• Te Araroa Day 46
• Pirongia to Waitomo – 35.33 km in 10 hours
• Trips and slips: countless
• Actual falls: one

I woke up to light drizzle knowing I had to get away early, but it was hard to leave Jo’s warm house and milk that made such a great cup of tea. As an aside, I did ask Jo yesterday if she had any advice for cattle trouble on the trail. Not really is the summary, and “do get out of their way if they seem to be coming at you”. She did add that I should zig zag if I end up running from one! Her family had farmed bulls when she was younger, but she always rode her horse while her father was on the motorbike apparently. Well, at least she didn’t make me feel like I was just a wimp.

I set off at 8 am in full rain gear, but it lifted soon after. The gravel road was deserted and I had a nice time listening to music and singing. After a sore hip that had warmed up and was fine, my right shin was becoming sore. I still had a long way (29 km) to go today…

I successfully found the entry to the farm part. To my joy it was a sheep farm! The trail seemed to follow an old track that left the paddocks and went through the bush in parts. With Bruce’s words always in the back of my mind, I was constantly expecting it to deteriorate. In parts it was a bit boggy, the scrub a bit thick, some fallen trees, but mostly it was easy to follow and comfortable.

I could see from the map it finished with a farm section before connecting to a gravel road. I had that feeling where my luck was about to run out, and sure enough after travelling beside paddocks of big Angus cows, I needed to go right through. I was 17km into the day so there was no turning back.

My new strategy is to jump the fence and walk in the next paddock. I skirted around them by doing this, careful not to corner any in the yards. I saw an app note saying to beware of dogs and prayed, but there were no signs of life from the farmhouse. The gravel road should have been easy but by now my shin was pretty sore. I tried a strip of tape, and some massage but ended up just having to put up with it.

The next farm section started as sheep too, but then had a few cows and a bull. I liked that the trail followed the fence line and luck was on my side with all the cattle far away on the other side of the paddocks the trail went through – no fence jumping required. Then there was an airstrip. It warranted a Te Araroa ‘extremely hazardous zone’ sign. I thought of all the other hazards that had seemed a lot more unpredictable and worse than a crop dusting aeroplane taking off and landing – how could you miss that??

After this things got tricky. The trail went downhill in a zigzag through the forest but there were no markers anywhere and lots of bits that looked like possible paths. I followed footprints for a few metres but lost them in no time. The topo map showed I should pick up the trail if I went straight down the hill, and then a grassy 4wd track came into view. I just needed to get down the quite high bank. I searched a while, but all options seemed to involve a 2 metre drop. I decided to drop my poles and pack as gently as possibly, then hang off a fern trunk and lower myself most of the way. Phew, no broken limbs and only a bit more dirt accumulated as I slithered down.

Then off through scrub we went and the track was really hard to see in places but did have the odd marker. I began to worry a little about the time and the rest of the track. Down through the forest seemed to take a long time, and there were quite a few slippery clay parts. I finally had my first fall of Te Araroa here, and bent a pole a little in the process. Unhurt, but every slip or trip I had to recover from by bracing sent pain rocketing up my shin. I fretted about the river crossing, hearing a noisy side stream sounding full of water.

Arriving at the crossing, I could see it was fine – just below my knees and nice for my shin to stand in the cold water. I washed some of the mud off. Bugger, here it was though – the purely clay mud slick track that horses apparently chew up on a regular basis. It was really slow going, slippery and muddy. If I’d been travelling the other way I would have just got my seat out and tried to turn it into a sled I think. By now I was really tired, and worried about the daylight remaining and how slow I was having to go on the slippery trail.

I eventually turned onto the mountain bike tracks, cheered on the inside at the ‘no horses sign’ and tried to walk as fast as possible. It still took forever, and it was dusk by the time I arrived at the Caver’s Hut – thankfully right on the trail. The key code from my email booking worked, I had the place to myself, and it was way more amazing than I’d hoped! Hot showers, full kitchen, lounge with comfy sofas, mobile phone reception, and it was warm from the day’s sun. A $15 bargain! I was completely and utterly exhausted. I got some food down and veged out watching the women’s cricket on my phone. I had zero mental energy to do anything like write a blog tonight.

Despite it all, I was proud I’d managed this section especially as Bruce had said he’d heard it was awful. All I needed was just a little more time, and a leg that wasn’t sore would have helped a lot too. I hope it will feel better tomorrow. This section didn’t have any places to camp or stay along it, hence the big day. Another reason to be proud – this year the North Island is listed as 1700 km exactly. Where I’m staying tonight is just past the 857 km mark, so I’ve passed halfway!