A Dangerous Business

Date: 22nd November 2023

Start: Dome Cafe (km 497.2)

End: Stu’s Woolshed (km 513.5)

Distance Travelled: 16.3 km

Total Distance Completed: 514.5 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: nothing really, I’m too scarred from yesterday’s mud

Auckland Hostel Availability: none

You’d think after all that I endured yesterday that I’d be passing out the instant my head hit my pillow. I was left disappointed, although not from a lack of effort. Turns out the main road running the entire length of the country is used a lot, even in the middle the night. Some people like falling asleep to white noise or the sound of waves crashing on a beach, I got a symphony of trucks engine braking down a hill maybe 20 metres from us.

I still managed to feel well rested when I got up, only to see Tom putting away his tent and Jamie just about to leave. Guess I won’t be walking with them today. Not to matter, there is plenty of people going to Puhoi today so I doubt I’ll be alone for long.

At least that was the plan, mostly because the tide times needed to do the kayaking section out of Puhoi don’t line up well with when I wanted to enter and leave the town. I wasn’t that worried, I still had the Whanganui River ahead of me. But then Melly approached me with a proposal. Instead of going all the way to Puhoi, we’d only go part way to a trail angel’s place, then walk to Puhoi the following day, kayak down the river, then walk down to Orewa. It would throw my current plan completely out the window but I was convinced, as were Matt and Jazz Hands. As such, I took things easier for the rest of the morning, leaving just after 9.

Crossing the highway, we immediately began climbing up a road, turning into what I believe was a 4WD track, a very overgrown 4WD track. A track on which we passed 500 km.

1/6th of the trail completed. We’ve come such a long way but still have so long to go. We turned onto a muddy track soon after this, which I got through by repeating “it’s fine” in my head over and over. Turns out it was fine. Slow but fine, leading me onto another gravel road. A short lunch break with Melly and Matt saw the last of my snacks and wraps disappear into my stomach. Hopefully tomorrow will be ok without anything to eat on trail.

We then began our ascent of Moir Hill. It wasn’t that interesting, but I was perfectly fine with that. Yesterday was a bit too interesting for my liking, so a nice boring trail that I can go fast on was a welcome change.

The podcasts went on and I got motoring. Despite the hills I was keeping a stonking great pace, still taking time to stop at the top of each rise to enjoy the land I was walking through.

From the top of the hill it was only 1 km further to Stu’s place. He did the trail last season and has now converted a woolshed on his property for hikers to stay in. It blew away my expectations. It looked very homely, with loads of space, plenty of couches, a pool table, and Wi-Fi. I definitely made the right choice staying here instead of carrying on.

Nothing much happened once we all arrived. Stu was sadly away so we couldn’t rack his brains about the trail ahead of us, so we had to make do with asking his chickens. They weren’t much use either but at least they couldn’t peck my tent. We settled in for the night, my hunger demanding a double portion of noodles. We’d soon be entering the northern suburbs of Auckland proper so carrying loads of food won’t be as big an issue for a while. Going to Orewa does mess up my intended plan of getting to the CBD, but I’ve got some ideas of what I could do.