December 9th: Auckland to Clevedon
Wanting to get as far away from Auckland before walking we took a bus out of the city to a smaller suburb close to an actual trailhead.
We resupplied at a countdown in the mall - still not used to supermarkets inside malls.
We stayed the night in Clevedon, had fish and chips and camped close to the main road in town. You'd think the traffic would die down in a sleepy little town. Oh no... logging trucks go 24/7. We got very little sleep.
December 10th: Clevedon to Wairoa Dam
Running on no sleep we headed into the Hanua Range happy to finally be back in the Forrest. The afterglow didn't last long. As normal, the trail went straight up and straight down the mountain range-no switchbacks. It wouldn't be so bad if it was dry but at that moment the trail was very soggy. Mud up to the ankles so we skated up and down the trail with occasional breaks to walk over slippery tree roots.
Reaching Wairoa Dam was a welcome relief. We crawled into our tents at 6pm, which was lucky because it started raining by 6:30.
Sometime in the night both Cody and I were woken by a loud crash. A huge tree had toppled over. We had seen healthy seeming trees down in the mud and wondered if this tree suffered the same fate since it had been raining so much. I had a quick image recall back to the trees around our tent- all small. Good. Back to sleep at least knowing that we weren't going to get squished.
Flooding the tent is a whole different story though and a very real concern if the rain had been heavy enough. The tent bottom that we have is not optimal for heavy rain and as soon as we got into town we sent off for a replacement. Wish it was here already, hopefully we won't have any massive storms.
December 11th: Wairoa Dam to Mercer
Last night it rained steadily for over 12 hours which was enough to create a marsh like environment around the tent. We cooked breakfast (instant oats) in a light drizzle and proceeded to pack up with our rain jackets on.
Because of yesterday's muddy trail conditions which were very wet before the rain we opted to road walk the last section of the Huana Range since it was described as worse than the previous section in our trail notes.
After a lengthy road walk our day ended in Mercer; a small truck stop town that used to be a biker hangout.
We hadn't many good campsite options and both of us were ready for a good night's sleep undisturbed by highway sounds or rain. Instead of taking the offer of "free" camping we booked a room and slept very well.
December 12th: Mercer to Huntly
It's our 1 month trail anniversary! We pigged out on a stack of pancakes, each had full breakfast platters, and a pile of bacon on rolls for dessert. Yes we are fatty's, I impressed myself this morning by still being able to pack up my pack and load up after all that.
Today's route was a mixture of farmland, stopbank, and major hwy. All of which were equally unpleasant. Farmland and stopbanks tend to be very overgrown and poorly signed. The previous day we had had a problem with the track going into Mercer. Grass above our heads while walking the stopbank...no fun. We did not complete that section.
Obviously walking major highways aren't at the top of our list. Especially with very little shoulder and large semi's rolling by. We have affectionately started referring to these as Mordors because of the ominous sounds they make. Semi's here are split loads or two parts, probably so they can drive "safely" down narrow, windy, highways. Which safety is really just an after thought; getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible and keeping above the speed limit is really the main goal. As you might have guessed we try to avoid them as much as we can.
Not wanting to go through all that again we intended to skip onto Rangiriri (half way point) and continue on a small road to Huntly. About 17 km walk for the day. After about an hour of trying to hitch we had resigned to the fact that maybe luck was not on our side.
Trail magic comes during the time of most need. As a last ditch effort we walked into the towns very small history and art museum. The owner and another lady were chatting away. We asked if they knew of anyone in town that we could pay for a ride. They didn't, but the lady who was not the owner said that she'd take us to the next town. Which happens to be 15 km in the opposite direction from where she was heading. She also refused to accept our offer of gas money. The people here really continue to amaze me with their generosity.
She dropped us off at the battle grounds in Rangiriri right next to a little museum. We decided to educate ourselves before continuing on about the history of New Zealands great battle. British and Maori tribesman fought over control of the fertile land in this region. The Maori used trench warefare and guns that the british had traded with them previously.
A single shot gun that could then be used a battle axe when empty
Despite their efforts the british were overpowering them and the battle ended in surrender with roughly 40 killed on both sides. The Maori claim (still to this day) that they did not surrender but threw up a white flag for negotiations and were tricked into surrender.
"Does that look like a face that could be tricked to you?" -Cody
We road walked to the next town after our tour. We were the second group to visit the museum in 4 weeks. Talk about a happening place.
Getting to Huntly by 5:30 we had enough time to grab some Indian food before heading to the campsite...And continuing with the trend of this hike, Cody and I left the restaurant feeling like tics about to pop. Definitely well worth it though, best Indian food so far.
The campsite in Huntly was very beautiful...and literally right on the other side of the track of the dodgy end of town. Lots of graffiti and shady looking people.
Saw a 10 year old pick up someone's used lit cigarette off the ground for a puff. Yummy. Walking across the bridge into town we passed a few young teens probably between the ages of 13-16 with arm tattoos. Despite the rough image, people were still friendly. We just didn't want to hang around after dark.
Anyways back to the campground- It's an oasis for sure. The camp hosts were very accommodating and the prices were the best so far. 10$ each NZ. Normally we've been paying 15-20 per person per night for a tent site. Steep I know!
Off to bed soon, my new sleeping pad is working great. Just thankful that it holds air, it's the little things.
Wanting to get as far away from Auckland before walking we took a bus out of the city to a smaller suburb close to an actual trailhead.
We resupplied at a countdown in the mall - still not used to supermarkets inside malls.
We stayed the night in Clevedon, had fish and chips and camped close to the main road in town. You'd think the traffic would die down in a sleepy little town. Oh no... logging trucks go 24/7. We got very little sleep.
December 10th: Clevedon to Wairoa Dam
Running on no sleep we headed into the Hanua Range happy to finally be back in the Forrest. The afterglow didn't last long. As normal, the trail went straight up and straight down the mountain range-no switchbacks. It wouldn't be so bad if it was dry but at that moment the trail was very soggy. Mud up to the ankles so we skated up and down the trail with occasional breaks to walk over slippery tree roots.
Reaching Wairoa Dam was a welcome relief. We crawled into our tents at 6pm, which was lucky because it started raining by 6:30.
Sometime in the night both Cody and I were woken by a loud crash. A huge tree had toppled over. We had seen healthy seeming trees down in the mud and wondered if this tree suffered the same fate since it had been raining so much. I had a quick image recall back to the trees around our tent- all small. Good. Back to sleep at least knowing that we weren't going to get squished.
Flooding the tent is a whole different story though and a very real concern if the rain had been heavy enough. The tent bottom that we have is not optimal for heavy rain and as soon as we got into town we sent off for a replacement. Wish it was here already, hopefully we won't have any massive storms.
December 11th: Wairoa Dam to Mercer
Last night it rained steadily for over 12 hours which was enough to create a marsh like environment around the tent. We cooked breakfast (instant oats) in a light drizzle and proceeded to pack up with our rain jackets on.
Because of yesterday's muddy trail conditions which were very wet before the rain we opted to road walk the last section of the Huana Range since it was described as worse than the previous section in our trail notes.
After a lengthy road walk our day ended in Mercer; a small truck stop town that used to be a biker hangout.
We hadn't many good campsite options and both of us were ready for a good night's sleep undisturbed by highway sounds or rain. Instead of taking the offer of "free" camping we booked a room and slept very well.
December 12th: Mercer to Huntly
It's our 1 month trail anniversary! We pigged out on a stack of pancakes, each had full breakfast platters, and a pile of bacon on rolls for dessert. Yes we are fatty's, I impressed myself this morning by still being able to pack up my pack and load up after all that.
Today's route was a mixture of farmland, stopbank, and major hwy. All of which were equally unpleasant. Farmland and stopbanks tend to be very overgrown and poorly signed. The previous day we had had a problem with the track going into Mercer. Grass above our heads while walking the stopbank...no fun. We did not complete that section.
Obviously walking major highways aren't at the top of our list. Especially with very little shoulder and large semi's rolling by. We have affectionately started referring to these as Mordors because of the ominous sounds they make. Semi's here are split loads or two parts, probably so they can drive "safely" down narrow, windy, highways. Which safety is really just an after thought; getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible and keeping above the speed limit is really the main goal. As you might have guessed we try to avoid them as much as we can.
Not wanting to go through all that again we intended to skip onto Rangiriri (half way point) and continue on a small road to Huntly. About 17 km walk for the day. After about an hour of trying to hitch we had resigned to the fact that maybe luck was not on our side.
Trail magic comes during the time of most need. As a last ditch effort we walked into the towns very small history and art museum. The owner and another lady were chatting away. We asked if they knew of anyone in town that we could pay for a ride. They didn't, but the lady who was not the owner said that she'd take us to the next town. Which happens to be 15 km in the opposite direction from where she was heading. She also refused to accept our offer of gas money. The people here really continue to amaze me with their generosity.
She dropped us off at the battle grounds in Rangiriri right next to a little museum. We decided to educate ourselves before continuing on about the history of New Zealands great battle. British and Maori tribesman fought over control of the fertile land in this region. The Maori used trench warefare and guns that the british had traded with them previously.
Despite their efforts the british were overpowering them and the battle ended in surrender with roughly 40 killed on both sides. The Maori claim (still to this day) that they did not surrender but threw up a white flag for negotiations and were tricked into surrender.
We road walked to the next town after our tour. We were the second group to visit the museum in 4 weeks. Talk about a happening place.
Getting to Huntly by 5:30 we had enough time to grab some Indian food before heading to the campsite...And continuing with the trend of this hike, Cody and I left the restaurant feeling like tics about to pop. Definitely well worth it though, best Indian food so far.
TA walkers go here for great Indian food
The campsite in Huntly was very beautiful...and literally right on the other side of the track of the dodgy end of town. Lots of graffiti and shady looking people.
9 AM breathalyzer check on a saturday morning
Saw a 10 year old pick up someone's used lit cigarette off the ground for a puff. Yummy. Walking across the bridge into town we passed a few young teens probably between the ages of 13-16 with arm tattoos. Despite the rough image, people were still friendly. We just didn't want to hang around after dark.
Anyways back to the campground- It's an oasis for sure. The camp hosts were very accommodating and the prices were the best so far. 10$ each NZ. Normally we've been paying 15-20 per person per night for a tent site. Steep I know!
Off to bed soon, my new sleeping pad is working great. Just thankful that it holds air, it's the little things.
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