TA Day 113

TA Day 113: Thursday 10 April 2025

Whangarei Heads - Pataua South

We said goodbye to the amazing trail angels and got going. Today, just like yesterday, we were in awe of how beautiful it was here, with Beam Head in the distance.

That's were we were heading. And it felt pretty crazy thinking about that we were going up there!

After walking through a pasture it was time to conquer the stairs. Kim counted the stairs all the way to the top of Mt Lion. 1203 steps!

Tough, but the views were pretty.

After following the ridge for some time, it was time to make a decision. Going up to the other top, and following the Te Araroa trail while doing so, or go down to a parking, road walk and then reach the beach, saving 1 km and a lot of elevation? The answer was easy.

All in all, Kim counted 1979 stairs along this relatively short track.

We continued to the parking lot just beside the beach, and did a quick stop here at a toilet and refilled water at a trail angel's place nearby.

Then it was time for a beach walk, and we had good weather!

We crossed over a small hill, and Lukas managed to take a really sketchy way down. It took some time, and then we continued our lovely beach walk.

We had a really nice break too, Lukas went skinny dipping in the ocean, and then we sat down in the shadow of Lukas umbrella and ate amazing wraps.

Leaving the beach felt really hard this time, probably because we knew this was the last beach before 90 Mile Beach, that is going to be our very last one!

The road walk after the beach felt incredibly long and boring, and the sun was still as hot as always. But we finally reached our accommodation for tonight - Treasure Island.

The lady who greeted us at the holiday park was very nice but seemed a bit confused. But we bought some ice cream and soda before pitching our tent in the darkness at what we hoped to be the right spot.

Today's:

Distance: 29.56 km

Ascent: 768 m

Descent: 801 m

Tent nights: 54/113

Weather: Mostly sunny