Day 122: Mangawhai Heads Holiday Park to Uretiti Beach Campsite: 35 km

Welcome back to the beautiful Te Araroa, the trail that spans from end to end of New Zealand. This hiking trail has been quite the adventure so far! With only 500 km to go, it’s starting to feel like we can taste the finish. I hope you enjoy reading what happened on trail this week.

On the morning of day 122 we set off early in the morning knowing we wanted to cover a lot of distance today. The route climbed up from Mangawhai Heads, skirted some beach, and then climbed up some more. The views were beyond spectacular!!! Teal blue water with regular waves crashing into the dark rocks creating delicate light green sea foam.

*Early morning sunrise from our Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent*

*Our Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent in the early morning light*

We overlooked down from the bluff and couldn’t believe we were the only ones on trail. The hills had picturesque homes dotted amongst the lush green foliage. As we gained the high point we noticed a section of trail was closed ahead of us. The farmer came by right as we were reading the sign and pointed us along a road walk we can do to bypass the closure. So lucky!

We had a decent stretch of road walking after going up and over the hill. It was raining on and off. I think this will be a daily occurrence now that we are into fall. In town we got some food at the grocery store and then headed towards our final beach walk of the day.

The sun was setting as we reached the beach. The sand was firm and fast walking. I felt so content as dusk fell over the beach. The boats just off shore sparkled. Us two hikers had one twinkling headlight each.

Camp was a Department of Conservation (DOC) campground with hundreds of sites. As we were headed to check in we crossed paths with our trail friend!! So exciting to see him!! We ended up pitching our tent close to him and had a lovely catch up over dinner all together.

Day 123: Uretiti Beach Campsite to Peach Cove Hut: 25 km

We had a slow morning since we needed to wait out the tide a little bit. We forded the river 3 km down the beach at low tide. It was actually still pretty deep. At one point the mud I was walking on sunk under my feet another 6”. I yelled out, “Brian HELP!!” He came running as fast as he could in bare feet along broken shells. So, pretty slowly. Thankfully I got myself out and closer to the shore. Water up to my hips though.

*After the crossing we enjoyed a wonderfully easy beach walk*

Immediately after the river crossing a huge downpour with sideways rain smacked us. We put our shoes and socks back on without even bothering to dry off our feet. We just rinsed the sand off and pulled our socks back on. It was that wet.

The next 10 km were beautiful sandy beach walking. There was a fishing contest along the beach. It was neat to see so many people out on a rainy day with their lines in the water.

We had previously arranged a boat shuttle to take us along the official route across the small bay. He arrived right on time, threw our bags in the boat and ripped us over to the other side in 2 minutes. Once we arrived on shore he got the boat on the trailer with us still sitting in the boat. Nice way to keep our feet dry.

We had 10 km to go to get to the hut. With rain still bucketing down and no shelter in sight, we decided to push. We huddled under a tree to quickly eat a late lunch and then did a continuous push to the hut. We climbed up a beautiful hill and then dropped down towards a bay to the hut. On the descent Brian saw a Kiwi bird!! So exciting!! It ran away before I got to him.

*Peach Cove Hut to ourselves for the night, illuminated by our fairy lights*

We got the cozy hut to ourselves. Nestled in the forest with kiwis calling out around us and rain on the roof, we are very content. We planned the rest of our itinerary tonight and we will be done in 14 days if we stick to it. So beyond exciting!!

Day 124: Peach Cove Hut to Tidesong B&B: 18 km

Hearing the rain on the roof all night made us feel safe and warm inside. We had a glorious sleep all to ourselves in the hut. It was another rainy day of hiking today. We first had to climb 900 steps back up to the trail and then hiked along the hill for a while in the rain and strong wind.

*View from the hut porch with heavy rain*

*An example of the lush greenery of the North Island*

Dropping down off the hill we had a moody overlook of the sea below. The waves were strong and angry looking as they crashed into the rugged coastline.

The trail reached a trailhead parking lot at the beach. We huddled under the tiny awning covering the information sign in an attempt to have reprieve from the rain. It didn’t really work.

We were on the beach for the next 8 km. The beach was long and sandy. The wind was strong and sideways. The raindrops were dense and large. It felt very epic. At the end of the beach we had to ford a river. It was so swollen from all the rain that it was flowing brown and fast. We took extra precautions. We kept our shoes on and linked arms. We made it safely across.

The trail then cut through a farm and we could feel that sand had filled up our shoes. We stopped and attempted to scoop out a never ending supply of sand from our shoes. With no water source to rinse them, we simply scooped the sand out with our fingers. It was ineffective.

The rest of the day was road walking. We went a couple kilometres and noticed a ditch with brown water flowing in it. We decided to stop to rinse out our shoes. We squatted down next to an abandoned beer bottle and rinsed our socks, insoles, and shoes. There was a dead skunk nearby. We laughed at how hiker trash we are at this point.

The rest of the road walking was rainy and wet, but with less sand in our shoes. Our old trail friends “The Snail Pilgrims” drove past us and offered a ride. We already had a B&B arranged so we declined, but had a great catch up chat with them on the side of the road.

When we arrived at the B&B we were welcomed in with open arms. We were able to stay in the guest room and dry ourselves out a bit. Brian started a fire in the fireplace and we all felt cozy.

Day 125: Tidesong B&B to Ngunguru: 35 km

The rain is not relenting. We departed at 7 am to maximize daylight. We didn’t see our hosts since they were still asleep. But Brian signed the guestbook.

We had a big road walking detour today to get around a trail closure. We technically only did 17 km of the official route, but walked 35 km total. It was a mostly uneventful day. We had full rain gear on, including ponchos. We didn’t even listen to anything in our AirPods since we didn’t want them to get wet in the torrential downpour. We had a short stretch of trail where we had to ford a couple brown rivers.

*Beautiful farmland views from the road*

*The creek was swollen and scary looking after several days of rain*

When we made it to town we went directly to the small shop to get a three day resupply. We loaded up two boxes and walked the next 600 m to our room we booked for the night. Our hosts were extremely welcoming and made us feel right at home. The room was perfect and the bed was comfortable.

After a hot shower we had dinner and then relaxed before bed.

Day 126: Ngunguru to Farmstay: 41 km

The morning started off promising. Clouds but no rain. We got back on trail and it was only a couple kilometres into the day when the rain started and I had to put my poncho on.

And then the rain never stopped.

It’s funny though, I’m starting to really get used to hiking in the rain. It’s more of a tropical rain so it’s not that cold. We have our system to put everything in waterproof bags in the morning. Then we just settle into it. We can’t take too many breaks because it’s just so rainy. So we get the kilometres done quickly.

It helped that today was 100% road walking. Easy navigation. Easy grade. Fast walking. We arrived in Whananaki, just over halfway through our day, and stopped at the little shop for food. We heard our friend Helen had been there earlier today, so I texted her and she came over from the little cabin she had rented for the night at the holiday park. It was sooooo nice to catch up with her and swap tales of the trail!! We laughed a lot. There is something so special about the bond you have with fellow thru hikers on a similar schedule.

*Helen took this photo of Brian and I enjoying our deep fried food*

We were protected under the covered deck from some of the worst downpour of the day. We had heard from the Farmstay hosts that two days ago, when we were getting pelted by the storm along the beach, they had massive flooding on their farm and road. We sent them a message to see if there was any flooding today. They confirmed there wasn’t, so we reluctantly decided to push on. It was hard to say goodbye to Helen. We had so much fun hanging out with her!

The final 17 km on the road were great. We had such a morale boost from our lunch break and we were buzzing from the exceptionally good lattes we got there. We arrived at the farmstay just after dusk. The host showed us around and decided we should stay in the communal living room / kitchen area. Normally TA hikers aren’t allowed in here, but tonight they made an exception for us for safety reasons. The camping area was one of the spots that flooded two days ago, so it really isn’t safe to camp there tonight as the strong rain continues.

The common area was spacious so it was easy to cook dinner and dry out our gear. The showers were hot with exceptional water pressure. We felt very grateful to be inside.

Day 127: Farmstay to The Farm: 31 km

Wow, it rained all night. So glad we were safe inside. Today we had a big day of road walking to get to the next farm stay. It was raining on and off. It was very uneventful. We had a sunny break at lunch and laid out all our wet gear. Then the rain snuck up on us and got everything wet again. Oh well… another 15 km to the Farm.

*The rolling hills with early morning mist from last nights rain*

*We stopped for lunch here and were enjoying an idyllic lunch until a rain shower showed up*

*Golden hour as we walked the final distance to The Farm*

*The Farm where we will stay for the night. We met many international travellers while cooking dinner in the communal kitchen*

The set up here is super similar to the last place. Communal living room and kitchen area. Brian and I set up our tent. Showered, ate, went to bed.

Day 128: The Farm to Paihia: 37 km

After a great sleep we were ready to get the kilometres done!! The trail left the farm on a road up and over a hill. Then dropping down the other side we started to inch closer to the coast. With so much blue sky our spirits were up and our shoes were drying out!!!

We stopped at the convenience store a few kilometres before the ferry for ice cream. We walked the road for another 5 km to the Okiato-Opua ferry. It is a small ferry that runs every 10 minutes. It was so fun to walk on.

Over on the other side we got some food and then did our final 8 km along the coastal path. My favourite part of the day! This is a beautiful trail that connects the towns of Opua and Paihia together.

We had a basic motel room at Paihia. But we were able to do laundry, which was our main requirement after not being able to dry our gear out fully for about a week. Then out for a delicious Mexican meal at Holy Guaca-moly. I fell asleep immediately when we returned back to the motel.

Thank you so much for reading!! I will see you in next week’s blog post. We are getting very close to the end of this journey now.

Much love,

Eighteenth week on Te Araroa: km 2,590-2,795

Day 122: Mangawhai Heads Holiday Park to Uretiti Beach Campsite: 35 km

Day 123: Uretiti Beach Campsite to Peach Cove Hut: 25 km