I definitely chose the wrong couch to sleep on. It was a bit too short and no matter which way I turned I just could not get comfortable and so was up until past 1am tossing and turning, every now and then looking longingly at the much longer, firmer couch by the door. Finally restlessness got the better of me and I stumped grumpily over to the bigger couch. I gazed wearily out into the gloom for a second before lying down, finally able to stretch out to my full length...and fell asleep.
I woke up at 6:30, made tea and porridge and then packed up. I set off at 8:15 (I'm a slow mover in the mornings as I'm sure you have gathered), and noticed a couple of guys that looked like ultralight hikers outside the shop. It was a little out of my what I thought was my way so I didn't stop to say hi and set off up the road. I got several hundred meters along the road, coming to a nice view over an estuary before it suddenly clicked that I had gone the wrong way. Feeling the fool for having misread the map (not for the first time and I daresay not for the last either) I turned around and headed back...past the shop and so this time stopped to say hi to the two rather bemused hikers who had now seen me and my somewhat weightier and weather-beaten kit for the second time in fifteen minutes. Turns out the athletic pair were a German guy and a guy from Buffalo, USA, walking Te Araroa. Turns out they'd already come through from Woolley's Bay that morning and were shortly to set off again. They didn't seem to keen to chat so I wished them "good walk" and set off...this time in the right direction, and trying to guess whether I'd reach the trail head before they over took me or not.
The first part of the walk today is a road walk up the gravel Clements Rd. Shortly before a small bridge a lady passed me riding a horse. I said hello and made a passing remark that I "should get myself one of those". She didn't seem to appreciate my brand of humour and road on. Maybe I'm just not meant to talk to other people today?
Crossing the bridge I noticed half a dozen little brown duck-like birds paddling away from me and suddenly realised these were the rare and protected brown teal or pateke that featured on several signs both this morning and on previous sections of trail. Very cool. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with my camera to get a very good photo.
Presently the road comes to the start of the track which heads off over private farmland. I made the mental transition from 'road mode' into 'bush track' mode and off I set...coming to an abrupt halt after a mere 20 m as a very large brindle cattle beast was standing in the middle of the track gazing at me and not seeming the least bit inclined to move. I'm a bit weary of cattle, and given the animal's large size and my inability to see whether I was dealing with a Bessy or a Bruce I approached as close as I felt I could without pushing my luck before diverting as far off to one side as possible and slowly inching past. I breathed a small sigh of relief when from the side I learned that I was dealing with a Bessy, and an even bigger sigh when I had cleared her without her doing more than turn her head to watch me pass. With that particular hurdle dealt with I headed on up the Matapouri Bush Track.
The first part of the trail climbs up through farmland and pasture before crossing a stile and going on through pine forest. It was at this stile that German and USA guy caught me up and passed me. I took the opportunity to ask them if they'd considered the kayak option from Ngunguru (it's something I'd like to do, but the company won't take solo hikers, only groups). They weren't interested and were just as unforthcoming as before so I wished them good day and off they went at a rather quicker pace than my own (I was a bit shocked it took them so long to catch me up actually...they must have dawdled at the shop). I found out later from other hikers that their names were Connor and Daniel, and rather got the impression that they had given them the same not-very-friendly treatment as well. Also they're hitching the road sections...pfft.
Once you're out of the pine it's into native bush and kiwi habitat, with the necessary signs warning absolutely "no dogs allowed". The track is a well formed bush walking track, and well maintained, with stairs cut into the steeper banks. Down one of these at a small stream crossing I came across and American couple, Kate and Geoff (a.k.a. Sandman) who are also hiking Te Araroa. We had a friendly chat for a bit and lamented the fact that unlike in the USA, NZ long distance walkers don't utilise trail names--nicknames that they go by, so much so that very often you never actually learn anybody's real name. They're making good time so I don't expect to catch up with them again. I took a short break to let them go on ahead and then followed on through the bush behind them.
And the bush is lovely, initially consisting of manuka and tree ferns, with an incoming tree like a small-leafed version of the celery top pine I got to know in Tasmania, then rimu and ground ferns, and totara, then into a large stand of kauri with a tree fern understorey. Toward the end of the native bush section track you walk through a small flat-bottomed gully with a little incised stream meandering through it and which is home to lovely grove of palm trees.
Once you emerge from the bush the track borders young pine plantation for a while and my timing was perfect: emerging out in the open just as it started to rain. I took shelter under one of the larger pine trees and hauled out my coat. I waited out the worst of the shower before pressing on along the now broad 4WD forestry track as it plunged back into native bush, passing by Tane Moana--the third largest kauri tree in Northland. He's quite a short and squat for a kauri, but his trunk is enormous, and his boughs are covered with large baskets of long blade-leafed epiphytic plants that look like a cross between grass and a bromeliad. It's intriguing how the bark of the kauri changes. When they're very young they have a banded pattern and lots of small lateral branches all the way up their trunks. Adolescent trees seem to keep the banding pattern but start dropping their lower lateral branches to have tall smooth trunks, and once they're mature the bark takes on a scallop-like pattern and pieces of it seem to fall away in large palm-sized flakes. I have no idea if this is an accurate description and precisely to do with age, but it seems to be whats happening from what I've been able to observe thus far.
Back into pine plantation proper the track descends down to the road and in a couple of kilometers you reach the coast and the small township of Ngunguru. I arrived just after 1pm, stopped at the dairy, and emerged to see Jonty jogging into town not five minutes behind me. We each bought snacks and drinks and then went to sit on a park bench by the water to refuel and discuss what to do next. Jonty has come through from Whanaki today so he has made excellent time, and was debating whether or not to press on. The next section of trail is a 13km roadwalk, and maybe it was the time of day but the road was pretty busy. An alternative route, new to the trail this year, is to get a dinghy ride across the estuary and walk along a much quieter road on the other side (the route is also a couple of kilometers shorter). Always up for a boat ride I rang the dinghy guy, James, and was able to arrange a crossing, for 4pm intially, but which James rescheduled for 6pm. Being that late it made sense to then camp at James' Nikau Bay Eco Sanctuary--an eco-friendly campground just across the bay. Jonty was keen and so the two of us decided to make the most of an afternoon relaxing in the now semi-persistent sunshine.
I laid out my coat to dry and lay down on the grass while Jonty went to phone his family. Presently a woman pulled over to speak to me; her name was Mila and she is the Mila of Mila's Backpacker Ranch here in town. I'm not surprised I caught her attention; a rucksack, bedroll and discarded boots alongside a person lying randomly on the grass is as good as a neon sign saying "knackered hiker" or and therefore "backpacker fodder". Mila was very nice, and wanted to know if we'd seen her signs on the way out of the track; obviously she was hoping we'd be staying at her place tonight. I explained that yes we'd seen her very colourful signs but that we'd already made arrangements to stay across the bay. There was some confusion about where we were to walk to from there--apparently there's been some trouble with hikers inadvertently crossing private land without permission. I assured her we only intended to walk out on the established Ngunguru Ford Rd.
With time to kill Jonty and I headed back over the road to the Salt Air Cafe and camped out for the afternoon on one of their outdoor picnic tables. I indulged in my second pie for the day: curried pork and kumara--much tastier than the pre-packaged steak and cheese one I'd previously got at the shop next door! After a hot chocolate I did a quick resupply back at the shop, leaving the shopkeepers--a trio of cheerful Indian guys--a note to give to "a blonde hiker named Nathalie" when she arrived. I already had Scott's mobile number to txt and let him know mine and Jonty's plan to see if they were keen to join us, but neither of us had Nathalie's number.
Within an hour or two Nathalie arrived, along with a guy from the UK named Andy, then shortly after them came Scott and Joanne. Yay! Our mobile hiker community was assembling again! Andy already had a booking at a B&B and Scott, Joanne and Nathalie were planning to free-camp on the lawn down by the library (next to the handily placed public loo). So it was just Jonty and I for the estuary crossing...though we very nearly changed our minds and decided to camp with the others instead. But in my gut I thought the estuary crossing and Nikau Bay Camp might be fun, so I decided to stick with the original plan and in the end so did Jonty. So the two of us bid the others happy camping and set off down the road to meet our boat. We found ourselves discussing how short and precious life is and how lucky we are to be doing Te Araroa as we sat down at the water's edge to wait.
Just after 6 pm a man and a dog appeared on the far bank and soon puttered over in a small dinghy. The tide was out so we trudged over the mercifully firm sand to meet them: James and Rusty the blue heeler. A short boat ride back and we were at Nikau Bay Eco Sanctuary, a small but nicely situated campsite on the shore of the estuary, surrounded by native bush, including of course, several nikau palms. It turns out that although the website is up and running, the campsite is actually still under construction. James is undertaking all the work himself and thought not quite finished I'm sure it will be a great facility when complete, providing basic but comfortable and tastefully finished amenities that all run on solar power. He plans to have it completed by Christmas, and in the meantime, since things weren't quite ready (turns out we're the first hikers to take up this new to 2015 option) and there was only the two of us, James put us up in his house for the night for $25 each.
After hot showers and a chat we each pitched in a little bit toward a meal and sat down to a dinner of pasta, curry, smoked sausages, asparagus and salad, while discussing modern technology and politics and everything in between. We sat by the fire and watched the rain, Jonty and I both feeling like the others were missing out, and quite glad to be indoors and not having to face packing up wet gear in the morning. I did the dishes and had a hot milo before hitting the hay, but the fellas stayed up talking into the night.
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