Day 61: Whakapapa Village to Whanganui

It was a chilly morning and I slept a little later than I meant to again. I figured that my hike to National Park would take about 4-5 hours so I was hoping to have lunch at the resto-bar before catching the bus to Whanganui at 3pm. The trail started off through forest with more views of Mt Ruapehu when the forest opened up.

When the track split off towards National Parks, it became boggier and more open and then eventually headed down to a stream that had to be waded across. The stream was calf-deep, after more than a week of no rain, so easy enough to cross.

The track eventually came out onto the highway that leads into National Park and the last few km were along the shoulder. I got into National Park around 1 pm, but unfortunately the resto-bar was opening later than usual at 4 pm. I went to the bus stop, which was next to a café that was open. However, there was only one person working to do all the food, drinks and take the orders. Needles to say, it was a while before I could even order food, but I eventually managed to order. Not surprisingly, the food was quite mediocre, but still a nice change from the crackers and peanut butter of the past week. The bus was almost an hour late and there was a group of hikers waiting for it. I was talking about needing to seam seal my rain jacket with one of them, when another hiker who overhead offered me his extra seam sealer. The bus ride was uneventful, and thankfully much less hot than on the way up, although still somewhat nauseating. I got into Whanganui just after 6 and Rob, a trail angel I’m staying with, picked me up and took me back to his and George’s place. They showed me to my room with my own private bathroom and comfy bed. Once showered, Gretel, another TAer staying with them, and I were given a Maori welcome, which allowed us to no longer walk the country as ‘ghosts’ and to be part of Rob and George’s family. Then we were fed pasta carbonera with salad for dinner with wine and homemade strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

They also showed me their hiker box (stuff other hikers had left behind) and I scored some shoe glue and an almost full gas cannister. I glued my shoe toe protector things down (same thing happened with my last pair of topos) and then retired to my sanctuary feeling satiated and content.

Day 62: Whanganui to Koitiata

It was an early start to the day with a wake-up call from Rob at 6 am. George made breakfast; eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, homemade jams and marmalades, juice and coffee. And then Rob filled me walking down the drive with George and we said our goodbyes. They have kindly offered (as they do to all the TAers who stay with them) to be available to help me should ever the need arise.

My heart full of the generosity and hospitality that I just received, I headed off through Whanganui to the New World to get a few things for the next couple of days. I bought some fresh produce since I only have to buy about two days worth of food, as well as some hummus and wraps for lunch. The bulk section gave me some trail mix and muselei, but I had to buy some packaged items like a bag of coucous, a bag of coffee, a bag of yogurt powder, a bar of chocolate, a bag of cookies and a bag of chips. My shopping done, I walked down the main street to the river and rejoined the trail. After crossing a bridge over the Whanganui, it was up Durie Hill for a view of the town and river.

Then it was about 24 km of road walking, including a shirt stint along a state highway before hitting a track that led to the beach. I could still see Mt Ruapehu for the first part of the road walk. The beach was empty apart from a lot of sea gulls.

The reason for leaving early this morning was to get to the crossing of the river mouth of the Turakina at low tide. We need not have worried since it was very shallow, knee deep at most, even one hour past low tide. The campsite the other side of the river was unexpectedly busy with lots of car campers. There’s also 5 TAers, including myself and Gretel , spending the night. Since it was earlyish, I started the seam sealing of my rain jacket and even found a hanger to let it dry on.

Day 63: Koitiata to Bulls

The trail continued down the beach this morning and when I got down there at around 8, I realized my mistake in not thinking about the tide. It was quite high and the only sand left was very soft. It was hard going, I could feel the back of my legs complaining, as well as my left groin.

Not willing to wait it out, I continued as best I could, but it was a relief to finally have those 14km over. The trail then followed a sandy road away from the beach and eventually came out on a country road.

I finally arrived in Bulls, a town that looks quite down on its luck, but that makes a lot of plays on its name. I’m camping at the Holiday Park with the same group as last night. However, I took advantage of being in town to go out for dinner and had a chicken Balti, at the recommendation of the server and that didn’t disappoint.

Day 64: Bulls to Palmy

It started raining at some point due the night and there was still some light rain in the morning. I’m happy to report that the inside of the new tent was completely dry. I was hoping the rain would let up completely before I set out, but no such luck. At least I got to test my seam seal job on my rain jacket, which seemed good although I think I might still do the other side of some of the seams as well, just to be safe. It was a looong road walk into Feilding, where I had lunch in a cafe, a caramelized onion tart with a side of salad. It had stopped raining by the time I left and the afternoon was mostly road walking with a few stints on terrible track through people’s properties lining the road.

I eventually made it to Palmerston North (Palmy), which is a sizable city and took a while to walk through to the Trail Angels that I’m staying with, Fiona and Anthony.

They have a hut in their yard called the Whiowhio hut, named for the blue duck whose conservation our donations go towards. They gave us a briefing on the Tararuas and loaned me their bike so that I could go get some groceries. I got some salmon, potatoes and broccoli for dinner with a tub of ice cream for dessert (I shared with the others sharing the hut). I also picked up some eggs, bread and fruit for tomorrow’s breakfast. The others in the hut are a Mum and her 12 year-old daughter from the Netherlands. The Mum told me she might get fined for taking her daughter out of school for the year, but she figures it’s worth it.