TA Day 97

TA Day 97: Tuesday 25 March 2025

Mangaokewa North Road Campsite - Waitomo (Kiwi Paka Backpackers)

We didn't sleep too well tonight - or at least Lukas didn't. The timber trucks on the nearby road, that we thought stopped at 17:00, were suddenly back in action again at 2 in the night. The cows hadn't been too quiet either.

After a nice morning, despite the noise, we got going. Followed the farm road until it ended and then the trail went into a sheep pasture. Rolling green hills surrounded by native trees and a stream to our right. Pretty dreamy! Except that the trail was going up and down quite a lot and were a bit slippery. Sometimes we deliberately didn't follow the trail as it would randomly go down a hill along the river, when we could actually see the marker coming up the other side from where we were. How about staying on the same level as much as possible?

After some time, we went out the sheep pasture and just followed the trail. It was a bit muddy to get there but luckily it could've been worse. It hadn't rained for quite some time.

We stopped by a little "picnic area" for a break. Here we took a swim in the river, had some snacks and enjoyed the sun and us being alone. Jokingly we discussed what would happen if someone showed up, but we just laughed it off.

Some time later, when we were just about to leave, someone DID show up! Which felt a little bit weird since we had just talked about it.

We kept going, and when we reached the part where we thought the trail would just get better and better, we soon noticed that it was quite the opposite. Overgrown with gorse and thorns, and a narrow path. All was okay though, until Kim randomly got stung by a wasp. She just had time to register that the pain came from a wasp, when she saw it lift from her leg, and then there was another pain, now from her back. She started running in panic and crying from pain, and didn't stop for quite sometime. And that pretty much destroyed the rest of the day for her.

When we finally arrived in Te Kuiti, we sat down at one of the takeaway spots and had chicken and chips and burger. While ordering Caleb and Rose showed up again! We had kind of forgotten that we would likely meet them here again, so we were a bit surprised.

After eating, we went to New World together and Lukas shared a beer with them, and we bought a resupply for 4 days. It was still fairly early and we had contemplated if we should only do a short day today and tomorrow and walk to Te Kuiti today and Waitomo tomorrow, but in the end we decided to walk all the way to Waitomo today.

We booked accommodation and continued the walk. The first few km with Caleb and Rose, and we talked a lot. But then we went separate ways as they wanted to follow the trail and wasn't going all the way to Waitomo. But we had found a bit of a shortcut by following the main road a bit longer. It wasn't very nice, but it was fast.

When we left the road and were back on Te Araroa again it was a beautiful walk until the sun went down. First through some pastures, then along a nice path in a forest.

But then it got worse. First we crossed a logging area, where all the trees had been felled across the road that we walked on, so every few metres we had to go around trees. Then the trail turned in to a jungle going steep up and often overgrown, and we were bashing and crouching under bushes to move forward. The only thing motivating us was a hot shower and a bed. We were so tired, especially Kim.

Only 700 m to go. Lukas managed to miss the tail by 20 m and this resulted in devastating consequences...  We had to climb a steep hill pushing our bodies through thorns, making our skin bleed. But then we found the trail, walked the last part to the accommodation and could finally breathe out. And shortly after we had taken a shower and were in the bed.

Today's:

Distance: 34.81 km

Ascent: 874 m

Descent: 984 m

Tent nights: 50/97

Weather: Overcast morning, sunny afternoon

Kim's falls: 2

Kim's swims: 1

Lukas swims: 1