Days 38-40 | Timber Trail & Taumarunui
20 November 2022 | 12C° | 18 km
It’s always hard to get going after a nice zero day, but it is what it is.
Back home today’s weather would be called „April weather“, a day where there’s a constant change of sunny, rainy or cloudy. At some point, there even is some thunder rolling in the distance. It’s a roadwalk from the point I hop off Phil’s van to the so-called Timber Trail. Strangely, I enjoy walking on solid nconcrete after several days in the muddy bushes and over several wet grassy paddocks. I reach the trailhead at 1.15pm.
Turns out it is a very curated and wide path. Good for doing big hiking days probably? The sun is coming out but unfortunately I’m in the forest now. There’s the option to bike this part of the trail but I was just too lazy to book something ahead. Also not quite sure what will be less annoying: walking or biking in the rain? Let’s see if I can still make it to the first hut in 20 km with an elevation of some 900m inbetween!
Eventually, I decide to camp by a small shelter with a little space for pitching 2-3 tents. It’s only 3.30pm but as the summit is still ahead, the terrain less maintained, rain ahead and uncertain if there is still space in the next hut, I decide to stay and ideally get an early sleep.
As I prepare my dinner in the shelter, it gets windier and a heavy downpour starts rolling in. The upcoming days will not be much better … I need a better protection from the rain! Without further ado, I tailor a poncho from my waterproof groudsheet. Once I finish my masterpiece the heavy rain kicks in again. Tired of that rainy sound I put in my earplugs, crawl into my sleeping bag and fall asleep.
21 November 2022 | 18°C | 30km
I wake up, and I hear: nothing but bird sounds. No rain! I quickly pack my stuff and bring it over to the shelter to have breakfast. I start walking at around 7:30 AM wondering when the first bikers will pass by. It’s a quiet and chilly morning. I reckon that I will get warm once I climb up the hill, but the elevation is hardly noticeable when walking on the bike track.
First time I put on my puffy jacket while hiking. (I only realize that there is a footpath to the summit once I reach the highest point of the bike trail. Doesn’t matter that I missed it as it’s misty and no views anyways). I would only meet one other female hiker all morning. After 15 or so kilometers I find a perfect spot for lunch by a little shelter. I fully occupy it with my stuff and hang my sleeping bag to dry when the first wave of bikers arrives.
Unfortunately, it starts raining as well so I quickly pack all my stuff again to make room for them. Once the first heavy shower ceases, we all head out again. While the bikers most probably make it to any of the campsites around km marker 40 before the next rain shower kicks in, I have to do another “rain walk” for the last 5km. Everybody still passing by by bike friendly shouts “almost there” but walking the last kilometer seems endless. The arrival the “Camp Epic” is very cheerful though: nice people, a hot tea and an endlessly long shower are already waiting for me :)
22 November 2022 | 22°C | 65km by bike
Seeing some bikers sprinkled with mud and racing down the hill with their mountain bikes made me a bit envious the previous day. It looked like so much fun.
Though I had planned to walk the whole Timber Trail, I spontaneously ask the owner of the campground who is also renting out bikes if there of a chance I could bike the second part of the trail. He says he did not have a bike here for me and would need to get one which meant I would not be able to bike before 9h15. I reply that I would think about it but instantly decide against it putting my mind back to walking.
When I talkig about it with fellow hiker during breakfast a girl comes up to me saying that she would switch to an electric bike so that I could maybe take hers. Yay! The whole ride was so much fun as the trail was much narrower and less curated than the day before with a lot of rather steep downhills.
Needless to say that I am very happy to switch to biking for that day. Asking the owners of the bike rental they even would let me drive into Tamaranui, another 25km ahead. It’s a sunny lovely day until exactly the moment when I return my bike at 3pm when a heavy rain shower (lasting till the late evening) would unroll. Thank you Mother Nature for that favor!!
Bad news of the day: No canoeing hiring st Wanganui river until Wed next week, 42 Traverse impassible likely until at least after the weekend and Tongariro crossing closed. It's time to put my plan into action: jump ahead to the South Island now and finish the North Island later.