Day 42: Wayne’s woolshed to Ngaherenga campsite

Today was quite relaxed as it was only about a 14km road walk to camp.

It seemed sort of sunny to start with but the clouds rolled in and it started to rain steadily as we approached camp. I set up my tent and got in, only to discover that my mesh had been open while I set up the tent and that I’d somehow managed to get the top of my trekking pole on the inside. I couldn’t be bothered to fix it since it still works if you zip up the mesh up to the pole.

The rest of the day was mostly spent in our tents since the rain didn’t let up much. I did manage to get out and stretch and make dinner at one point when the rain was lighter.

Day 43: Timber trail part 1

The Timber trail leaves from next to the Ngaherenga campsite and goes for about 80km through the Pureora first along old bush tramways and forestry roads. Given this, the grade is perfect for cycling and it’s mainly used recreationally as a mountain bike track even though it can also be walked. After a rainy night, we met Paul from Camp Epic at 9:00 to get our bikes and start the trail. It was still raining when we set off, but it was fun to whiz through the mud and puddles in the beautiful forest. It was much harder going than I had anticipated, certain my thighs and lungs were burning on some of the uphills, which was most of the first 15 km to a highpoint of over 900m. The track then had some long downhills and going down one of then at km 20ish, I could hear Laura just ahead of me exclaiming. As I turned the corner I found her getting off her bike and rushing to help a person who was face down off the track in a tree. He was thankfully conscious although he’d obviously hit his forehead against the tree as there was a big bloody gash there. He was able to move and stand up so we decided not to activate the plb (emergency beacon), but that Laura would stay with him and that I would bike to help (there was no cell reception so calling emergency services wasn’t working). Liam arrived on the scene and as I left, he and Laura were helping the man walk a bit, as he would have to get 7km to where the trail intersects a road. I biked as fast as I felt comfortable going, not very fast given what I’d just seen, and still tried to enjoy crossing over these amazing suspension bridges. Catherine was waiting for us after the first one and since she’s an experienced mountain biker, she sped off ahead of me to get help. After a few minutes I relaxed a bit since there was no longer the same need to rush. Nearing Camp Epic at km 40, I met the car of Josh, one of the owners, going to the rescue. It was a waiting game after getting into camp, but eventually Josh came back with the injured man and Paul also showed up to take the man to hospital to get checked out. Even later Laura and Liam arrived on their bikes and recounted that they had gotten him to km 27, where there is a shelter and road access and that Josh had arrived a bit later. Josh has promised to update us when he knows more since Paul will go back and to get him from hospital when he’s released. It did stop raining finally at some point in the afternoon and it was a pleasant evening in the end, there were even marshmallows to roast on a campfire, my first of the trip. Between the rain and the drama, today was the first day that I didn’t take any photos.

Day 44: Camp Epic to Taumarunui

We had a self-serve breakfast included with out stay at Camp Epic so we made a big pan of scrambled eggs to go with toast, spreads and cereal. I love having toast whenever I can to change up from oats. After that we set off for the second half of the Timber Trail on our bikes under cloudy skies but no rain. The trail quickly came to the longest suspension bridge of 141m.

We also had some views today out over the neighbouring mountains from time to time. I still didn’t get many photos though since my phone was in someone else’s bag. The trail was still challenging but a bit less climbing than yesterday and then mostly downhill for the last 10km.

We had lunch at the end of the Timber Trail and then biked on to Tauramanui, the next town, on a gravel road that became paved closer to town. This saved us a 25km road walk. We went for a pizza and then hitched to the canoe rental place about 5km out of town, where we can camp. The first car stopped before we barley got our thumbs up and knew exactly where we wanted to go. It was too late to fix up our canoe rental for the Whanganui river section, so we’ll do a zero tomorrow to get that sorted and get the food for it and do laundry.