• Te Araroa Day 28
• Govan Wilson Rd to Dome Forest Cafe – 15.65 km in 5 hours 45 minutes

Drowning in dew with a dripping tent was how today started. Jas very kindly invited me inside for a cup of tea and delicious smoothie though, while the kids got ready for school. The three of them went to Pakiri School which I’d walked past, with an older daughter at a bigger school. I learned about the various schooling options in the area. Pakiri has 35 students now and goes to Year 8 but Mahurangi College is a huge school of 1800. The district population has really grown, and Matt had left for work in Auckland at 5 am because the traffic is bad later.

Jas asked me what I thought of the poverty in parts of Northland, explaining that next to Pakiri School someone lived in an old bus on one side of the road while there was a multimillion dollar property being developed directly opposite. She mentioned some other hikers have been a bit shocked.

I’d actually just been reflecting on it while walking the day before, and had also seen a brief TV news story the night before, about a programme to upgrade housing in Northland. Before this walk, I certainly didn’t realise how large the Northland region was. I guess I just didn’t spend a lot of time looking at a map, and it didn’t register on my radar. I’m embarrassed to say I wouldn’t have paid much attention to that news story either previously.

Walking through Northland though, I’ve seen rundown farms with poor fencing, lots of caravans/buses/ramshackle structures and occasionally tents. I’ve also passed through really affluent suburbs, seen developments and subdivisions underway, and felt that Paihia was a bit like the Queenstown of Northland. I have a new understanding of why New Zealand First fought hard for initiatives like the provincial growth fund.

I’ve had some discussions about education and schools along this journey, and thought that another person from Christchurch made a really good point. They queried why affluent schools in Christchurch have offered voluntourism trips to third world countries to help build orphanages etc, when there is actually a great deal of poverty on our doorsteps in New Zealand.

I don’t know what the answers are at all, but I’m glad that I now have a far better awareness of some of the issues than I had before. I’ve also gained a geographical and cultural understanding of the Northland region, and a list of places I’d like to revisit for a more leisurely holiday in the future. I’ve often talked about how travelling overseas or studying in a different country broadens your thinking. Now I can see there is lots to be gained and learned at home too.

I could have chatted with Jas all morning but I had to get on the way through Dome Forest.

The other day when passing the district boundary sign, it reminded me of a work colleague who represented a school of the same name. Thinking more, I remembered her enthusing about the beautiful place she lived, and that it must be somewhere around here. Although very random, I decided to reach out. Suzette’s very kindly picking me up after my walk today so I can stay at her house tonight!

This required me giving a reasonable time estimate of when I’d be out. Easier said than done! I was moving at a good pace, enjoying the cool forest on a sunny day. There were lots of roots, but compared to previous days, it was a very nice track!

After a couple of hours, I was almost halfway on the map in terms of distance. Deep in a dense valley though there was no mobile reception and the satellite messenger was having trouble finding a signal. I was trying to send a time update, but then popped out onto the short section of closed forestry road. Good news – plenty of sky to find a satellite. Bad news – the sign says the remaining 6km will take 4 hours 30 minutes?!?! Yes there was some climbing, but not a huge amount. Did the track get a lot worse?

Just as I was pondering this, a woman came jogging down the road. I’d seen, and saw no one else for the entire day. It was the middle of nowhere far away from any road ends, let alone houses and yet she had no pack, and looked like a jogger, not an ultra runner or even trail runner… It was mysterious. Have I spent too long in forests and imagined her?? Nope – she came back past me ten minutes later while I was still eating lunch.

Long story short, I hustled successfully and was 8 minutes early to my 3 pm pick up time. It took 3 hours rather than 4 hours 30 minutes… I don’t envy the task of making signs though, everyone walks so differently. I was surprised that soon after I heard state highway 1 from quite a distance away, I could also smell fumes in the middle of the forest.

It was great to see Suzette again. She’d actually been on the interview panel of my last job, and I felt she’d played quite a role in me getting the job. We’d also been on an exciting rafting trip together in the course of work, and I last saw her quite a while ago in China when doing marketing events there. She was always someone I respected and looked up to in my industry. It felt fitting to catch up again now that she’s retired, and I’ve finished my job.

She very kindly showed me all around the area and regional parks, as we drove back to their place in Mahurangi East. They’re right on the waterfront, in the most open air house I’ve ever visited. Bright and colourful, surrounded by birdsong, it was just bliss to vege out on the sofa that afternoon. The guest room had the bed of my dreams, and was in its own wing with a bathroom and lounge too. Perfect for pulling everything out of my pack, and spreading it everywhere as I’m very prone to doing these days 😅 I was one very grateful and happy camper.