Day 11-15: The Farm to Mangawhai. 281.5km - 449km - š„¾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island š³šæ
- Tough Girl
- Apr 11, 2024
- 4 min read
Day 11/50 š„¾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island š³šæ
šSupported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ā¹ļøStats: Date: Saturday 11th November
Weather: sunny & occasionally cool.
From: the farm (281k)
Start time: 8.08am
To: Mila's Backpacker Ranch, Ngunguru (347k)
End time: 8pm
Accommodation: camped šļø
Terrain: road, gravel road, forest tracks, more road, more gravel tracks,
š„¾Km: 40.3k
š¦¶Steps: 51,771
Hitch 1 - 26k from 290 km to 308 on the detour
Total Km: 347/1600 21.7% ā
š°Costs: $0
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 9/10 - apart from my ankle itās been a great day
Fatigue: 3/10 still feel strong.
Ease of terrain: 6/10 - maybe Iām starting to get use to the road walking. But itās still hard.
Highlights: so much happened today. Leaving the farm, 9k road walk. Decided to hitch and the first truck that came past had Danny & Peter inside. Awesome to see them again. Phil (the driver) took us up past the diversion to km 8 - which made the day significantly easier. Carried on walking on more road, some some stunning coastal scenery, amazing views out to the coast. Made it all worth while.
Challenges: while setting up my tent, I stood in a divit and went over in my left ankle again. Itās not good.
Day 12/50 š„¾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island š³šæ
šSupported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ā¹ļøStats: Date: Sunday 12th November
Weather: hot & sunny āļø
From: Ngunguru
Start time: 9.20pm - needed to head back into town to do resupply & get cash out.
End time: 6.15pm. In bed by 7.45pm
Accommodation: camped šļø
Terrain: so much road walking. 3.5k of forest walks
š„¾Km: 24.7
š¦¶Steps: 31,747
Total Km: 362.4/1600* found out itās actually 1715 km!!! So 21% ā
Hitch- 2 - Approx 5k in total
River crossing: 2 (little ones)
š°Costs: resupply $84
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 4/10 - one beautiful forest walk, one stunning coastal view.
Fatigue: 5/10 felt pretty wiped with all the road walking
Ease of terrain: 8/10 - brutal.
Highlights: the 3.5k forest walk was stunning and I really enjoyed it. The coastal town Pataua was stunning. Plus itās been amazing weather. I also found a great camping spot for the night. šļø
Left the campsite at 9.20am - walked back into town, did resupply, got cash and then started the road walk. 10 k done. 2 hitches and at the start of the walk-in track at 1.20pm.
Challenges: left ankle, road walking, more road walking. Only progressing 15k on the TA track even though Iād walked 24k. Frustrating. The estuary low tide is at 1.40am or 2pm. I donāt want to cross in the dark and I donāt want to wait until 2pm tomorrow!
Day 13/50 š„¾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island š³šæ
šSupported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ā¹ļøStats: Date: Monday 13th November
Weather: hot & sunny āļø
From: before the estuary
Start time: 7.40am
To: Reotahi
End time: 7pm
Accommodation: camping āŗļø
Terrain: road, forest, gravel track, beach, forest, steps, road, track.
š„¾Km: 25.8km
š¦¶Steps: 33,061
Hitch 1 - about 4K down the road to go around the river 7.54am arrived. Was back on the TA by 9am
Total Km: 393/1715 = 23% ā
š°Costs: $0
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 8/10
Fatigue: 5/10
Ease of terrain: 9/10
Highlights: I loved today. It was glorious. It felt so much more balanced. Lots of the previous days have been 80/90% of road walking. Today there was stunning Beach walking, incredible ridgeline walking through the forest. It was tough going but really worth it.
Challenges: figuring out how to get across the river tomorrowā¦ I donāt have transport arranged. I wonder how easy it will be to hitch a ride on a boat?!
Day 14/50 š„¾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island š³šæ
šSupported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ā¹ļøStats: Date: Tuesday 14th November
Weather: sunny - with rain in the afternoon
From: Reotahi Bay
Start time: 11.20am - after the water taxi š¤ ride.
To: Camp Waipu Cove
End time: 6pm
Accommodation: camped šļø
Terrain: beach, road walking, beach, road walking
š„¾Km: 25.8
š¦¶Steps: 33,082
Hitch 1 - final 3k to the campsite.
Total Km: 420/1715 = 24.5% ā
š°Costs:$20 water taxi
$95 food resupply
$21 camping
Total $136
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 5/10
Highlights: meeting soft serve (Katie) & Punisher while waiting for the water taxi! Some stunning views looking back over where Iād walked from.
Challenges: my pack was heavy after resupply! But canāt wait to eat all the food!!
I didnāt get chance to dry my tent āŗļø and it was also raining when I put it up - so not even sure how dry itās going to be!
Day 15/50 š„¾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island š³šæ
šSupported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ā¹ļøStats: Date: Wednesday 15th November
Weather: cooler today with a little bit of rain š§ļø
From: Camp Waipu Cove
Start time: 7.50am (1.5km walk from camp āŗļø back to the trail at 420km marker)
To: Mangawhai
End time: 4.15pm
Accommodation: Trail Angel Hut with bed, wifi & charge ā”ļø. Plus 2 chickens and a rabbit in the garden! Very chilled š
Terrain: road, gravel, forest, beach walk, road again.
š„¾Km: 30
š¦¶Steps: 38,474
Total Km: 449/1715 = 26%ā
š°Costs: $10 donation to trail angel
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 8/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 8/10
Highlights: meeting Kat (@katka.girethova) on the road and hearing about a trail angel š cabin (with power & wifi)! She sent a text and there was room for me š„³.
šStunning views on the coastal walk.
Making the cabin by 4.20pm - Kat cooking me dinner š½ļø couscous with lentils, garlic, seeds, courgette & white sauce. Followed by a hot chocolate & 2 mini snickers ššš
Challenges: road walking - always!
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