Te Araroa Trail – Day 60
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Distance/ Total: 40.5 km / 25.2 mi
Claudio and I were up early since we knew we had a long day. Roger and Sharon provided breakfast this morning so we ate our fill before heading down the trail.
The trail today started with a 24km road walk to Whakahoro. The trail was paved road for about 3 km then turned to gravel for the rest of the way to Whakahoro. The roadwalk was not particularly exciting but I did see a waterfall and a moss covered pine tree.
We stopped at the Blue Duck Cafe in Whakahoro and ate our lunch. The cafe wasn’t open on Tuesdays but we ate our hiker lunch on the picnic tables on their patio.
After eating we started the Kiawhakauka track, a biking/ walking track that climbs up to the peak of Mangapurua Mountain. It was a gradual climb upwards mostly through thick forest. The track was windy and narrowed down to a single track in some places. It passed through a section of private property with lots of cows and was mostly 4WD track after that.
We reached the settler’s memorial at the top of Mangapurua Mountain and found a nice flat spot to camp for the night. It was a long day and I was exhausted by the time I reached camp. I’m looking forward to a good nights rest so I’ll be ready to hike again tomorrow.
