, clean… And while wet shoes no longer bother us, muddy shoes are still rubbish.
In the early afternoon we reached the Makahika Outdoor Pursuits Center, which during the week mainly hosts leadership training. The operators let TA hikers sleep there for free and had explicitly invited people to drop by at Christmas. Happily that fitted our schedule exactly, so of course we took them up on the offer! A hot shower and a bed at Christmas – what more could you want?
Besides us there were 14 other walkers there. Surprisingly they were all new faces to us! Our host Sally promised a big Christmas dinner for the following day, 25 December. And food is something no walker really passes up. Especially when it is not dehydrated ultralight rations.
But somehow we did not fancy taking another rest day and then starting the next multi-day section, the Tararua Ranges, with a huge group. Not least because the unpredictable weather in that range means you can only sleep in huts, and places are limited. Hey, it is only food!
Honestly, that is an enormous sacrifice for us, because we are always hungry! We barely know the feeling of being full. We can always eat and have to force ourselves to stop so that the planned daily rations last.
After a fantastic communal breakfast at least, we set off in the rain into the moss-covered Tararua National Park, which in fog looks positively mystical, like something out of a fairy tale.
Our plan worked out nicely, because at the end of the day we had Te Matawai Hut almost to ourselves. Only Dominique was there too, having put in a short day because of the rain.
And the next day the sun was glorious. Just as well! Because the route ran again and again along the ridge of the range, interrupted by moss-covered fairy-tale forest. Very strenuous, but stunningly beautiful. And no place for bad weather.
At the end we arrived at the sweet little Nichols Hut, equipped with six “bunks”, where we made ourselves comfortable with Dominique and Angelynn. Since we had failed to get the stove going the previous day, Angelynn taught us how to make a fire properly. Yeah, our acquired outdoor skills are slowly piling up!
A small footnote for my Camino friends: Angelynn has written a guidebook on the French Camino from Le-Puy-en-Velay to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port . If Camino fever ever grips you again, the guidebook might be something for you (in English, mind).
The weather forecast for the next day looked far from good: rain that was set to grow heavier over the course of the day, plus wind of up to 60 km/h – to say nothing of the visibility. The kind of weather where you are advised to stay in the hut.
When we woke the next morning it was drizzling, but no more than that. So we set off – and regretted it very quickly. Our hut had been sheltered from the wind, and the moment we stepped onto the ridge, a fierce wind was driving the rain into our faces. Without our walking poles we could not have withstood it.
I could practically hear Jan, walking behind me, cursing continuously in his head: “That was not a good idea, that was the wrong decision, we should have stayed in the hut…” Somehow we survived it and, as a reward, stopped at the next hut after only 8 km of walking (which still took 4 hours), the Waitewaewae Hut. We spent the afternoon reading, sleeping, listening to an audiobook – the first genuine day of recovery since we set out! Otherwise there was always something to buy, to sort out, to do…
One long day later we arrived in Waikanae, where we are sleeping in a former chapel.
From here it is only 93 km to the southern end point of the North Island! The countdown is on!