Day 1 | Cape Reinga to Twilight Camp
14 October 2022 | 17°C | 12km
It’s already 4h30 pm when I arrive at Cape Reinga. After trying to hitchhike and waiting in the rain in Kaitaia, I finally book a ride to still arrive at the starting point in a reasonable time.
We pick up two French girls on the way. Turns out that they have been traveling in South America and Asia for 8 month already with New Zealand being their last stop before heading home for Christmas. A lot of interesting stories!
After taking the obligatory fotos at the lighthouse, I rush to the trailhead. A sign says 4hrs30 for 12km to get to Twilight Camp which would make it nighttime until I get there but I already sense that these are timings for very leisurely walkers.
It’s a great feeling to start walking! The weather is an interesting mix of sun, rain and wind but I enjoy the walk.
I reach camp at 7.30pm for a lovely sunset. Once I reach the top of the stairs someone shouts “There she is!“, it is Connor & Jens whom I already met in the bus to Kerikeri.
The winds picks up while I set up my tent and it’s a little struggle until I am done but I happily fall into my bed.
Day 2 | Maunganui Bluff
15 October 2022 | 17°C | 28km
I wake up by the sound of someone deflating their sleeping pad. 8am is the time on my phone display. I slept like a baby!
It’s a sunny day and I feel energized. I wanna walk! After packing I get to know some of the other hikers in the little pavilion/shelter where everyone that is not an early bird is having breakfast and getting ready for the day.
I am one of the last ones leaving camp at 9am. It just takes a short walk through a small forest until I reach Ninety Mile Beach. It’s going to be a beach walk all day.
Thought of the day: Will I ever get to the southern terminus if I do less than 30km a day?
Day 3 | Hukatere Campground
16 October 2022 | 17° | 30km
It’s great to wake up with the sound of the ocean, or more precisely the Tasman sea. Though it is only 6:45 AM, I am very awake, however my body feels veeery tired still.
Walking by the beach might sound great but today it’s actually terribly boring. With the sea to the right and the dunes to the left and no real landmarks, one does not have the feeling of actually moving. I try to entertain myself by watching the seagulls. With low tide they are cracking mussels open. Easy breakfast. Suddenly, somebody is coming running from behind me. It is Tim a trail/ultra runner who started this morning at Twilight camp. We walk together for a while, and I learn that he is aiming to complete the trail by Christmas and that there is beer and chips at the next campsite.
I feel I am superslow after him speeding up again . I decide to break for lunch in the dunes. My cheese is a bit crunchy, it’s hard to keep the sand complete off my food despite being wind protected in the dunes. Refreshed I continue after the break. At one point, I spot a big stone in the distance. Can’t be of course. As I get closer I realize it’s a dead seal. I kneel down to take a closer look. Huh! Suddenly it opens one eye. I am a bit shocked. Poor creature, how did it get here? It looks like it has problems with one eye. Will it move back into the sea once high tide comes? I feel helpless and don’t know what to do.
A truck passes by and the driver shouts something that I don’t understand. Finally, I decide to move on and shortly after reach the campsite around 5pm. It’s a lovely place run by a lovely German lady who speaks Maori fluently and has been living here for 25 years as she tells me.
Day 4 | Ahipara
17 October 2022 | 18°C | 30km
The day starts with a kickeriki from Gabriele’s chicken farm at 6:45 AM. I feel pretty awake after nine hours of sleep. Not counting my legs that still feel a bit sore.
I quickly pack my stuff and join some others for breakfast before I head out with Giancarlo. We walk together for a while and chat about the PCT that he had hiked as well.
Around noon it starts raining (and it won’t stop until the late afternoon). I break for lunch at a small resort where I met Eva, Sabrina and Sebastian. We all squeeze under the roof of a public toilet that seems to be the only shelter. The others head out while I am talking to Greg, a French guy that I had met while waiting for a ride three days ago.
I hike most of the afternoon on my own until I meet Steve with his heavy pack and some blisters. Despite the rain he is only wearing a T-shirt and when I ask him why he is not wearing a rain jacket, he tells me that this is a good way for him to keep cool. He is a tough guy from Alaska.
I happily reach the camp in Ahipara at 5pm where I share a cabin with the guys. A hot shower is the absolute highlight of the day.
Thought of the day: I want to learn how to pee with my pack on (especially in the rain).
Day 5 | Kaitaia
18 October 2022 | 18°C | 15km
The guys I share the cabin with decide so hitch to the next town to do a zero (rest day) there. They pack quite early but I decide to take it slow.
I head over to Eva’s cabin for breakfast in the sun where we are joined by Seba and Brini. At 10am we head out to walk the 15km to Kaitaia, the first road walk. I am happy at this point that I restarted the temptation of hitch hiking at this point. I want to be a “purist” for some time. Time passes pretty quickly. Phil is interested in German history and Eva and myself are petting some friendly dog on the way.
My thoughts wander and I wonder what I could eat once I get into town. The Turkish kebab place I went to on my way up to Cape Reinga comes to mind. I convince the others to stop there and after a 3 hrs walk from Ahipara I enjoy my falafel salad and a ice-cold coke. Delicious!
Once in the hostel I rest my legs on the couch to do some writing before the usual town chores like resupply and doing laundry are waiting.
Day 6 | Broadwood
19 October 2022 | 18° | 27km
The first part of the detour due to some disease in the forest on the actual trail to protect the kaui trees. I decide to hitch the first 5 miles as it is a state highway which is not recommended for hitchhiking. 15 minutes after I put my thumb out a young lady is picking me up .
She just took her kids to school and is now on her way back home. I get off at Rohrer Araroa Road. The trail is a gravel road for most of the morning, passing by a lot of farm land with cows. From Eva - who used to work on a dairy farm for some time - I learn the difference between dairy cows and meat cows. While baby dairy cows are separated from their mom so they don’t drink all of the milk, little meat cows can stay with their parents.
I also learn that dairy cow give roughly 40 liter of milk every day. Wow, that’s a lot. The baby cows are pretty shy, but we manage to make friends and cuddle with them for a while. Today we enter “the bushes” for the first time and do a small climb of 590 m. It is pretty muddy but feels great to be “off the road”. So many different kinds of birds in the trees! I reach the campsite at Broadwood around 4 PM and by the end of the day it will be 16 hikers camping there.
Thought of the day: Do baby cows miss their moms?
