• Te Araroa Day 10
• Takahue Saddle Campsite to Makene Rd Campsite – 20km in 9 hrs 30 mins
• Elevation gain: 1067m
• Cobwebs walked through today: hundreds

Back in Ahipara, I briefly met an older kiwi guy called Matt. He was in the cabin next to me, with his wife. He’d come from Bluff and so was almost finished, and asked if I was doing the trail too. When I said I was, he warned me that after flat beach walking Raetea Forest would be really tough, and said he’d lost the trail just after the summit. And that the barking dogs mentioned in the trail notes were indeed horrendous. I was ready to swap notes on the beach, but he interrupted me and I realised he had no interest in what I had to say about the beach anyway. Thinking back on the conversation during that day’s walk, I got the distinct feeling Matt doubted I was up to the forest.

This, as well as rereading a few blogs, almost got me psyching myself out of Raetea completely. But I can proudly say now – I’ve done it, when quite a few others have skipped it, or chosen roads around it. Yay!

The morning didn’t start well when I heard a car go past down that very rough 4WD track. Great, must be time to get up. Nope, 4:53am… It hadn’t been the best sleep. Nor was it my fastest pack up, but I was finally on my way at 8:15 am. At least the sunrise was a good one:

The 4WD track continued past some interesting places like an eco retreat, then it was time to turn off it and head onto the real tramping track. Would it be the stuff of nightmares like everyone said? Nope, not really… The initial two climbs were pretty steep in parts, especially with 3L of water onboard to start the day as there were no water sources on today’s route.

In parts I could see how you might lose the trail. There are a good number of orange triangle markers in most places, and it also looked like DOC had perhaps been through not too long ago to tidy it up, so cut branches and fresh digging helped. Andrew’s, and sometimes Ian’s footprints were visible in the mud too, which I found oddly comforting.

I was feeling happy I’d got through the worst parts, and thought I was making good time, but about the three quarter mark it got hard to remain positive. Rain about the mountain tops had got through the canopy a bit and made the roots and clay slippery, there were often huge fallen trees blocking the trail, and vines here and there too. An awful lot of tripping and sliding hazards! Especially treacherous when you’ve been on your feet for 7 hours already, and the body is starting to tire. I had a few close calls, but luckily nothing major and came away unscathed.

Fantails / piwakawaka provided good company for a lot of the day, and I also noticed two big snail shells in the middle of the trail. They were crushed up but after googling I think they might have been from the Kauri Snail?

The final quarter saw the trail open out and become much easier going. I raced along, keen to get to camp and dry out my tent since the weather had improved a bit. I finally saw the bush open out onto the top of a paddock – yay, the end is nearly here!

I crested the hill, only to see two cattle sitting halfway down the slope. The closest one stood up quickly once it heard and saw me, and stared – now facing me head on. The trail marker indicating where I should go was about 5 metres away to the left of it. It was a steer but not a calm, sedate looking one at all. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I felt like throwing up. Don’t get me wrong, I knew they’d be cattle on Te Araroa but I just hadn’t done my kokoro no junbi for facing any today, and maybe I wasn’t thinking too rationally after 9 hours of hard walking.

Eventually, after what felt like ten minutes of stand off where all it had done was twirl on the spot excitedly twice, the one lower down the hill moved off down the paddock. Great, go follow your friend I thought. It didn’t. I decided the only thing I could try was move to the left a bit, sidling toward some bushes. Momentarily I was of its sight, and when I moved back I was relieved to find it had followed the other one and gone down the hill. Slowly and steadily on jelly legs, I walked downhill. From halfway I could see them over the other side of the hill by some scrub. They seemed to be staying put. I tried to keep walking calmly, wondering if there were any others. Around the next corner was a horse, of course… It seemed much calmer than the steer, so I walked on by. The farm house popped into view, the fierce dogs started barking but were restrained and fine, I sidled on by, got my tired legs over the stile and headed off down the gravel road.

This campsite is really quite picturesque, and the owner of the property it’s on popped into have a yarn. He was a lovely guy, and it was nice to talk to someone although my own voice sounded quite weird to me! They’ve planted flowers and trees, leveled the ground, added a picnic table by the river, put up a washing line, and put in a long drop toilet. He was a really good sort.

It started raining right after that as I was about to have dinner, so I had to shove everything under cover quickly. It was my first time eating in my little tent, and in no time at all there was hot chocolate on me and my sleeping bag 😅

I’m proud I did this leg, the bush was beautiful. It’s just a long leg that’s all, that would have exhausted most people I’d think. If there was a DOC hut to stay in halfway, it would be two great days. But maybe that would make it too easy?

I’m also embarrassed that today’s walk ended how it did. I guess it’s all part of the adventure, but I can’t help wonder what you are supposed to do if an excitable steer seems like it wants to run straight at you? To add some context though, a cow ran a few steps at me and a friend out of nowhere in Mt Aspiring National Park a few years ago when we were hiking, and I also struggle to erase this news story from my mind. That said, I do pass them mountain biking and walking in Christchurch, but they seem more used to people traffic there.

I need to do some googling. I wish I’d spent more time helping students in agriculture classes at work, or paid more attention to the highland cattle we had on the farm when I was younger! I’d give anything to walk through some sheep paddocks…

(Missing the last little bit as my watch died sometime during the cattle standoff)