Day 26/50 🥾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island 🇳🇿
📍Supported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ℹ️Stats: Date: Sunday 26th November
Weather: hot & sunny ☀️
From: Jo’s Funny Farm 831Km
Start time: 7.45am
To: Before Waitimo - 864k
End time: 5.35pm
Accommodation: camped 🏕️
Terrain: 6k gravel road, farm tracks, grassy sections, forest sections, more gravel tracks & road
🥾Km: 30
🦶Steps: 38,655
1 - stream crossing
Total Km: 864/1715 50% ✅
💰Costs: $ 0
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10 - good weather helped
Fatigue: 5/10
Ease of terrain: 8/10 much better being off the roads, but still tough going.
⭐️Highlights: starting the day with a cooked breakfast (eggs, beans, cheese on a gf wrap).
💪I actually feel really rested after yesterday’s early finish.
⏰Left early and got the gravel road section out of the way quickly.
🌳lovely forest section, incredible views on the walk.
🏞️The steam crossing felt refreshing on my feet
🏔️Challenges: lack of signs in some areas.
💭Thoughts: This felt like a good day on the TA. A solid day - with minimal road walking , and more time in nature.
Day 27/50 🥾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island 🇳🇿
📍Supported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ℹ️Stats: Date: Monday 27th November
Weather: nice - hot and sunny ☀️
From: Before Waitimo - 864k
Start time: 7am
To: 7.30pm
End time: 892km marker
Accommodation: camped 🏕️
Terrain: forests, farm lands, by a river, steep banks, rooty, gravel road, green pastures
🥾Km: 21.4
🦶Steps: 27,450
Total Km: 892/1715 = 52%
💰Costs: resupply $134 (included misc - sunscreen $13, Savlon $9)
$44 data for e-sim
Total = $178
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 5/10 - I needed to average this out. Lots of amazing bits, but so many bad bits
Fatigue: 6/10 I can feel myself getting more tired
Ease of terrain: 8/10
⭐️Highlights: some good walking today, nice signposts, crossed a swing bridge and some stunning views from the ridge walk. Not much road walking which is a win.
🏔️Challenges: there was no campsite over the bridge with a picnic bench - so I kept on walking, until I found somewhere to camp 🏕️ .
Some of the markers were non existent. 🚴♀️Trying to get the bike booked for the timber trail - so confusing! My brain can’t figure it out!
💭Thoughts: some moments are absolutely stunning and then it just goes utterly rubbish. No markers. No indication of which way to go. Bad routes which haven’t been maintained. A little bit of effort into maintenance some parts of the trail would have made such a difference. but when you are wading through overgrowth which is up to your head it just becomes draining - every step - it’s hard to take and it takes the enjoyment out of it because you can’t look at the scenery you’re too busy trying not to get smacked in the face by the overgrowth.
Day 28/50 🥾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island 🇳🇿
📍Supported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ℹ️Stats: Date: Tuesday 28th November
Weather: rainy 🌧️ & cold 🥶
From: 892km marker
Start time: 7.40am
To: start of the timber trail
End time: 4pm
Accommodation: camped 🏕️
Terrain: slippy forest tracks on a slant, Muddy, wet areas, gravel road tracks
🥾Km: 17.2
🦶Steps: 22,074
🚗 Hitch 1 - thanks to @rachael_archer650 (30k)
Total Km: 939/1715 = 55%
💰Costs: $0
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 5/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 6/10
⭐️Highlights: 🚗catching a hitch 3 mins after starting on the 27k road walk.
managing to book a bike 🚲 & accommodation for the Timber Trail!! Super excited about the next 2 days 🥳🥳🥳
🏔️Challenges: cobwebs 🕸️ in the face, fell into a mud pit, almost lost a shoe. Cows 🐄 🐄🐄. Sometimes it was easier to walk down the river than it was to walk on the side of the bank. As the banks were so eroded - leaving a slither of track to walk on. Setting up a wet tent.
💭Thoughts: this track was obviously maintained at some point. I was walking across old boardwalks. However, it’s no longer maintained.
When the trail is putting me in dangerous situations. I’m gonna choose my own path. My safety and well-being always comes first.
Day 30/50 🥾Te Araroa Trail - The North Island 🇳🇿
📍Supported by ZOLEO @zoleolifeeurope #ChallengeWithZoleo
ℹ️Stats: Date: Thursday 30th November
Weather: sunny & warm
From: Timber Trail Lodge 975km
Start time: 9am
To: Taumarunui Canoe Hire Campsite (1047km)
End time: 7pm
Accommodation: free camping 🏕️
Terrain: muddy tracks, gravel tracks, well prepared ground. Great cycling 🚴♀️
🚴♀️Km: 45k on the timber trail + 4.5k to return the bike
🦶Steps: 11,930
🚗 1 Hitch to Taumarunui (23k)
🚐 1 ride to the campsite (5k)
Total Km: 1047/1715 = 61% ✅
💰Costs: $392 (this is about 11 days worth of food - hopefully more!)
$300 for the 5 day canoe trip 🛶
Total = $692 (possibly the most expensive day so far!)
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 10/10 timber trail - the highlight so far on this trip 🚴♀️
Fatigue: 8/10
Ease of terrain: 8/10
⭐️Highlights: so much has happened today. I finished the timber trial 🥳 it was amazing. the spiral, the final 5k - glorious, the suspension bridges!
🚗I hitched into town pretty quickly was maybe waiting for 10 mins. Got to town at 3.36pm and met Ben from the canoe people - had a quick chat and made a plan. I did a massive food resupply at New World . I got collected and taken to the office & campsite (5k ride).
Where I planned the next few stays, filled my food barrels, and booked in with a trail Angel 😇 (Sharon) for the 3rd Dec.
📝I know what I’m doing until the 8th December - I love having a plan! 🥳
🏔️Challenges: 🚴♀️my bum and legs are so sore!! From all the riding. I was in PAIN -but sucked it up and made it to the end.
💭Thoughts: I don’t know if I’ve got enough food - or bought too much food. I thought I could do the river trip in 3 days - it’s actually 5. But I’m just going to go with it. I’ll see where I end up at the end of the river trip and work out a plan to get to Wellington to catch my flight.
I’m really excited about the next few days and the river adventure 🛶