Te Araroa Trail Blog Day 15: Tidesong to Taurikura

Today is my 31st birthday. I got my wish to wake up on trail on my birthday, even if technically I’d imagined it would be in a tent (and it wasn’t).

Bless their hearts, everyone wished me happy birthday this morning and we had a nice breakfast sitting around Ros and Hugh’s table at Tidesong enjoying their picturesque view. 

Julia, John and myself were cramped into the tiny cabin last night, with John sleeping on the floor. It was a bit stuffy in the cabin and I went to sleep needing to pee so didn’t get much sleep until I eventually risked getting out of bed to go. I managed to get out of the cabin alright, but it was so dark (the cabin being under cover of trees) that I had to walk with my arms outstretched to avoid walking into a tree, and on the way back I managed to step on both Haley asleep on the porch and then John when I eventually got back inside.

I wanted to get going early this morning because we had a long day before we even reached the Te Whara Track over Bream Head. I told everyone I wanted to leave at 6.30am. In actual fact, it was more like 7.30am before we set off.

A nice birthday group photo before crossing the Taiharuru Estuary.  

Hugh and Ros wanted us to fill out their trail walkers’ book, and then Hugh walked us across the estuary (now at low tide) to the other side, which took up a bit of time, but was very lovely. He even brought a bucket full of water so we could wash our feet before putting our shoes back on!

Haley & Myself at the Taiharuru Estuary. Julia at the Taiharuru Estuary.  

It was a tough morning for me because my calves were very tight again. I could have done more to help myself, such as spend a fair bit of time during the day stretching them out and making sure to stretch them in the evening. But let’s be honest, I was so exhausted whenever we stopped, and then when we got to camp that it was the last thing on my mind.

Making the most of the soft morning glow on the other side of the Taiharuru Estuary.  

We walked up and up and up, along farm roads to the start of the Kauri Mountain Track. The first thing I noticed was that the sun was surprisingly hot for this early in the morning.

A lone cow on the Kauri Mountain track. Another stunning viewpoint out along the undulating northern Whangarei coastline.  

We reached the start of the Kauri Mountain Track and began our climb. It was quite steep in places, and given the name of the track I was expecting a lot of effort. The views out along the coastline of this region were stunning when the bush cleared enough for us to see them, and gave a good foretelling of what was to come today.

Start of the Kauri Mountain track. A peek through to our destiny for later today – views towards Bream Head from Kauri Mountain.  

Kauri Mountain didn’t live up to its name (thankfully), and eventually we came down onto Ocean Beach. The beach looked stunningly beautiful.

The last grassy track before setting foot onto Ocean Beach. A staircase leads down to the soft sand of Ocean Beach.  

We stopped for a quick break before pushing on around 7 kilometres to the end of the beach. The sand was very soft which made it hard to walk on. I found myself immediately comparing it to hiking along Ninety Mile Beach, which was a stark contrast in comparison. Regardless, we still made good time.  

The soft sand of Ocean Beach, with the faded mass of Bream Head in the distance. About half way along the 7 kilometre hike on Ocean Beach.  

We sat for 10 minutes or so at the end of the beach and had something to eat. It was around 11.30am when we arrived meaning that it took us spot on the 4 hours we’d estimated. Joe and John went for a swim. I was nervous about heading up over the Heads so I decided to cut my break short and start walking towards the start of the track sooner rather than later.

The mass of Bream Head looms ominously in the distance.  

At the end of the beach it was necessary to scale what I can only describe as a sheer cliff to get up to the grassy plateau that marked the start of the Te Whara Track. It was ridiculous, the first of a fair few moments on Te Araroa which would have me almost laughing in disbelief. I still have no idea how I got up there. I simply grabbed on to any kind of grass or anything I could get a decent hold on, and pulled. I was terrified I would fall or my feet would slip, but somehow I did it. 

A rocky cliff face at the end of Ocean Beach. Just to the right of this photo the sheer scramble to ascend to the start of the track.  

Up on the grassy plateau I looked up. It seemed to be a straight up climb for as far as the eye could see. I started climbing. The others had caught me by now, and Joe and Haley were already well ahead before Julia and John passed me.

The steep climb up a grassy plateau at the start of the Bream Head Track.  

I barely made it 50 metres before I had to stop. I climbed again. And stopped. And climbed again. Each time stopping not much further up than I had started. I’d been well and truly left behind by now. The sun beat down and there was a slight breeze, but my heart was pounding out of my chest and I couldn’t get any air. I sat down.

I started thinking I couldn’t do it. My pack was heavy, my shoes were slipping off because the slope was so steep. My heart was going ten to the dozen. I knew that Ocean Road was just back down the hill and to the left, and I desperately wanted to turn around. But I was caught in a dilemma. Julia wouldn’t realise I had turned around and it might take a while for her to figure it out. She’d worry about me and maybe would come back down the mountain to find me. I had no choice. I had to just keep going.

So I did. 

Making the most of a break in my effort, by admiring the stunning views from the lower Bream Head Track.  

My calves burned. My legs ached. I felt like I had nothing left. I stopped to sit down at least three times, and cried. And just when I thought I couldn’t do it anymore, I entered the bush. The shade was just enough for me to continue a little further still. It occurred to me that perhaps the reason I was struggling so much was because I hadn’t had a proper breakfast this morning. I simply hadn’t felt that hungry.

A small break in the bush line on the way to the Bream Head summit.  

There were some steps ahead. The trail got steeper. I met day hikers coming down from the opposite direction. One of them said I was about 15-20 minutes from the top. For a second I allowed my heart to hope, before realising I wasn’t sure what that equated to in my time. I’d slowed to a bare crawl. 

Thankfully, sure enough, less than half an hour later I rounded a corner and there they all were, the other hikers, sitting and waiting for me. Eating their snacks. I was so happy to see them. 

Feeling free as a bird on top of Bream Head.  

I took a decent half hour break or so with them, and on the recommendation of the others climbed a nearby rock to see the view from the top. It was amazing.

The view out towards Whangarei from the summit of Bream Head.  

A little further along the track we would reach the junction to Peach Cove Hut (booking required if you wish to stay here), which I had been aiming for as a lunch stop, but here we were at the highest point on the route. On top of the rock it was exposed and it felt like I could fall off the edge of the world. There was a little cellphone reception so I took the opportunity to check my birthday messages. There was a video message each from Mum and Dad. And one from my sister Tania. I took some time sending them replies, and then made my way back down.

When I got back down, Julia pulled out a packet of M&Ms. She gave them to me with a Happy Birthday wish and told me they were my present. I was so grateful. I was even more grateful when I realised she’d been carrying them with her, nearly 300g of uneaten chocolate in her pack for two and a half days since we left Ngunguru.

A quick birthday selfie at the top of the Bream Bay Track.  

We followed the track along the ridge. Eventually we came to the Peach Cove Hut junction. Even though I’d had visions of ducking down to this hut to get some water, and also to ‘bag’ it, really it was too far off track to venture there. The two litres of water I’d packed out this morning was getting pretty low. I was down to sipping it as often as I could but still every hour or so. 

Past the turnoff the track continued to undulate along the ridge. At another junction there was a sign saying that the track past Mt Lion to Urquharts Bay was closed.

A DoC sign marks the closure of the Urquhart Bay track, but it seems to be out of date.  

After the research we’d done yesterday I was pretty confident the track was open and ready for use, despite the sign. So we headed off towards Mt Lion. It was a lot more climbing on top of what we’d already done, but by now we’d come too far to bail out and take a shorter route down to a road.

So we climbed some more. There were a lot of false summits, but eventually we reached the peak of Mt Lion and knew it was all downhill from here (as the saying goes).

Looking back towards the summit of the Bream Head track from a false summit on the way to Mt Lion.  

From that point on all three of us were knackered. Joe and Haley had left our lunch spot a lot earlier than the rest of us, and given their pace we weren’t expecting to see them again. It was a long way downhill, and quite a steep downhill at that. There were lots of steps which were tricky to navigate, but undoubtedly it was a lot easier than a rooty slope. 

Now and again the cloud would thicken, and it started to feel like the predicted rain storm was almost upon us. We escaped the vast majority of it, but the temperature was starting to drop.

Eventually we came out onto a grassy plateau at the bottom of the track, and when I looked up I realised that we would be coming out onto a track that I’d hiked with my parents and some family friends nearly four years ago.

Emerging at Urquhart Bay at the end of the traverse over Bream Head.  

I could vaguely make out the shape of the track around the headland from Urquharts Bay and then round to Smugglers Bay. It felt very surreal to be standing where I was staring at that track, having achieved what I had over the last two weeks. The Michelle of the past had no idea that one day in her near future she would be emerging from the Te Whara Track, a long distance hiker on Te Araroa. 

We continued on up the road to a nice set of public toilets at the car park. They were incredibly clean and had heaps of space inside with a bench inside to put my pack on. Outside there was a fresh water tap which we used to fill our bottles. I was glad of the opportunity. I was definitely feeling dehydrated.

The final few kilometres into Taurikura at the end of a long day.  

It was a relatively easy 4 or 5 kilometres or so to the Green Bus Stop, our destination for the night. When we arrived we couldn’t find the owner, Terry, so we walked up a dirt track a little way to see if we could find anyone. Eventually Julia phoned Terry, and he came down from the house. We’d assumed we’d be staying in the bus, and we’d been hanging out by it. The bus itself looked nice enough but it didn’t look like there was much room inside. And there was stuff spread out all over the place.

In the end it turned out that Terry was currently renting out the bus to someone else, so we would instead be in the cabin at the back of the section. It sounded like heaven to me!

On the way to the cabin we walked past a hot shower and a flushing toilet! There was also an outdoor camp kitchen and a garden full of veggies that Terry said we could help ourselves to. 

The cozy little cabin at the Green Bus Stop in Taurikura.  

The cabin was large and spacious, with one double bed and a sofa. Julia and I opted to share the bed whilst John slept on the sofa. When we asked him how much it would cost for the night, Terry said he didn’t want any money as we had come from James, and also Hugh and Ros, whom he knew.

We simply couldn’t leave him empty handed, though, as he had done us a big favour. It turned out later that Terry isn’t officially a Te Araroa trail angel any longer. He used to offer hiker accommodation, but no longer does so for a variety of reasons. The next morning we left $50 on the table for him as a thank you for his hospitality.

I put my feet up and stretched out on the bed, and might have stayed there all night, but for the fact that I needed to shower. After I showered I called my family who wished me a happy birthday… whilst I sat on a comfy bed, with my feet up, eating M&Ms for dinner.

The cabin included a small jug (kettle) which we made good use of. It’s amazing how something as simple as a device which boils water without using precious gas can become a novelty. I used it to make my dinner which I then took down to the camp kitchen to finish with the others.

Julia drops her pack under cover of the outdoor kitchen at the Green Bus Stop.  

On top of everything else, Terry’s wife had left us three pieces of fruit cake, so we had a piece each. We also had been left some eggs (which kind of seemed like the universe trying to right the wrong of the other morning), so Julia and John boiled them up ready for breakfast tomorrow. 

It started to drizzle with rain so we made our way back to the cabin. We made some final arrangements for our transport across the Marsden Point inlet tomorrow morning. Using the trail notes as a guide, we made contact with Blair Jones, the trail angel who ferries hikers across this large body of water which forms part of the official trail. Blair gave us a couple of possible times and confirmed he would be able to take us across in the mid-morning, so we made our arrangements to leave in plenty of time to make our rendezvous with him.

Terry had told us that there was a chance we might be able to see some glow worms near a stream that ran through his property. We waited long enough for it to get dark so we could have a decent chance of seeing them. We ate the rest of the M&Ms whilst we waited. 

Once it was dark enough we headed down to the small stream. It seemed to take an age for them to come out but we finally saw two hiding up under the brush. Thinking that was the end of it, Julia went back to the cabin. John and I decided to make a trip to the bathroom, so we were surprised when a little way further along the track we found a slightly bigger cluster of them.  We couldn’t see them very clearly, but it was enough to make it feel like it was worth it.  

After attending to our nightly ablutions John and I returned to the cabin, and we all readied ourselves for bed. Before we knew it, it was time to switch the lights off, and get some shuteye for another day tomorrow. 

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