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**Due to an issue with phone backups at this point of the trail I lost many of my photos from the section up to Auckland. Photos are limited in this post, but I have shared the ones that I managed to recover.**
This morning, I woke up with a dry tent.
It felt like a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. The wind was calm and it was beautiful outside. My alarm woke me up at 6AM and I eventually went off to the bathroom at about 6.20AM. It didn’t seem like anyone else was up and about so I took my time getting washed and into my hiking clothes.
Returning to my tent I took my time packing what I could of my gear away and then making a leisurely breakfast. I’d picked up a pack of Uncle Toby’s Apple and Cinnamon porridge sachets back at the Pākiri campground in a hiker box (rarely found on the trail), but was disappointed with the result. I knew they wouldn’t give me much energy (I was hungry within an hour or two), but it was worth it to save on dishes.
It was really nice to feel like I wasn’t rushed out of the tent. We only had 17 kilometres to Puhoi today, and the famous Puhoi Pub lay in wait for us at the end of the day. This was great for a number of reasons, but not least of which that we were all running quite low on food now, being at the end of a four day stretch. I only had a few crackers and some cheese for lunch, and I’d now completely finished all my chocolate. Julia was in a similar situation.
By 7.30AM Julia and I were ready to head off, leaving everyone else (including the Latvian girls, Guna and Agita) behind.
500 kilometres of trail behind, 2,500 to go!
We made our way down the rest of the gravel road we’d reached just before camp yesterday, to a sealed road at the bottom. The sealed road then turned onto another metal road where we immediately came upon the 500 kilometre milestone!
We collected some sticks to make a marker sign, and arranged them carefully before taking some photos. It feels so surreal knowing we’ve walked 500 kilometres of this trail, one sixth of its length and half of the first thousand kilometre distance I’d set my mind on.
Hitting the 500 kilometre trail milestone, half way to my first 1000 kilometres!
From that point on, though, things got worse. We followed a set of forestry roads up to the Moir Hill summit. It was a hell of a climb (although relatively gradual) and I had to stop often to catch my breath and give my calves a break (they were, as usual, burning like crazy). I think I managed to make it to the summit in a couple of hours, but it was only just shy of 10 kilometres for the day.
Hiking down the farm road just after leaving Nanekoti Farmstay, on our way to the Moirs Hill summit.
One of the steeper climbs on the route so far, an unexpected scramble to the top of Moirs Hill. We were passed by two mountain bikers on this particular section.
At Moir Hill itself there was nowhere to sit that looked nice, so instead we pushed on and stopped at the start of the next little section. A couple of mountain bikers who’d overtaken us on the forestry road let us know that Kevin wasn’t far behind us and he soon arrived and joined us for a snack. We sat and chatted for a little bit, joking about the little note on the track sign that said how many kilometres remain to Bluff (a lot!).
A not-so-scenic viewpoint at the top of Moirs Hill.
It was 10AM by the time we set off again, and we’d set ourselves the goal of reaching the pub by lunchtime. The trail notes estimated 3 hours to make it there, but we all hoped we could do it in closer to two.
The first track was really lovely, first through some native bush before climbing a little through open grassland.
A section of the trail route between Dunns Bush and Puhoi.
It eventually came out on a road, which we crossed over and walked all the way up through a residential area to the start of the Dunn Bush Track.
A random log cabin near the start of the Dunns Track on the way to Puhoi.
Entering the Dunns Bush Track section through private bush.
A wonderfully informational sign about the Dunn’s Bush reserve and its importance to the region.
This was also a beautiful little section, although we were bothered by a little black dog who ran up and down the fence line for 500 metres or so barking its head off at every hiker that walked past. At least it gave us an idea of how far behind us the others were, though!
Hiking alongside a rural property with a very noisy dog!
The Dunn family apparently donated this part of their land to the QEII National Trust a little while back, and it really was a beautiful section of trail through native bush which had until recently been on private property.
Leaving the end of the very short Dunn’s Bush Track.
Reaching the end of the bush section we came out into a working farm and walked over and through pasture and hills for a little while. I had a Sound of Music moment (you know the one, the opening shot where Maria runs through the rolling hills of the Swiss countryside), walking across steep rolling hills that stretched out in front of me. No cattle on these hills today, just four lonely hikers.
Feeling just like fraulein Maria in The Sound of Music, frolicking over rolling hills filled with wildflowers after Dunn’s Bush.
Hiking down the white ribbon of this farm road after the Dunns Bush track, on our way towards Puhoi.
At the end of this section we came down to a proper road with a Department of Conservation campsite.
Passing by the Remiger Road Conservation Area campsite.
After walking along this road for a little way, we approached our first swing bridge of the trail which also marked the start of the Puhoi Track.
Approaching the Puhoi River Swing Bridge and the start of the Puhoi Track.
Standing proudly in the middle of the first swing bridge of Te Araroa!
The track started well, but because we were nearing the end of our kilometres I’d got it into my head that this part of the trail shouldn’t take us long to complete. We climbed a short way through pine forest, but after about ten or fifteen mins of continuing to climb, I was becoming frustrated again. Julia had zoomed off ahead and was now out of sight, and I had slowed to a crawl. I had no energy left, having eaten the last of my crackers a little over an hour ago.
I turned a bend a little later and came upon Julia resting on the side of the track. As we rested, we were caught by Kevin who was still hobbling on his shin splint. We pushed on. The hills continued to come. And come and come. It was relentless.
Taking one of our first looks down into the township of Puhoi, from the Puhoi Track.
Eventually we came out into a clearing from which we could actually see the Puhoi Pub. It was tantalisingly close and yet still so far. The track seemed to have flattened off for a small section but now our problem was the sun. It was beating down very hot and the surrounding bush made for a humid environment.
Watching the rest of the Puhoi Track still winding its way up in front of me… surely not long now until it starts to descend?!
Finally, after what seemed like an age, the track started to descend towards the town. There were a lot more day hikers on the trail now, and being Sunday afternoon it was quite busy. We made it down the track and I found the others (who’d once again escaped me) at the public toilets.
Spotting the Puhoi Pub (centre) from the Puhoi Track!
A lovely American lady called Cindy had spotted us with our packs, and got chatting to us. She was from Auckland, just up for a day trip, but seemed to have a good knowledge of the trail and the task that lay ahead of us. We politely engaged in conversation with her, but really, all we wanted to do was get to the pub. We’d arrived by 12.30pm, thus completing our task of arriving by lunchtime, and it was well and truly time for our reward.
One of the more substantial bridges on the Te Araroa trail route, this one crossing the ample Puhoi River.
Waiting for cars to stop whilst crossing the road to the Puhoi Pub.
Crossing the bridge and the main road, we walked through the gate to the pub. It was absolutely humming with people, both day trippers from Auckland, a collection of vintage car enthusiasts and a happy smattering of motorcyclists. We squeezed ourselves onto a space on a picnic table, and with a quick glance around noticed that Guna and Agita were already there!
Once again, they were the subject of some snide comments from the fairly exhausted Julia and myself. On reflection, I was overly harsh about their chosen manner of hiking. For them, hitching certain sections and having the flexibility to design the experience they wanted was the important thing. For me, it was about pushing myself to complete as many of the available kilometres as possible. I couldn’t judge them too harshly. I’d skipped plenty of sections already for one reason or another. They’d probably hiked more kilometres than me! And they did seem like lovely girls.
The pretty setting of the famous Puhoi Pub and beer garden.
The Puhoi Pub was gorgeous inside, as many historic NZ pubs are. It reminded me a lot of the famous Cardrona Hotel, with money from all over the world and other miscellaneous bits and pieces of paraphernalia stapled all over the walls. I ordered myself a cider, my first alcoholic drink on the trail, and proceeded to enjoy every single guzzle of it!
A well deserved drink after a long morning of hiking.
We sat on the benches drinking for a long while. It occurred to me I may have been thoroughly dehydrated, as well as mildly starving, and that perhaps an alcoholic lunch wasn’t the best idea. We’d ordered something to eat for lunch but were told it would be at least a 45 minute wait. That was no problem for us! The trail angel we’d decided to stay with tonight (Pip) had offered to come and collect our bags at 3pm, so we had plenty of time to kill before she arrived.
Our food arrived (I indulged in a large plate of fish and chips), and we wolfed it down hungrily as the sun drifted slowly around the garden, and I inevitably ended up getting my back a little burned in the haze of enjoying myself.
My fish and chip lunch at the Puhoi Pub, together with an almost empty glass of cider.
When Pip finally arrived we loaded our bags into her car and then headed to the Puhoi General Store for a much-needed resupply. In the euphoria of the afternoon, none of us had taken the time to looked ahead at the coming days. We were busy filling our arms with food when I eventually mentioned that we could do a resupply in Orewa tomorrow at a bigger supermarket (which would probably be cheaper).
We promptly got rid of a bunch of food (except for a good helping of chocolate!) before hiking a kilometre or so further up the road to Pip’s place. It was an easy 10 minute walk, but in our slightly tipsy and satiated states it took us a little longer.
The small yard and driveway leading to Pip’s place, Kevin pictured to the left with Guna and Agita in the distance setting up their tents.
Pip’s house is a dodecahedron shape and very earth-mother style. She composts a lot of her rubbish and has two lovely dogs called Odin and Pippin. Odin is very loud and something of an attention seeker, but Pippin is gorgeous. He sat with me and cuddled for a good long while when we arrived.
The large outdoor bench underneath a mass of vines at Pip’s dodecahedronal house in Puhoi.
We sat at Pip’s outdoor table and chatted with her for a good hour. She had plenty of stories to tell, and seemed to enjoy our company as much as we were enjoying hers. She even made us a cup of tea (again, with milk!).
But really we were only killing time until it was legitimate to go back to the pub for dinner! As soon as we could drag ourselves away from Pip’s wonderful conversation, we put up our tents and settled down. We also had showers in her beautiful shower (again her own private bathroom in her house). The soft green grass of the lawn she indicated for us to pitch our tents on looked inviting, and to my surprise I did a few sun salutations and had a good stretch.
Six tents squeezed masterfully onto the small lawn area at Pip’s Place, with space even for a central courtyard ‘hangout’ area.
Then it was time to head back to the pub!
I ordered a big fat beef burger for dinner (which would become a habit), whilst the others ordered similarly large and salty meals. For dessert a little while later, Julia and I shared an apple crumble and a chocolate mud cake. We’d hope for an egg on our burgers and some ice cream with our desserts, but the poor pub had completely run out after a big day of sales. We were offered chocolate ice cream instead, but when it turned up on our table miraculously there was vanilla!
It was a perfect end to a perfect day.
It was more of a long-distance roll back to Pip’s place after our sumptuous dinner and dessert. By the end of the day, I calculated I’d spent close to $100 at the pub in total!
Back at Pip’s place we got ourselves ready for bed. To our surprise, Guna and Agita had also decided to stay with Pip and had already set up their tents and gotten themselves settled.
The evening sun set warm and pink behind the hills of Puhoi, and we were serenaded to sleep by the sounds of the surrounding bush and birdlife. In my serene and fulfilled state, I left both tent doors open to the night outside, basking in the fresh air and the effort of a day well done.
prefer to watch?
Watch the full video from this section of Te Araroa below.
