TA Day 106

TA Day 106: Thursday 3 April 2025

Takapuna - Stillwater

It was already raining when we woke up, but because of the wind, at least the inside of the tent was dry.

We tried to walk along the shore but quickly realised that it was too windy and the waves were splashing on us from afar. We ended up walking on a street parallel to the shore. Later this afternoon we needed to cross a river by the edge of the ocean, Okura River, and the low tide wouldn't be until around 5 pm. Our solution for this, while also having fun when waiting, was to take the bus from Browns Bay to Albany, have lunch and watch the new movie Novocaine.

Such a nice and well-needed break from hiking, and we felt so much happier afterwards.

We bought some food at New World in Albany, then took the bus back to Browns Bay and continued from there.

Unfortunately due to the high waves and the wind, we couldn't walk along the beach like Te Araroa does, and because we needed to time the tide we looked for a shortcut to Okura River. The one we took looked like it was a good one, until we reached a fence separating us from the ocean and river.

Dang it.

We finally managed to find a place to cross without harming the fence, and then our way down to the shore. It had kind of stopped raining now, but Kim was really nervous about the river crossing. We were there about half an hour or so before low tide, and the crossing ended up going really well. When the waves came in, they were just up to Kim's underwear, so the backpack didn't get submerged.

We took a short break at Dacre Cottage, rinsing the sand off of our feet and shoes, then continued along a cozy trail for about 4 km, to Stillwater. Here we had booked a really nice AirBnB for ourselves.

We had some nice wraps for dinner and watched the Swedish TV series Tore, all the episodes, late into the night, and then went to bed.

Today's:

Distance: 22.28 km

Ascent: 574 m

Descent: 560 m

Tent nights: 53/106

Weather: Rainy and windy