Te Araroa Trail Blog Day 11: Oakura to Whananaki

We had to be ready by 6.30AM to catch a ride with Justin’s wife to the Helena Bay trailhead. I still can’t believe how lucky we got with that one.

Justin’s wife (I didn’t catch her name) seemed like a lovely lady. Of Māori descent, she was very well educated and teaches at a school just outside of Kawakawa. It seemed like an interesting school. They make a point of spending 3 days a week outside of the classroom, and often take bike rides out onto the trails. The principal of the school walked Te Araroa last year and is now pushing everyone else to do the same.

She spent a lot of time telling us how she likes knowing she is preparing her students for the wilderness, by teaching them how to listen to and be aware of their environment. I thought it was a great skill to be passing on to kids, especially in the modern world where more focus seems to be put onto distractions. 

Our drop-off point for the morning, avoiding the long walk to the Helena Bay Ridge Track.  

She dropped us off at the High Chapparal trailhead at Helena Bay and sent us off with a big hug. It was a little before 7AM and we decided to have a quick breakfast of snickers bars and a fresh orange that our friend Paul had given us yesterday. It got stuck in my teeth but it was so juicy and gorgeous. 

We headed through the gate and did the obligatory at the boot wash station. The driveway on the other side of the gate went straight uphill. And no sooner had I mentioned this to Julia then she pointed out I had missed a trail marker to my right pointing us in another direction.

Thank goodness she always has her eyes open.

The first part of the track was quite beautiful. Unfortunately it was raining and it looked like it would get worse, but the views were stunning regardless. I found the environment very moody. The track traversed a private farm, so the countryside was very paddock-y for a while. We walked through a small forested area and then began to head straight up a hill. And I mean straight up! It was hard work first thing in the morning with a couple of litres of water in my pack.

Taking a look at the view to Helena Bay from the top of the Helena Bay Ridge track.  

After a short sharp climb full of puffing and panting, and a fair amount of sweat, we made it to the top to a host of beautiful views. The weather whipped up, and it became cold and windy very fast, so we pushed on. 

Hiking above the mist on the Helena Bay Ridge Track after a steep ascent.  

From there, the track descended into a forest. Although we’d been walking it for a while, I finally realised this was the Helena Bay Ridge Track. It was very steep in places, but I wasn’t finding it too bad. My legs got used to it after a while, but poor Julia wasn’t having much fun. She really doesn’t like being wet and walking in the rain.

I tried to gently suggest to her that it would probably only get worse further down the trail (NZ is not renowned for being a dry climate). But that probably didn’t do much to settle her mind.

The track was very overgrown in places, and we had to do a lot of bushwhacking through thick bushes and ferns on the trail. Often I couldn’t see the trail underfoot. My hands were up in front of my face with my trekking poles a lot of the time, to avoid getting poked in the eye by stray tree branches. In this kind of terrain, my trekking poles seemed to just keep getting in the way. I considered putting them away, but then I’d put a foot wrong because I couldn’t see the track beneath my feet, and would only just catch myself by jutting out a pole to steady myself. 

We wanted to take today in sections because we knew there would be some tough walking. This first section was about 8km and would take us 3-4 hours to finish. The second section was slightly shorter, but would probably take us around the same time.

A small hiker-permitted campsite on the Helena Bay Ridge Track.  

We were probably about 2 kilometres from the end of the track when we came upon a grassy clearing. There was a sign saying that TA walkers could camp here, so I reached around to grab my phone out of my side pocket so I could take a picture.

But it wasn’t there!

In all the bushwhacking I’d been doing, it had obviously gotten caught on a stray branch and been knocked out somewhere further back along the track.

I was so annoyed. I dropped my pack, grabbed my Garmin GPS and told Julia if I wasn’t back in 45 minutes to send a search party for me.

As I swore my way back along the trail, I sent a number of silent prayers up to the universe to please let my phone just be lying on the trail somewhere, easy to see, not hidden in a bush or tree. I thought I knew roughly where I had lost it. There’d been an overgrown section about 15 minutes back where I’d gotten particularly tangled. And sure enough, a kilometre or so back up the trail there it was, lying on the trail just visible underneath a large fern. 

I was so grateful to see it there, and thanked the universe again.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think it would make a perfect excuse to quit the trail. I honestly thought that was it, and my trail was over. 

When I got back to Julia, she was pleased to see I had found my phone. We pushed on again, deciding to take a proper rest and lunch break when we reached the start of the next track, which was only a few kilometres away.  

Those few kilometres took a little while to pass. First we had to emerge onto a private farm road, then onto the public road for a few kilometres.

When I’d originally looked at the map for this section I had thought the connecting road would be more at sea level, but it actually ran through the hills. It was great because it meant we didn’t have to descend yet, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

There was supposed to possibly be a water source around here somewhere, but we couldn’t find it. We weren’t running low on water, because we’d each packed about 2 litres, but we knew there most likely wouldn’t be water again until we reached Whananaki.

Hitting the 300km marker on the Te Araroa trail.  

When we were on the public road, we marked off 300 kilometres on the TA. I’d missed the 200 kilometre milestone, as this was located in the northland forest section, so it was nice to finally be marking off another milestone on this thru hike.

Finally we came upon the start of the Morepork Track. Slipping and sliding along a muddy clay section to the first cleaning station, we decided to stop shortly after to sit down for something to eat. We spent maybe 40 mins or so having a break but by the end we were wet, damp and cold so decided to push on early. 

The last beautiful section of the Morepork Track.  

The track was really beautiful, winding its way first along by the Waioterewa Stream and then ducking off towards Hansen’s Hill. We covered the 4.2km of the track in no time! It was nice and wide and the sun had even started to come out so we had begun to thaw out. 

Beautiful native bush on the Morepork Track.  

It wasn’t long before we came to a track junction in a small clearing. There  were about a thousand (ok, maybe twenty) trail markers all around the trees in this spot and at the end of the track a small DOC sign that pointed the way to Whananaki. Not really sure whether this marked the start of the Onekainga Track or not, we pushed on for a bit before checking our maps.

A cluster of trail markers at the end of the Morepork Track.  

Originally our plan had been to stop for another break at the start of the Onekainga Track, but this plan was thwarted when almost immediately the track conditions deteriorated. It became more of a bush whack for long sections as the trees encroached on the trail and the trail became much narrower. It also started climbing, up and up and up. Very steeply. To start with, it wasn’t too bad. But because of the rain this morning it was slippery in places.

We got to the top of the first little ridge and walked along it for a short while. I think we even took a small break. Then we had to come down again. The downhill was hard and slippery. I went first and no sooner had I started then I was sliding downhill. It was difficult to stop myself because the hill was so steep and my pack so heavy. I eventually came to a stop but getting back up again took a lot of effort. 

Julia followed. She’d already slipped and fallen once this morning and I’m not sure how but she managed to stay upright … just.

As I went to move off, Julia noticed that I’d put a big tear in the back of my rain pants. I must have caught a small stone or stick on my way down. I was pretty gutted. I’d only worn the pants a few times and they were very expensive!

The steep descent on the Morepork Track. RIP my waterproof pants.  

There was nothing else to do but carry on. The track continued to climb. And climb. And climb. It went on and on for hours. We stopped more and more frequently to check the map to see how far we still had to go. The kilometres were slowly ticking off, but we couldn’t understand why we were still climbing! It made no sense. The place we were staying tonight was at sea level!

Eventually I dropped my pack right in the middle of the trail and flopped myself down on it on it. Julia followed. We swore loudly. Mentally I’d been ok so far, but the sight of the latest hill had gotten me down.

A great view out towards the coastline between Helena Bay and Whananaki – the only highlight of this section.  

We laughed a bit and let all our frustrations out, each of us just as demoralised as the other. I was glad I wasn’t out here on my own. I think that would have broken me. 

When we could muster enough motivation, we got up and pushed on again. I’d looked at the topographical map and seen that soon we’d be coming up to a ridge where we would walk along for a bit.

Sure enough, we did. Although I didn’t pay attention at the time, this must have been the ridge just below the Onekainga summit. It was covered in pine trees, and actually was quite a beautiful section of the track.

I expected the trail to be all downhill from there to the road.

It wasn’t. 

We kept walking and slowly but surely the track changed. We emerged onto private land and into more pine forest which was lovely. But we would walk along the flat for a bit and then keep climbing still. There were more stiles to cross, which was becoming annoying.

Still ascending, with only a couple of kilometres to our final destination.  

And then, finally, we started to descend. I was getting nervous. We’d gone up so steeply and for so long that I knew we’d have a long way to go down and that it would be very steep. I wasn’t wrong. The track was incredibly steep and muddy. I really had to watch where to put my feet, which of course took time. My knees (both of them now) started to ache and of course my legs were tired.

All of this combined to make for a pretty hazardous descent. I just wanted to get down now. Every time I put my foot down it seemed to be in the wrong place. I would slip or slide or stumble or trip on something. Julia tried as hard as she could to help me with my confidence and gave me some good tips for how to descend nicely. And we filled in the time by chatting and gossiping.

Emerging into the final section of the Onekainga Track, this paddock walk to the main road.  

Finally, after what seemed like an age, the track started to flatten out. It came out into a paddock and we walked along the fenceline for a little while on a tricky little track. The sun was really out now and it was hot. I caught a glimpse of Whananaki North Road up ahead. We took a quick standing rest break before heading up the hill (surprise, surprise) to the start of the estuary track which would take us down to the Whananaki Holiday Park. 

The estuary track was short and pleasant enough. But of course I didn’t appreciate it because I was so exhausted. 

The final push to Whananaki Holiday Park, and the end of this long day.  

We came out onto the estuary and hiked past a sign for camp and hot showers that pointed up along a grassy bank just before the famous Whananaki footbridge.

Not being able to tell if this was the camp we were heading for, we ended up walking the long way round to it. We passed the shop and checked the closing time: 5.30PM today. It was nearly 4.30PM now.

We’d been on the go for nearly 10 hours today, my longest so far. 

Arriving at the campsite, we were greeted by Paulette, proprietor of the holiday park, who asked if we were trail walkers. When we said we were, she disappeared only to return with two complimentary ice cold cans of Coke. I don’t drink the stuff usually, but today I did. 

Paulette asked if we wanted a tent site or cabin. Julia started to say tent but when she told us it was only $4 more each for a cabin I convinced Julia to spring for a bed. We’d already decided we’d take a zero day here tomorrow so it seemed a waste of time to put the tents up for two nights when it would only be $8 more for a proper bed. 

Taking my shoes off after the hardest day’s hiking so far in Whananaki.  

We dumped our gear in our cabin and wandered off to the shop for some supplies. There was a proper kitchen at the campsite so we decided we’d cook ourselves a proper meal. Out front of the shop we met an American guy eating a hot dog and chips. He said he was a NOBO (northbound) hiker and we were both surprised! He clarified he’d flown into Auckland and was heading NOBO to the Cape. He would decide what to do from there.

Apparently he had already walked the trail, and he’d come back to do it again.

At this particular moment, we couldn’t understand why. 

We left him in peace while we bought our groceries as it looked like the shop would be closing soon. There wasn’t much choice but I grabbed a bag of frozen burgers and frozen veggies. Julia picked up some bread, cheese, eggs and an onion. I also treated us to some dark chocolate and raspberry Tim Tams for dessert. 

Once back at camp, we put the burgers in the oven. We were waiting for them to cook when we noticed another hiker had arrived. Upon talking to him we identified him as the hiker who we had seen walking past our camp at Oakura last night. He’d camped a little way further around the bay (presumably at the Whangaruru Camp & Motel I mentioned in my last post) and done the road walk this morning. 

We’d also noticed that two tents pitched a little further along from our cabin were also occupied by two TA hikers.

Slowly, more hikers started to arrive. I started to realise that even though we’d felt like it, we actually hadn’t been alone on that track this afternoon. 

Our cozy cabin at Whananaki campsite.  

I was starting to learn more about this long distance hiking thing. Never think for a second that you’re alone, because you never know who’s just behind you or ahead of you on the trail.

The first new hikers to arrive were an English couple. Then an American couple turned up. We got chatting to the English couple, Heather and her partner. They’d started only a couple of days before us. We found out that one of their friends with a van was helping them out getting from section to section. They weren’t fussed about skipping the road walks where they could.

We shared our story so far on the trail with them. It seemed no one in this latest group had stayed at Sheryl’s place in Waikare, but had pushed on to camp either with Sue or elsewhere on the trail. The English couple said that Troy and Jordyn, the hikers I’d met on the Kerikeri River Track, would probably arrive at Whananaki tomorrow. They had camped in Russell forest a couple of nights ago. 

As we chatted, we finished our dinner. We were already clean and fresh from the showers we’d taken just before dinner. A little expensive, at 50c for 4 minutes, I managed to get myself and my hair washed (just) in that time. I noticed that Julia topped hers up about twice. She must have been really enjoying the warmth of the hot water!

A little later on I spoke to Mum. She’d spoken to one of the doctors at her surgery about what could possibly be the issue with my knee. It had held up relatively well over the past few days, but it was still twinging.

She checked in with me about my resupply box, which I’d picked up just fine. She’d been leaving me little notes written on the flaps of each one. This box had, “The path with no obstacles doesn’t lead anywhere”. It was completely apt for today’s hike, and I told her so. 

Before bed, we enjoyed a few Tim Tams and a chat. The beds left a lot to be desired, being just foam mattresses that I would quickly sink into. But still, it was far better than the sleeping pad which I keep falling off of. 

I noticed that I was feeling much happier all of a sudden, and then became a little disappointed in myself that this was probably largely because we’d be taking a rest day tomorrow.

Even though Whananaki wasn’t exactly the best place to zero (having almost no shops or facilities), it would do for now. We had plenty of food available to us, and the weather was supposed to be nice for tomorrow at least.

prefer to watch?

Watch the full video from this section of Te Araroa below.