Te Araroa Trail – Day 65

Sunday, January 7, 2024
Distance/ Total: 35.9 km / 22.0 mi

I did a little better sleeping in this morning, I almost made it to 7:00 am. I packed up ,fixed me some hot coffee, and called my parents to wish them a happy Anniversary.

I left the motel about 8:40 and headed down the road looking for somewhere to eat breakfast. I found a coffee shop about a kilometer down the street and got a breakfast sandwich, chocolate muffin, and another hot coffee.

Finally back on the trail I reached the river walkway and began following it along the river. It crossed over and continued on a paved walkway through some farmlands. The paved walkway soon became gravel but continued on for several more kilometers.

Now in rural farmland the trail would go into the bush, across farmlands, and some intermittent road walks. About 12 km out of town it finally joined a gravel road and began ascending into the hills. by this time the sun was beginning to beat down and the shade provided a nice respite from the sun. As I walked along I came across some rocks in the trail denoting the 1/2 way mark of the 3,000 km trail.

It continued on a roadwalk until reaching a mountain bike park and began following the mountain bike trails into the mountains. At about kilometer 1,510 I came across the Official TA 1/2 sign. Two different 1/2 points in the same day.

I reached Whare o Moturimu Hut about 6:00pm. The sun was still beating down and I took a few minutes to cool off in the shade before setting up my tent for the night.

Claudio was there as well as several other hikers I have never met before. We talked while eating dinner and turned into the hut and tents as the sun descended in the sky and the air became cool.