Te Araroa Trail Blog Day 28: Rangiriri to Huntly

I made sure I was up nice and early the following morning. At 6AM I woke and laid in bed until I heard my alarm start at 6.30AM. Sometimes I can get myself into a good routine in the morning and be up and out fast. Other times it seems to take forever.

After all the food over the previous days I didn’t feel like I wanted breakfast this morning. So instead I started packing everything away as soon as I woke. I was ready to leave within 30 minutes or so of getting up. However, funnily enough, Julia was running behind. We hadn’t really discussed what time we would leave, but we only had a short day ahead, about 16 kilometres or so to Huntly.

Once everything was packed into my pack, I was ready to pull my tent down. There was a lot of condensation on it from the previous night but the sun had just started to hit it. It didn’t make much difference though. It was still almost saturated right the way through and I knew it would be heavy to carry.

Julia finishes packing her pack at Cathy’s place in Rangiriri.
  Just as I was relaying this thought to Julia, Cathy appeared. She said it was pie making day today and she didn’t have any onions, so she had to go to Huntly for supplies. She offered to take our packs with her and drop them at the campground, as she knew the lady there and often did this for hikers.

I accepted almost immediately. After the dramas of the previous day, I didn’t want to hitch another ride, but I also didn’t want to carry a wet tent, so this was a perfect solution.

I went about repacking my pack, removing some food to put into Julia’s smaller daypack. Having done that, I deposited my koha (donation) in the little box Cathy has set up for it and loaded my pack into the car.

Loading my pack into the back of Cathy’s car, ready to be transported to Huntly with her later in the day.
  I was ready to go, but Julia was still getting ready. It was now nearly 7.40AM. She seemed on edge this morning, and when I mentioned I wanted to get moving and hurried her along, we shared a tense moment. Cathy’s quaint little patio garden, resplendent in the light of the morning sun.  

As she went to brush her teeth I checked the trail map to see which way we would be heading off. Our first task was to get across State Highway 1, which was easy enough using the bridge, and even easier when we saw a massive Te Araroa sign on the other side pointing right.

Almost fooled by a stray Northbound sign, we finally locate the Southbound trail sign!

 

The curse of the trail signs struck again, though. As soon as we’d turned we realisedthat it was a northbound sign and in actual fact we needed to carry straight on.

We walked over a scenic one lane bridge over the Waikato River. This early in the morning the river was beautiful. The water was very still and calm and cast stunning reflections.

Almost at its widest point this far downstream, the Waikato River spans the gap between the busy state highway on the true right and the surrounding rural farmland on the true left.

Looking upstream along the banks of the Waikato River towards our final destination for the day, still well in the distance.

We were so busy enjoying walking without our packs that we hiked up the road for 10 complete minutes before realising we’d missed a stile into a paddock. After backtracking to the point marked on the map, we searched up and down the fence for a few minutes, before finally locating it tucked behind some tall grasses.

The slightly hidden first stile marking the start of the Huntly to Rangiriri section of the trail. Julia expertly navigates a stile on the Rangiriri to Huntly section of the trail.  

We’d assumed that the trail here would take us along right by the river, but it never got close to it. For the next two hours we walked on a raised corridor of land through multiple farm paddocks, which was uneven and at times very difficult to walk on.

Part of the raised walkway through rural farm paddocks along the side of the Waikato River. Unfortunately the river itself is not visible at all through this section.

Another section of the trail through the farm paddocks between Rangiriri and Huntly.

The only good thing was that a lot of the gates were open so we didn’t have to climb the stiles, and thankfully all the cows and bulls were (mostly) in the adjacent paddocks.

A small herd of cows are unamused by a couple of passing Te Araroa hikers on the rural trail walk into Huntly.  

I was wearing Julia’s pants again today. They had made a slight difference yesterday for a little while, but in the afternoon I noticed they were starting to irritate my legs again. I decided to stick with them, but it did make for very hot walking.

Julia was obviously struggling. She was very quiet which prompted me to ask if everything was alright. She said she was just a bit over it and the heat was getting to her. Even she seemed to be a bit bemused at her current state.

Wherever the trail markers lead, there I will follow… even if they lead me to a random stile in the middle of a field.  

I did as well. Even though I had no pack, I wasn’t motivated at all and I certainly wasn’t enjoying the walking. It was thoroughly boring and I hated this kind of terrain.

A dead fish lies on the trail on one of the paddock sections of the Waikato river trail into Huntly.  

I was also beginning to become conscious of my inexperience. Julia makes everything look easy. I watched her climb over one of the first stiles gracefully, then I went over, misstepped at the bottom and fell on my arse. I felt like an absolute idiot, falling on such an inconsequential obstacle.

An orange triangle guides the way through the paddocks on the section between Rangiriri and Huntly.  

My allergies were also severely playing up. Not usually one to suffer hayfever, I noticed that my nose had been running constantly all day and I kept having sneezing fits. It was becoming hard to walk when I could barely see where I was going because my eyes were streaming, or when I was constantly having to stop to blow my nose.

I’d been using homemade hankies so far along the trail, as my nose is very sensitive to changes in temperature and usually needs blowing a few times a day. Somewhere along the trail today I reached into my pocket, though, and it wasn’t there. I don’t know where I lost it, but I thought it could have been back at the last stile we crossed, so I backtracked a little way. I couldn’t find it there, so I decided to give up and, Julia now way ahead of me, decided to jog back to her.

About 10 minutes later I noticed my nose was running again. I reached up to wipe it and came away with a hand full of blood! It was absolutely pouring!

Rather disconcerted at the amount of claret pouring from my nose after an impromptu jog.  

With my spare hankie and toilet paper on its way to Huntly in my pack, I had no choice but to sit down and wait for it to dry itself up. Julia, bless her heart, started pulling up some wide leaves and giving them to me to stem the flow. I was completely baffled by the whole experience. I didn’t feel light headed or dizzy, so I assume it must have been as a result of the little jog I’d just taken.

By this point, my morale had bottomed out. It seemed like nothing had been going my way for the past couple of days. When I voiced this to Julia she reminded me that we had gotten picked up yesterday when we couldn’t walk much further. I agreed, but couldn’t shake that it had left me feeling severely disappointed. I was being harder on myself than usual about the section we’d just skipped and we still had so much walking left to do.

Somewhere along the farm paddock section between Rangiriri and Huntly is a viewpoint of this stunning section of marshy grassland on the banks of the Waikato River.  

After getting up and starting to walk again, it wasn’t long before we reached the Huntly golf course. It seemed strange to be walking right through the middle of a golf course, and the players seemed to share our feelings. Being a Sunday, it was very busy on the course.

Hiking through the Huntly Golf Course is one of the stranger moments on Te Araroa, especially on a busy Sunday morning. A row of well manicured trees on the Huntly Golf Course section of the trail.  

Once through the golf course there was a short section of roadwalking which took us down to the Huntly Power Station, one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the country (and controversial because of it).

A random rural property and homestead on Te Ohaki Road, on the road walk into Huntly. A road sign marks the outskirts of Huntly township and our next destination on Te Araroa.  

Again, we frequently stopped for breaks in the shaded spots as it was just too hot to keep going and going. We stopped for a short break by the side of the road, avoiding a park down by the river where a couple of suspicious looking cars were parked.

A wide berm makes a nice change on the relatively quiet road walk into Huntly on Te Ohaki Road. The twin towers of Huntly Power Station are just visible in the distance. Huntly Power Station – the largest (and most controversial) hydroelectric power station in New Zealand.  

Eventually, we were walking down Harris Street into Huntly town. We’d been warned, both on the Facebook forums and in the trail notes about this street and advised not to walk down it at night, especially alone. During the day, it seemed just like any other street.

A small unappealing dairy is located on the Harris Road road walk as hikers enter Huntly.  

We cut across the river slightly earlier than we had planned by taking a footbridge next to the rail bridge instead of walking to the next road bridge.

Looking upstream to the official Te Araroa route crossing of the Waikato River into Huntly, from our rail bridge crossing a little further downstream. Mt Hakarimata is visible in the distance.  

Our journey off-trail to the campground took us through the main street where we stopped at a dairy to grab a cold can of drink.

We crossed the stage highway and the Lake Hakanoa (Huntly) Motor Caravan Park was still a little walk down the road, but it was very early by the time we arrived, turning up at just after 1PM.

Julia seemed unsettled about such a short day. She seemed to struggle with arriving at camp early and then having nothing to do, whereas I am the opposite. My preferred day is to hike for 5 or 6 hours early in the morning, arrive early in the afternoon, and then have the afternoon off. I could average 20-25 kilometres per day that way, and at the moment that suited me fine.

Our campsite host, Carol, wasn’t in the office when we arrived, so Julia rang her. She said we could find our packs in one of the cabins. We had to decide whether to pay $10 for a campsite or $20 each for a cabin. We were both content to camp, but the cabins were tempting. Having decided to camp, we pitched out tents and they dried quickly in the sun and the wind which had picked up a little.

Our tent pitch at the Huntly Campground, where we would (unexpectedly) stay for two nights.  

I hand washed some of my hiking clothes (especially my shirt which I had been rubbing my nose on all day) and then sat down to update my trail journal, which I was now a little behind on.

I’d hung my clothes out on the line and they were happily drying relatively quickly. I was tired. I struggled to get through half an hour of journaling without feeling like I had to have a nap.

Taking the opportunity of an early entry into Huntly to get some much needed laundry done.  

Julia said she was going back into town to pick up some fresh food from the shop for dinner. I agreed to go with her, but the thought of walking another 4 kilometre round trip into town wasn’t very appealing.

At the KBeez supermarket I picked up some tissues and also a chocolate sponge cake which we said we’d share with the Germans who had turned up at camp just before we left at around 3PM. After a quick stop at the fruit and veg shop Fruit King we made our way back to camp.

The outdoor seating area near the kitchen facilities at Huntly Campground.  

It was getting on for 5PM and time for dinner, but I wasn’t feeling very hungry. Looking at the mass of my food bag though, and considering the weight I didn’t want to have to carry over Mt Hakarimata tomorrow, I decided to have two servings of mushroom risotto with some of the fresh broccoli we’d just bought. Despite my lack of appetite, by the time it was ready I was eager for it, and smothered in cheese and broccoli it was delicious.

My dinner for the evening, a double helping of mushroom risotto topped with steamed broccoli and cheese, and a helping of super green juice.  

I’ve been carrying with me a green powdered vegetable drink for extra vitamins as well as some electrolyte sachets. I usually have an electrolyte drink early in the afternoon or with dinner to replenish the water I lose from not drinking enough during the day. I decided to have both with dinner this evening.

Although my stomach was fit to bursting, Julia started cutting the cake. The German couple had decided they didn’t want any, so we split the cake between us.

It was around this time that Carol and her husband Dave finally arrived at camp and said we could pay when we were ready. I still hadn’t showered so I decided to pay after finishing up and washing my dishes.

I headed over to have a quick shower and revelled in being clean again. It had been hard last night not having a shower, especially after having been so hot and sweaty during the day. I’d felt sticky and sweaty during the night regardless, depsite the fact that I’d washed before I went to sleep.

As I was towelling off Carol came into the shower block and asked that when I was done I come and pay. I was a little taken aback. We’d been waiting all day for her to turn up, and it seemed that she was now getting ready to close the office. She hadn’t mentioned this earlier when she’d arrived.

I did as I was told and visited the office. It seemed Julia had already gone off to bed without paying, so when I handed over a $20 to Carol she charged me for the both of us and I didn’t receive any change. This seemed like strange behaviour from my companion, and I wondered if perhaps she was starting to get a little sick of me.

Ample facilities in the Huntly Campground kitchen.  

We’d spent almost every single hour of every single day together since first meeting at the end of Te Werahi Beach on day one. It was a long time to spend with one single other person, and the lack of other hikers around over the past few days was causing us to interact solely with each other on a more regular basis. There was a palpable tension between us, and I decided that my enforced rest period back at home in a couple of days would probably be good for the both of us.

I didn’t see her for the rest of the evening, and instead I spent more time catching up on my journal, watching some TV in the camp kitchen, and reading the trail register which Carol had brought out before she closed the office.

Plenty of space for multiple people to cook and eat at Huntly Campground, including a television for those so inclined.  

As I was reading the register, I noticed that many of the notes of thanks to Carol mentioned her suggestion to utilise the bus service between Huntly and Ngaruawahia (our destination for tomorrow) to make a hard day of hiking over our biggest elevation gain for some time, a little easier. I banked this information in the back of my brain and resolved to discuss it with Julia in the morning.

prefer to watch?

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