• Te Araroa Day 27
• Pakiri Beach to Govan Wilson Rd – 13.6 km in 6 hours 10 minutes
• Rating I’d give today’s trail: 5/10

I had such a good sleep in the cabin with solid curtains, it was 8 am before I woke up – feeling dehydrated but rested. Feijoas were on the breakfast menu so I didn’t have to carry too many.

After following a gravel road alongside the river, passing the cute little Pakiri School, it was time to head uphill. This part climbed steeply through farmland to join the main section of track. At least the grass was soft, but my legs sure felt dead. On the upside, there seemed to only a sole cow, far away. Close to the top the view stretched all the way to Te Whara again! I tried to remember which days I’d walked which parts of the view, while downing aloha trail mix and hoping pineapple power would get me up the hill.

This sign was really impressive, and possibly raised my expectations of what kind of trail it might be. It had to be a cool one if Sir Edmund Hillary opened it right? Well, there was farmland, gorse, overgrown vegetation, the constant faint background noise of a quarry in the next valley, lots of wasps and no… It wasn’t really that cool.

This view from Mt Tamahunga was pretty decent though, looking out over Omaha I think?

I also went right by a big MetService weather station, which was mildly exciting.

Then the trail opened out a bit to faster travel. Great, almost there I thought. Te Araroa loves a sting in the tail though, and I almost threw a pole I was so over the final 500 metres of clay, roots, gorse, and steep slippery stuff.

The final challenge was another gravel road, where right at the start I watched old mate race around a corner in his ageing yellow ute, and almost run into a service van coming the other way at a slow speed. Five minutes later a large school bus careered up the steep bit with just enough traction. Sadly I was slow enough that I had to eat school bus dust for a second time after it came back down the road. At last I arrived at tonight’s address – a nice family who let walkers camp on their lawn, have a hot shower etc. The iced water with lemon was divine, and their dogs were cute. It was pony club and errand time so off they went.

Thoughts on today? Could it be classed as type 2 fun? Maybe, I guess it’s just a means to an end… But I can’t see it encouraging more kiwis to get out and section walk “New Zealand’s Walk”. A work colleague who lives nearby said she wasn’t sure why the trail goes this way when there’s much nicer parts round the coast. From googling, it seems there are lovely regional parks – maintained by Auckland Regional Council. I have no idea who maintains today’s track. Presumably logistics were too challenging with water connections around the regional parks, but it certainly seems there’s scope for a different route through here. Hopefully Dome Forest tomorrow might be more beautiful. Maybe I shouldn’t be so picky? Did I die? No 😂

Jo & Greg texted – they’re in Pakiri tonight, and hopefully we’ll catch up in Puhoi for the river kayak on Saturday morning.