• Te Araroa Day 29 & 30
• Rest day then Mahurangi East to Orewa Beach – 20.5 km in 7 hours
• TA ice cream count: 6

I was well overdue for a rest day, so on day 29 I napped, read, ate, did washing and went for a walk with Archie the dog. It’s a beautiful area and he capably guided me around! I saw the Sky Tower for the first time, far off in the distance.

Suzette & Barry are keen sea kayakers and had just got back from a multi day trip in the Abel Tasman. Originally we thought it might even be possible for me to borrow one of their kayaks and get around some of bays into Auckland – skipping some sketchy roads. The weather had other ideas though, and the only viable option was leaving early on Friday morning with the goal of getting to Wenderholm Regional Park.

A constant topic amongst TA hikers is whether you are doing every single kilometre including all the roads, or whether you’re skipping bits, hitch hiking etc. I love following rules, but not making them, and there are no rules on Te Araroa! Before starting I loosely felt I’d try to do everything, except if the weather was bad or it was really dangerous (on the road for example). Up until now I’d walked every step except about 1.5 km where Ros & Hugh from Tidesong picked us up on their way out. However, the part from Dome Forest to Wenderholm is mostly farm or gravel roads, a couple of hours of Puhoi River Walk, then a not super-scenic kayak down Puhoi River.

When Suzette suggested sea kayaking via an alternative route I was pretty enthusiastic. I feel zero sense of loyalty to the actual TA route (especially after the last few days!), but still want to travel all of the North Island under my own power if I can for the achievement. So this is a somewhat sideways, slight skipping move but I think my new personal rules are: can walk around farms with bolshy cattle on roads, can change route for a cooler adventure (e.g. sea kayaking), and still can skip dangerous parts (like the road into Stillwater, or weather-related danger).

We got up at 6 am and were on the water launching from their backyard at 7:20 am, as the sun was about to rise. It was my first time in a solo sea kayak, and I was glad to get the hang of steering. The wind was at our backs but the water quite calm as we went past the shags (including nests and young ones) and headed across to Mahurangi West.

We needed to round a couple of headlands, and this was about when the conditions became more challenging too. The wind was stronger, swell bigger, and at times the waves were almost breaking. I had been out in similar conditions last year in a double with outdoor ed, but a single does really change the game – it was just me, myself and I responsible for staying upright! The direction of our travel meant it wasn’t possible to be perpendicular to the waves all the time (when side-on you’re most at risk of rolling), and there was a period where panic well and truly set in! I was death-gripping the paddle, talking to myself, looking at the waves just enough to manoeuvre for big ones if I had to, but trying not to focus on them.

Barry and Suzette were fantastic guides though, and the sense of achievement as we navigated through the final difficult waves, and into the sheltered part of the Puhoi River was immense. I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality, and adding an exciting and unexpected leg to my Te Araroa journey.

I’m noticing photos are a good measure of how challenging or scary a section on Te Araroa is. Are there photos? Yes = I was feeling comfortable. No = it was physically impossible to take a photo and still be safe or successful! To that end, there are no photos of the challenging conditions.

The next section was Wenderholm Regional Park. I ran into a very smiley woman who greeted me “hello TA hiker!”. We chatted for 5 minutes and I was really surprised she had worked on creating many of the routes in Northland! It was nice to be able to express my gratitude to her. Talking about Mt Tamahunga she said the issue really is who maintains trails and that the trust just doesn’t have enough money. I was glad I’d donated the full suggested koha to the trust ahead of my walk.

I’ve procrastinated about writing about this next part for a good couple of days now, mostly because I’m still confused and don’t know what to write about it. From Waiwera Beach, at low tide the trail goes around the rocks to Hatfields Beach like this:

I hit it right on low tide, and the trail notes described it as “an easy walk at low tide”. It starts off really benign, with a lot of rock to walk on…

At some points though, the rocky boulder part to walk on really narrowed to a metre or so with waves crashing against the rocks. On the other side was often just sheer cliffs. I sped up and was now on a mission to just finish it, as the risk of getting trapped, or washed off the rocks seemed high to me. I felt angry the trail notes made it seem pretty low risk, and can’t believe a hiker hasn’t drowned. Other TA people seem to have loved it though?? Maybe I lost perspective, maybe in reality it wasn’t as risky as it felt to me. Probably I should just be kind to myself and let it go. I didn’t die, I did it, it doesn’t really matter now!

Sitting on Hatfields Beach for the first break in what felt like ages, I realised I only had one sandal shoved in my side pocket. &$@#… Presumably the other fell out rock hopping. It’s a real ego hit at age 35 to have lost so much stuff in the space of a month, I feel like the biggest muppet. If I’d only used their Velcro straps, like I usually did, I would still have two sandals…. I was super grumpy. An ice cream in Orewa went someway to salvaging perspective, and I really didn’t like the sandals anyway.

It was so windy at Orewa Beach I actually walked down the road off the beach because I was in no mood for my hat brim flying up for 5 km. ‘Can’t wait to get no sleep in a flapping tent’ I thought to myself.

Lovely Laureen who I met in the Ruakaka bakery saved the day though, and I got to stay in her mother’s place in Orewa Beach Holiday Park! Infinitely better than my tent!! I’m not exactly sure what you call it, but it was pretty much the same size as my house in Christchurch. I would also like to award this holiday park ‘best holiday park showers’ on TA so far. I was surprised it’s run by Auckland Regional Council.

I sat on the floor with my head spinning, trying to recover, mostly staring into space. Dinner at 5pm seemed like a good idea since it was too early for bed. What a day!