A Dangerous Business

Date: 3rd December 2023

Start: Backpackers Central, Hamilton (km 768.7)

End: Village Cafe, Whatawhata (km 784.4)

Distance Travelled: 15.7 km

Total Distance Completed: 781 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: The Shire by Howard Shore

Is it Sweat or Rain Inside my Rain Jacket: honestly I can’t tell, hopefully not both

Hamilton offered up another cool, grey day when I woke up, but not a rainy one. It’s not what I expected but I’ll take it. It may come later but whilst it’s dry I might as well make the most of it. Make the most of the warm and cosy hostel, that is. I was still tossing up whether I only wanted to only go as far as Whatawhata or push for Kaniwhaniwha campsite at the base of Pirongia when I woke up, but my typically slow start basically ruled out that second option. Not to mind, Monday looks to be drier than today so it’d be better to walk a long day tomorrow.

9:15 was my departure time from the hostel, walking down Victoria Street instead of heading back to the river for the last kilometre of that path. Upon reaching the casino, I turned east past this rather chunky Christmas tree.

Heading towards the eastern suburbs, the trail follows a cycleway built alongside the East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) railway to Tauranga, making for an easy walk out of the city, quite helpful considering the weight of a fully stocked pack behind me.

Now in an industrial estate in Frankton, I was just going to keep going until I came across a Wendy’s. In my unofficial side-quest to try out as many of the fast food options available here that we don’t get in Australia, I pulled over and tried their Baconator. It was good, but nothing to write home about (yet here I am writing about it). The rain was falling by now but very lightly. For most of the walk out of Hamilton I kept all my rain gear on but with the hood off and sleeves rolled up. Soon the roads stopped, the trail then taking me onto a paved cycleway up to a lookout that on a clear day I assume I would be able to see more than some fields.

Meandering over these hills on this path lead to an arboretum. I’ll be honest, I have no clue what purpose arboretum’s serve. It feels like a forest but with more syllables. Sadly this path didn’t last nearly long enough, and it was back to the road, although only for a short time before arriving at another farm track, one that for some reason had become infamous in my mind throughout my research.

I have seen many a photo and video of this thin, overgrown track flanked by high fences and for some reason had becomed ingrained in my head as an integral part of the trail. As expected after the rain, the grass was drenched, the moisture quickly making its way onto my rain pants. Fun fact: humans can’t actually detect wetness. I could see that the outside of my pants were soaked, but what was I feeling on my legs? Sweat? Rain? Or was I just cold? I really couldn’t tell. So I kept walking down the farm that was slightly slippery in places and filled with cows in others.

The rain came down heavier once I left the farm track, but no matter. This is what I expected, the hood went up and was tightened, my head went down, my feet kept moving, and Andy Serkis kept playing in my ears (seriously how did this guy not win an Oscar for Gollum?). Oh, I ought to make a confession:

I’ve never read The Lord of the Rings.

Please don’t hurt me.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched the films, but I’ve never read the books. Guess it’s better late than never, I’m really interested to see what differences there are between the books and films. I only got through the prologue today, so I got to learn more about Hobbits and their ways.

Back to the trail, the last part was just on roads into Whatawhata. Right before arriving I caught up with Destroyer. No, that’s not a trail name, that’s just her childhood nickname. We arrived at the Village Cafe which allows TA hikers to camp on their lawn but only after they close at 3pm. In the interim I got a toastie and coffee for lunch and relaxed as the rain fell outside. When they closed and the staff began packing up, the rain was coming down pretty heavily so I chose to wait to put up my tent until it eased up somewhat. Once it did, I went into action and rapidly put it up to minimise moisture before moving in and using my towel to dry the floor off.

As I set everything up inside, I started hearing new voices which I initially assumed were some of the staff staying back late. But no, they were hikers who had taken a coach to Hamilton from Auckland and walked here. I haven’t got all their names yet, the one’s I can remember are two friends from Christchurch named Victoria and Steph. Their entire group looked drenched, which makes some sense as the worst of the rain started falling after Destroyer and I arrived at the cafe. What I thought was going to be a fairly quiet night here has now become a hiker village like the one we had at the Dome Cafe. To me this was great news. It means I know I’ll be hiking with people up to the summit tomorrow. I may not know them all that well yet, but knowing I’m not alone still does wonders for my confidence. Heck, maybe I’ll even walk all the way there and not bother hitching.

Along with that, the forecast on the mountain for the next couple days has also improved a lot. The rain looks to be easing up earlier than expected so I might actually get to see something at the summit. All of this means that I’m in a much better headspace for the climb. Melly went up today and also gave a positive review of the trail; muddy towards the end but very doable.

Well then, bring it on Pirongia!