No, nah, naha, nope

An early start, we packed up and headed off just before 7am. We have made a conscience decision to get up early in the morning. We would rather relax and waste time in the afternoons. The sunrise was really stunning and there was this low fog hugging the hills. There was a 3km road walk to the start of the track which takes you through a gully.

This was really good to get the body warmed up. On the track I had my first lot of bum shuffles, the track was so steep and muddy it was the only way to get down safely. As we crossed the bridge we had some raro and muesli bar. The next few kilometres was up. We finally got onto a better formed track for Mt Tamahunga, about 9.30am we had some breakfast and a small break. We made it to the helipad at 11.30am and had lunch

Here is where mentally I went wrong. I thought we had done the hardest part and that is was mostly a steep decent but the track should be okay. Well how wrong we were! Along the walk we met a DOC worker who was clearing and resetting traps, we told him there is a few stoats caught. He warned us that cows had been through the track and it was rather muddy. Well he forgot to mention I would also me die trying to get up such a slippy muddy slope! Still in ignorant bliss we had a couple of spots where I needed to use my caboose and one even had a rope to help.

Then we came to muddy saddle and it was bad! I had a cry half way through and joked to get a helicopter to get me out. It was pretty crazy, we took our time and Rowan stayed a couple steps ahead to help me through it. Rowan actually reminded me why I keep him today he was helpful through the whole day 😉 lol

We finally made it to solid ground and could see amazing views of the coastline. We decided we will make it to the holiday park so we called up to book a campsite. Worried that the check in would be closed, the lovely lady put a few dollars worth of 50c coins in an envelope so we could have a hot shower. It was a fairly deep decent down through farmland to Pakari, but at least the mud wasn’t too bad. Finally on the road with 2.5km to go to the campground. We stopped for a few minutes to get some more energy in and made our way to the beach. About halfway Rowan wanted a break, we had only just sat down and he realised we had time before the camp shop shut if we hurried. Honestly I know he loves food but he took off leaving me in his dust. I couldn’t keep up at the pace and length those legs took him. Finally we reached our destination just before 5pm it was a long hard day.

We got the tent all set up and I had a well deserved ice cream! Taking off my boots felt amazing. By the time we showered and ate dinner it was about 7.30pm. There is a group of school kids on a trip (about 20) with two teachers who told us to tell them if they are being to noisy. Well they were noisy but absolutely fine. Tomorrow we will stay in Pakari, have a walk on the beach but not leave the area.

Slow & steady!

We started rather late and it took us a while to get all our shoes and gear on after the stream crossing. The pace was rather slow a lot of roots that are great at twisting your ankle if you’re not paying attention. Rowan took on most of the weight today which made my life a lot easier. It was just really slow going a lot of up and downs and trees that had fallen. 3km of just arduous track, the last 2km were easy in comparison. We are staying at a trail angels house tonight which is great. We have set up the tent and had a cold wash under the garden hose. Rowan is now cooking dinner, we have a good routine and division of labour. Yesterday was incredibly hard for both of us and today was easier in comparison. Looking forward to Mt Tamahunga climb tomorrow. Think of us while you drink your coffee

Struggle!

My lovely sister dropped us off from where she picked us up. We said our goodbyes and I got sad about leaving the hot shower behind. I was actually pretty stoked to be getting back out there.

Well the day started shit. I got desperate for a wee and on Rowan’s suggestion I tried to use my shewee with my pack on. Wasn’t happening so I got my pack off, by this time I was busting. I didn’t get a proper seal and ended up with wee down my legs. Which was proper funny but I was also livid. I did the only logical mature thing, I took it out on Rowan lol. Understandably he recieved it poorly. Did the only thing I could do, gave myself a little rinse with some water. Luckily I started my day pretty hydrated and my wees were clear! As we continued on it was a struggle we finally made it to the lookout, which was supposed to take 30min we took an hour. As we continued on we were very slow, the track was very steep and muddy. There was this huge rock area we had to go around and I nearly didn’t make it up, some of the steps were so steep and hurt my foot. So I had a little cry. Finally we made it to the trig and took a break to eat. We had only walked 1.7km but it felt a lot longer.

I am not sure if it was us or the track but the day was incredibly hard. Rowan ended up rolling his ankle but luckily hasn’t done any real damage. I got to this point in the summit where we were up really high and I got stuck in the mud and couldn’t get my legs to work to get me up. Well I had another good cry then, Rowan said he had a wee cry after that part too. It was slow going and it felt like it took forever but we eventually got to the forestry track. Which of course was hard as it was very slippery and muddy. At 4pm we got down at the bottom there is a small stream and a DOC toilet. We found a spot to camp and headed off for a wash. We need to cross the stream tomorrow.

We have rested longer than we thought we needed. My foot swelled up and I have pulled my peroneal and it has been rather sore. Rowan’s blisters were red raw and needed to heal. It was really good having home comforts again, surprisingly I did miss being out in the wilderness. It has also been fantastic having some time with my sister and niece. My foot isn’t 100% but it is time to move, we will take it easy and see how I go. Also had the opportunity to see my number one fan (Nana) for coffee.

We got a heap more supplies for food and first aid. For a few reasons we have elected to ditch a lot of toys. We are too unfit and this will make the journey a lot more pleasant. Also I don’t think my Aarn packs is designed for so much weight as I seem to be adjusting several times today.

On the old forestry Road with gravel we had a barely secure tent. In the night we lost two sides which wasn’t a surprise. Rowan got up both times in the wind and rain, I did the very important inside job of holding the leki poles. Apart from the tent on our faces we slept well. The next day we had some savoury oats for breakfast and packed up slowly. With only a 3km walk ahead it wouldn’t take us long to be at Dome Valley. I aimed for lunchtime as Clare said she could pick us up and I could use the car, then come get her when she finished work. Finally setting off, it only took us a bit over an hour to get there. Clare picked us up and we set headed back to Warkworth. We decided to go straight to Subway in Wellsford. Once we had some lunch we got to her house and enjoyed a hot shower. After unpacking we headed to the local shops where we restocked at the pharmacy & 4 Square. There may or may not have been a Hospice Op Shop that we visited too. I found a practical light bag for toiletries as I have teared through two zip lock bags and Rowan found some jewellery, (You can visualise him walking with pearl earrings). Time flew by and it was time to pick up Clare & Skylar. We had Indian takeaways for dinner and enjoyed being inside Clare’s cosy warm home. We will have a zero day tomorrow, getting a chance to wash our clothes and rest our feet.

Day 5 staying alive!

13km done today, which we are pretty proud of. Our feet have so many blisters and the last 3km was a killer for us. We set off from the reserve and followed a bush track we made really good timing. Out the other side I went to the first house I could see and asked for some water. It was this amazing earth home, made from recycled everything. They have a charitable trust called Earthskin. The guy who got us some water was only house sitting so I didn’t take any photos. Then off along the road until we found a spot to have some lunch. From then on the walking got harder. Rowan gave me some chocolate at one point which gave me a good boost. I have put some antiseptic on and bandaged up Rowan’s blisters, I hope they get better soon. Pip in Puhoi told me that a French lady was putting needles and thread through her blisters and leaving the thread in. So I have been doing that on any new blister I get as long as it hasn’t popped it appears to be doing the trick. We aim for a few more kms tomorrow to hit the Dome Cafe where a lovely sister of mine will take me in. I can’t wait for a hot shower these cold whore washes are okay but nothing like the real deal. We will need to stock up a few items too.

Mud, mud, mud and more mud

I said to Rowan “I hate mud.” He replied, “no you don’t, what you have is a mild dislike bordering on apathy.” Well I guess I better get used to it but I really don’t like walking in mud! You will be pleased to know I had a better sleep last night, not amazing but better. The camp site had picnic tables and a shelter, which was very handy. We ended up leaving fairly late it is amazing how fast time goes. We headed straight up a ridge line following a farmers fence, all the way to Dunn’s Bush. It was really pretty, most of the tracks are closed but one track is open for TA hikers. We then got out onto a road and did a little road walking. When we got to the next bush track you could see dirt bikes go through it regularly, which makes it incredibly uneven and muddy. We got about 100m in and found a spot for some food. It is only about 2km, but we are exhausted. 2kms of slow steep mud walking. Today was the first day that I have felt I didn’t want to go on. We made it to camp about 4pm. Which gave us heaps of light to set up and eat. Tomorrow is looking mostly downhill so I better prepare my blisters, I mean toes

I had a non existent sleep again, exhausted and frustrated. All I can hope for is that the moon is the cause of these sleepless nights. I get up to pee and I tell Rowan I am going to attempt to sleep some more. So we relax in the tent till 8am. We end up chatting to Pip for a few hours while having some breakfast and tea. We lay out all our gear and I attempt to remove as much mud as possible. There isn’t much sun but it seems to be enough to dry out most items. We finally get packed up and walk a kilometre into town and have some lunch. We had already decided we will only be walking a small distance along the Puhoi Track to Reminger Road, as there is a new council camp site there. It felt longer with a lot of up and downs, boots covered in mud through the farmland. The forests were beautiful but were very quiet I saw hardly any birds. The swing bridge near the end was covered with some debris from the floods a week ago but still good. The last 1km slog to the camp was the hardest. We got here with some light left in the sky, quickly pitching the tent. Then we pulled out clothes and had a wash with a cloth under a tap, wasn’t too bad. I set the inner tent up with all the gear while Rowan made us some soup. I think this will be the quietest camping spot so far. I have decided to try wearing my buff like a eye mask to see if it helps me sleep tonight.

Well that was stupid!

We successfully stealth camped and woke up to rain in the night. We were so tired and lazy that we didn’t bother to pitch the tent properly, low and behold we had rain. Now I did check my bag but I didn’t look at my boots, which now had some lovely puddles inside of them. I also had barely any sleep, I am not sure why but it was rather noisy. On the brightside Rowan had water in his boots too so we both got to put our feet into soggy boots. We wandered over to a picnic table and had some breakfast, garlic pita breads with some salami. It was really dry and on the upside it repeated chronically throughout the day. We set of for Wenderholm Park knowing we had lots of time as we needed to wait for the tide. The weather was ho hum, with regular showers. We arrived at Wenderholm around 11am, made a hot lunch of noodles and set in to relax. Here is where we went wrong…

The camp site was shut so we thought we would wait for low tide (2pm) and packraft up as it came in. In our heads it sounded much more preferable than walking along the main road. So we relaxed and killed some time in the park. Meantime we got in touch with a trail angel who said for $20 we can pitch on her lawn and have a hot shower! We kept an eye on the water but not much was happening. All of a sudden the time was 3.45pm so we quickly got up and started getting the raft ready. Now the water had finally turned we could paddle up easier. I said to Rowan, is it too late, do we need to just stay here? He said let’s just do it. So 30min later we had shoved all our gear in and we headed off. The raft did really well and we only got stuck on a sand bar a few times. Once Rowan had to get out and move us. Now the problem is this estuary river is a long bloody river, the sun was setting faster than I could paddle. I had the worst pains in my hips and my back but we persevered. When we could see the motorway I got really excited. I wish I knew at the time that meant I was only half way haha. I am pretty sure that shower is the only thing that kept me going. When we hit the bridge I was so happy, we were aiming to get out at the kayak hire. It got to the point where we couldn’t easily see so we decided the next easy bank on the left we would hop out. Luckily for us it was the kayak hire. I hoped out first and sank into Puhoi mud knee deep, I lost both of my saddles trying to get out of the mud. I tried to get attention of the house to let them know what I was doing in their yard but I failed. Rowan pulled the boat up behind the hall on the grass. By now we were wet sodden and needed to unpack and repack of backpacks. I wish there was someone to take photos but it was really dark by then. I found my head torch which was already on so that keeps on going low and bright while we attempted to pack. Rowan’s torch also went out, bloody typical. We some how got all sorted mud everywhere and had a 1km walk ahead to do. As we set off there was a quiz party going on at the hall and the locals thought we had joined in with the dress up themes. Then they realised we were two idiots that look like swamp trampers. A relatively easy walk but wet and cold wasn’t fun. We made it to Pip’s House and quickly got the tent up, about 30min by the time I got enough mud off before going inside. That shower was amazing, I nearly didn’t get out. We made some kai and by the time we hit the hay it was 9pm and we were exhausted.

Can I go home now? Everything hurts!

Google says we have done 16.5km polar steps says we have done 13km, I am not sure which one is right.  It has been a rough day, we are definitely out of shape, but I am looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.  As we started we definitely had a lot of quick stops to readjust but then got our stride on.  It was like going down memory lane for me, walks I had done hundreds of times as a kid.  We had our first proper stop for 15min in Stanmore Bay where we ran into some locals who hike regularly.  We stayed on the beaches as much as possible, but did do a lot of road walking too.  As we hit Orewa we both were really hungry and needed a fuel stop, the stretch to Subway was slow and draining. On the beach was quite chilly and we took a good 45min break. By this time we are getting close to 3pm so we realise we won’t make it easily to Wenderholm. We push onto Hatfield Beach where you’re only allowed in self contained vehicles. So we pop into the bushes and we waited for dusk before setting up the tent. Now inside pretending we are allowed here haha.