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**Due to an issue with phone backups on this section, I lost many of my photos between Cape Reinga and Auckland. As a result, many photos are missing and some of the ones I managed to recover and post here are damaged.**
The next morning we didn’t have to leave until about 9AM, so it was another leisurely one. I certainly could get used to these.
Julia and John wanted to get some supplies from the campsite shop before we left so I woke at 7AM and went to the bathroom before preparing my breakfast ready to start cooking. I sat in the TV room for a little while as I ate and tried to update my journal. I also tried (and failed) to upload yet more videos to Dropbox, and opted to do a final charge of my phone (which I’d forgotten to plug in last night).
It was nice to know I didn’t have to be up and out super early. But sure enough the time soon rolled by, and it was soon time to go and get myself washed and dressed, and my bag packed.
We were ready by 8.45AM and after making the quick stop at the shop on the way out, we set out off up the road to the start of the Mt Tamahunga Track (Te Hīkoi o Te Kiri) about 3 kilometres away.
Crossing a scenic bridge over the Pākiri River just outside of Pākiri Holiday Park.
We crossed a bridge and the road was very flat to begin with, but then it rose straight up from the flat plateau we’d been hiking on. I stopped briefly at the bottom of the incline to inject some energy (in the form of a Moro Gold bar) before starting my ascent up the hill in front of me.
By this time, John and Julia had a decent head start on me and there was no way I was going to catch them, so I took my sweet time. My legs and calves were burning and fatigued easily as I climbed up the hill.
Making good progress on the first section of climbing from the end of Bathgate Road, Pākiri.
Guna and Agita had followed us out of camp, and I’d left them at the bottom of the hill as I started my climb. By the time I’d stopped a couple of times to catch my breath, they’d well and truly passed me.
Looking straight back down the climb towards Pākiri Beach and the long beach walk we’d completed yesterday.
Taking a quick selfie on the way up the Mt Tamahunga climb.
It probably took me an hour to get up the hill to the start of the summit track. Partly this was because I took a wrong turn and started heading across the hill towards a house instead of up it.
Finally catching Guna and Agita after they lapped me on the hill.
Crossing over a dirty looking farm stream after taking a wrong turn on the Mt Tamahunga Track. I should be heading back up and to my right.
I realised my mistake relatively quickly and instead of doing an about face and backtracking, I decided (in true kiwi fashion) to head straight up the hill instead. It turned out to be a good decision because the stile was pretty much directly ahead of me anyway.
The stile marking the beginning of the Mt Tamahunga (Te Hikoi o Te Kiri) track (proper).
When I reached the top, Julia and John were sitting under the trees in the shade. I sat down for 15 minutes or so and put on some sunscreen. Then it was time to be off again.
A stunningly scenic track on a beautiful day like this, I can only imagine how different this section might be on a wet day.
The track was nice for a little way, as it wound its way along the ridge line, but then it became very overgrown and muddy. This particular section of the trail is renowned for being muddy and nigh on impassable after heavy rain. Luckily for us, the weather had been very dry for the last few days, and most of the mud had hardened.
Thankfully the majority of the Mt Tamahunga Track was dry enough to walk on.
But there were still places where it was boggy.
There were still some sections of slippery mud and clay in the areas that don’t get a lot of sun.
The track descended down a slope through mud for a little while, and then it became really overgrown and started to climb up to the summit. It was a hard climb. With the mud, tree roots, gradient and then eventually psuedo-rock climbing, it was a slow ascent. There were places that were really sketchy and it was another one of those hills that just never seemed to end.
By the time I crested the hill and emerged into a clearing where the others were, I was completely over it. Julia was basking like a seal on the helicopter pad and John had taken up residence in the only small patch of shade there was. I was desperate to get out of the sun, so was thankful when he moved to make enough room for us both. 
A large helicopter pad presents a good opportunity to take a long lunch break, although the options for getting out of the sun were few.
We sat eating our lunch in the shade for 10 minutes or so, but the wind was blowing and it became quite chilly so I decided to go back and lie in the sun. I don’t know how long I was lying there for, but I felt myself nod off to sleep a couple of times.
After about an hour I roused the others (who were very reluctant) to move. We weren’t yet half way through our hike for the day, and my preference was to arrive at camp much earlier than planned, than to be taken unawares by a tricky section that would land us there hours after we’d expected. I ended up leaving slightly before they were ready.
Taking a look out from a viewpoint on Mt Tamahunga towards Omaha and Omaha Bay.
The track was a lot easier for the next little while as it followed the ridgeline. There were a couple of places where it went down for a bit but then it flattened out. There were also plenty of viewpoints along the way.
A viewpoint of the surrounding scenery out towards Milbrook Quarry, our destination lurks just behind the ridge.
Then there was another climb. We climbed up and up, past a weather station and then up some more. It was tough. The others had caught up to me by this point so I let them go ahead. I was trying to keep up with them but they were going much faster than me.
A large, vibrating and rather scary looking weather station on Mt Tamahunga.
Finally the track started to descend again and it felt like we were coming down off the mountain. But it was still hard work. The track was so steep and rooty in places that it was very slow going for me. I found myself becoming very self conscious. The others didn’t seem to be having this much trouble. It was also quite precarious in places. One wrong step and it would have been easy to go tumbling down the hillside. At least there weren’t as many prickly trees and shrubs to push through though. The entire track up to the summit had been like that, and I was starting to get really annoyed with being poked in the face and legs by the tiny barbs of Manuka bushes and gorse.
All of a sudden I heard a car, and was surprised at how close it seemed. It was a bit of a climb but I finally emerged out onto a road. Julia and John had arrived moments before. We sat in the shade on a blind corner for a little while before walking the 1.6 kilometres up and over the hill onto Govan Wilson Road, and eventually came across the Twin Rimus trail angels.
Hiking down a sealed road section between the end of the Mt Tamahunga track and Govan Wilson Road.
When we arrived, we circled the property a couple of times, shouting out but there seemed to be no one around. We’d been told by the owners Matt and Jasmin to set up camp on the lawn in front of the house, so we lounged about on the soft grass in the sun and the shade for a while. The Latvian girls turned up. Eventually they contacted Matt who said he’d sent a text to Julia but she hadn’t received it. We pitched our tents just before Jasmin got home. She introduced herself and then brought down cold Steinlagers for everyone else and an L&P for me.
Now that Jasmin was back, it was time for us to shower. We took it in turns, with the Latvian girls going first. It turned out our hosts were actually sharing the shower and toilet in the house with us, which was incredibly kind of them. They had a few children who were running around the house playing. Yasmin asked us if we wanted to put in an order with Matt for any supplies from Four Square (I asked for some baked beans) and he turned up shortly after with icy poles (frozen orange flavoured frujus) and the food we’d ordered.
This was certainly an amazing place to stay!
Space enough for ten or more (carefully pitched) tents on the decent sized lawn at the Twin Rimus Homestay. Matt, Jasmin and their family were excellent hosts.
With the arrival of Matt, it was time to cook dinner. I put half a tin of cold baked beans in my lentil lasagne for the evening and it tasted incredible!
A Scottish hiker named Kevin had turned up a little while previously. He told us that he’d been fasting out here on the trail! I’m sure he said he’d fasted for about three days in one go. I couldn’t imagine what that must be like. Every day so far has been so hard, and sometimes the thought of a nice hot meal at the end of the day was all that kept me going. I didn’t know how I’d make it without food.
After dinner was finished we all bedded down nice and early. It was still light out when I eventually shut the doors to my tent, but I took some time to update my family Whats App group on my progress (it had been a little while since my last proper update).
That night, I just couldn’t get comfortable and so I slept fitfully. Despite the howling wind outside (Govan Wilson Road, and our campsite in particular, appeared to be in some kind of natural wind tunnel) the evening was actually a lot warmer than we were expecting, and with the aid of some earplugs I did at least manage to catch a few winks of sleep.
prefer to watch?
Watch the full video from this section of Te Araroa below.
https://youtu.be/pjvpf-xqZzQ