Reotahi Bay to Mangawhai Heads

Day 24
Km 11
Cumulative Km 334

For some reason today was a frustrating day, though I cant really say why. We didn’t have far to go but we just felt like we weren’t getting anywhere.

We had a boat crossing organised for 8am, 20 NZD pp. Pretty pricey! Anyway, that went smoothly with dry feet on both sides. Once you get over to Marsden Point though you are in industrial territory. The log loading port and refinery are here, without any trail markers. I was a little concerned that we would get into a place we shouldn’t be. The trail follows the refinery fence, then on the beach and under pressured pipelines that state that you shouldn’t enter under them?

The beach walk here was tough with the sand being very soft. The smell of the refinery also made it less pleasant.

As we progressed, this got better and the sand firmness improved. However a concerning storm was building on the horizon ahead of us. When checking the weather the previous night, there was a chance of hail and thunderstorms, and it looked like it was coming soon. We decided to get off the beach and hitch to Ruakaka, our resupply destination.We were however not successful. We did instead walk a bit down the highway and got to Maritime Holding office and were able to seek shelter there for 30mins or so. We got pretty soaked before this and thought we would try to get a ride into Ruakaka, a nice cafe and the supermarket. A few cars passed us until an old lady, with a car full of items and her dog stopped. She said she was just going down the road, we explained that we needed to go a bit further and thus would try someone else. She said , “Not to worry, get in and I will take you there then!” Moritz get in the front with the dog and Marie and I squeezed into the back with our bags. This lady only took us a few kilometres, but told many stories. She allegedly was part of the first New Zealand girl rock band and a NZ of the year!

We went to a cafe, had good lunch and a great coffee, then reapplied for a couple of days and headed down the road to our campsite – Uretiti. This was a fair bit of road walking, with more rain and then we got onto a good stretch of beach.

We got onto the campsite, which is a huge 300 site area and it started to rain…AGAIN! So we stood in the toilet and waited for it to pass before finding the camp office.

Day 25
Km 15.5
Cumulative Km 349.5

It was good to have a prediction of no rain for today, though all our tents were soaked from condensation and a quick drizzle we had in the night.

Today was a short day hiking wise and was mainly along roadways. Only the 1st 2.5km was along the beach, which was pleasant and wind free.

Our first goal was the reach Waipu, and Logan MaClean Cafe, where we knew that TA hikers get free coffee or hot beverages!!! The coffee was great and the Germans got some takeaway lunch too.

The next portion to Waipu Cove was partly along a path created for biking and walking, but mainly on road.
We got to our campsite at midday, so could dry tents, shower and do some laundry!

Day 26
Km 23
Cumulative Km 372.5

A very rainy start to the day , though at least I stayed in a bed and didn’t have to pack my tent up! It rained all the way up to approximately midday.

Earlier on in the track, when we were in old logging areas, in the hills, the views were a bit limited due to low clouds, but still pretty good. The trail through the forest was pretty good though and not as muddy as the northern forests, despite the rain.

As we neared Mangawhai Heads we joined the cliff walkway, which has incredible views of the beach, the stunning houses and islands . By this time the weather was also sunny and thus the visibility was great!
We walked a few kilometres by road to the Mangawhai Heads Holiday Park, where a friend that I had met in the Galapagos, Lyn, picked us up and hosted us in her beautiful home for two nights! I was very grateful that she took not only myself, but also my German hiking buddies. We had a lovely relaxing time, did our planning for the next stretch and resupplied too.