Start: alternative to trail from forest creek track carpark
End: @ km 2340
Hiked: ~ 23 km?!

It rained throughout the night and was still sprinkling when we woke up. Paulette, one of the lovely owners of the backpackers, had baked apple muffins late last night and they were waiting for the guests in the kitchen with a cute note inviting us to help ourselves. What a treat!

We packed up and headed out early-ish. We were meeting Wayne for the shuttle at 8:15 and we still had to do some last minute grocery shopping and grab another treat at the Running Duck. The woman working at the checkout counter got a kick out of our morning purchases: two cans (yes, cans) of wine, a chocolate bar and toothbrushes.

Leah had really been looking forward to ordering a ‘Kick in the Nuts’; a milkshake made up of peanut butter, two shots of coffee, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. It did not disappoint! Other TA family shuffled in and soon we filled a large table. Wayne arrived and off we went. Leah absentmindedly left her poles behind and lucky for her and wonderful human ran out to the van with her poles before we drove away. Thank you. 🙏

The rain continued as Wayne drove us toward the starting point. During this time a decision had to be made: official trail or flood track. There was no way of knowing how high (or strong) the river would be until we were actually standing next to it. Mathias would have been keen to chance it, but Leah was opting for the flood track and Mathias said he’d go along with her choice. Kirby opted for this option as well. We all started hiking at 10:30am.

The alternate route began with the task of getting on the other side of a barbed wire fence. Once over (or through) we made our way through grassland, heading towards the river. The walk along the river bed was long! Because we were taking an alternative route, we didn’t have the support of the trail notes. We could use GPS, but we didn’t even have the area downloaded, so weren’t quite sure where to go. Mathias was feeling quite stressed about the situation. And then... we saw the sign (literally, there was a sign with the track name).

The track led us steeply up the mountain. At first it was well marked, but then we came to a point where there were no markers in sight. Leah spotted some bright pink ribbons and decided to follow them. Unfortunately, the ribbons did not lead us to the path. Fortunately, they led us to embark on an adventure through chin high tussock. Eventually, Kirby spotted a marker and after a 30min detour we were back on track.

The track remained quite steep. There was lots of sidling followed by the endless stairway to heaven in drizzle and fog. And then we reached the saddle. There was time for a 30sec ‘yay!’ before continuing on.

After the saddle the track was more easy going. We arrived at the Royal Hut a couple of hours earlier than expected and were thrilled to find many free beds. There were two people already in the hut and they were surprised to see us; Lucy (a French girl) and Richard (a Kiwi). The hut was cute but freezing. We cooked our dinners and Kirby shared her dessert in celebration of our hiking success: an oat bat from Barkers (This is love).

It was our coldest night on the TA so far. There was a fire place, but sadly no wood. But no worries, we bundled up in our snuggies, got into our sleeping bags and passed out for the night.

A long weekend getaway - with perfect weather.

Te Araroa - days 198-206

June 3rd, 2020

Te Araroa - days 114 - 123

Te Araroa - days 106 to 113

Te Araroa - days 99 to 102

June 3^rd, 2020