• Te Araroa Day 16
• Paihia to Punaruku – 37.98 km in 9 hours 40 minutes

Today Andrew was catching a bus to Auckland, so it was farewell to him and the lovely Pickled Parrot. Here’s a photo of us in front of their famous wall, signed by many a TA hiker.

A kind room mate gave me a lift along the road to where I’d left off yesterday. It was a gorgeous morning and the light in the mangroves was really beautiful. Even though I had a mammoth day ahead of me, I was really glad I hadn’t done this part in the gloom of last night.

The plan was to attempt a total of about 38 km today, to where Ian was staying which is called Sue’s Place. There is a place a bit closer at 30km that was my original plan, but Ian hadn’t found it the best and I really did want to catch up with him. He kindly offered he could come and meet me and carry my pack for the last few kilometres, so we kept in touch via text. Normally Te Araroa goes through a section here called Russell Forest, which people approach by kayak, but with the forest closed the best option at the moment is this long road walk.

After finishing the coastal walk from Paihia to Opua, I caught the car ferry across to Okiato. There’s not much you can buy in New Zealand for $1 anymore, except the pedestrian fare on this ferry!!

Heading up the hill a local woman stopped to recommend I do the bush walk rather than the road walk to the petrol station, noting it was a little up and down but she thought I looked fit enough. So off I went, happy to get off the road. It was a very pretty walk, but the humidity was through the roof and the steep uphills had me dripping with sweat and aware that time was ticking by. I made it to the petrol station just after 12 and bought a drink. I lost the mental battle to avoid a pineapple lump ice cream bar wrapped in plastic, it was just too tempting when there were no real ice creams.

The next section of road was relatively quiet, but a bit up and down. I managed a good 5km chunk before a quick break. I’d done about 18 km at this point and it was almost 2pm. Google maps indicated there were roughly 23km to go 😳

I walked on ok for another hour, then suddenly a 4WD pulled up next to me on a grass verge and out popped Ian! He’d managed to hitch a ride with some nice tourists to come and meet me much closer than I was expecting. It was great to catch up, and looking at the gravel road we were about to climb, I very gratefully handed over my pack for him to carry. He said we weren’t quite even halfway!!!

The gravel road was quiet and we had lots to catch up on. I carried my pack a bit downhill, but as soon as the weight was back on, my tired legs and feet really felt it. Our route took us up and over another hill, and finally along the flat and through an estuary. The farm fences alongside the road were in really bad condition, and it’s a notorious area for stock wandering, and sometimes dogs too. We struck it lucky this time, but Ian gave me some good tips on how to approach dogs if that happens again.

Even without the pack I was pretty much on my last legs as we got to Sue’s Place around 7pm. But I can confirm, it lives up to all the hype! They love hosting TA walkers and have a huge barn set up with 3 different dorm rooms, two bathrooms, a huge lounge, well stocked kitchen with everything you could want and a washing machine with detergent, and all for $15/night if you use your sleeping bag on a bed. There were chickens to collect fresh eggs from, and milk and bread. All the food was on an honesty/koha arrangement, it was just amazing. Ian had arrived the other day just as Sue & Al were heading to Auckland for a few days but they warmly welcomed him and set him up. It was a shame I couldn’t thank them in person for the lovely, comfortable stay but I was glad they had a visitor’s book.

There were 6 fresh eggs, so I made an omelette for our dinner. It really is not anywhere near enough to repay Ian for his kindness today. He is a true gentleman, and I’m really grateful for some company to hopefully help me find my ‘farm feet’ in the next sections. There’s a couple of boat rides it’ll be good to catch together too. I might have got there eventually carrying my pack all the way today solo, but I think my body would have been wrecked! I’m really looking forward to a deep sleep tonight.