Day 7 and 8
- john51648
- Oct 6, 2020
- 4 min read
Day 7 - Mangamuka to Apple Dam Camp
A bit of a shorter one today only about 18km up to Apple Dam campsite.
Up at the usual time of about 6.45 and it was apparent that with the camp being in a bit of a valley sun wouldn’t get to us until reasonably late. Ding, Tahlia and I decided to wait for the sun to dry our tents then head off a bit later.
About 6.5km up the road is the Mangamuka Dairy (milk bar/general store) which was to be our first stop. All looking forward to milkshakes, toasted sandwiches and the likes, in fact anything that wasn’t dehydrated! In anticipation I only had a OSM bar for breakfast.
Finally left at 9.00am or so. The trail joined State Highway 1 after a while and follows it to Mangamuka Bridge and the dairy. SH1 would I imagine be pretty hairy walking alongside normally but is currently closed just north of Mangamuka so is now just a very lightly used country road.
The morning was very warm and it took over an hour to get to the dairy which alas is not open on Saturdays. So no toasted ham and cheese sandwich or banana shake both of which I was salivating for. Had to settle for a fistful of beef jerky and mouthful of water.
Not long after the dairy the trail leaves SH1 and follows a dirt road up to the Apple Dam campsite. This road then climbs a Haka and a bit (~400m) over the next 4km so a hot relentless climb.
Interestingly the DOC sign fo the camp calls it Apple Tree Camp so for the second time today I was salivating over promised food, and for the second time was disappointed. Not an apple tree in site!
Camp is pretty good, a bit of flat for tents. The stream for water although very brown with tannins actually tastes ok. Apparently there is an issue with rats and possums in the night so will be interesting. One of the few benefits of being as deaf as I am is it’s unlikely, if they come visiting after I’m asleep, that I’ll hear them.
Day 8 - Apple Dam/Tree Camp to Puketi
Started a bit earlier today as it was going to be a very long day, so out of camp by 7.15. Just time for a quick cup of tea and OSM bar.
Easy start about 5km or undulating and well formed track that then dropped steeply to the Mangapukahukahu Stream.
The trail then follows the stream bed for nearly 3km entailing wading along in water varying in depth from ankle deep to mid thigh. Needless to say it was bloody cold and quite tiring, a bit like aqua-robics in the bush. the scenery was lovely though and compensated for the frozen feet.
Ding, Robin and I did this section together which was great and allowed us to leapfrog along giving everyone the chance to find the shallow channel for the others. Obviously the risk when leading is you end up waist deep which clearly shows those following where not to go. Robyn bring the tallest of us by quite a bit managed to stay totally dry, Ding and I got slightly wet shorts but all in all we were grateful the stream level was low.
Things didn’t get easier once we left the stream bed and the trail followed along the side of the steep bank. There was again a lot of tree fall and in many places you lost the trail and needed to fight your way through the bush all the while ensuring you didn’t lose your footing and fall down then very steep slope. In a word it was treacherous and hence tiring!
As we left the stream valley (with one more crossing thrown in to ensure feet were wet for the entire day!) the trail entered the Puketi Kauri forest, where it climber steeply and relentlessly for over a Haka. The kauri trees were magnificent and made the effort well worthwhile. It made you feel quite honoured to be able to walk amongst these magnificent trees, although by this stage I was more staggering than walking!
Once I got to the top had a rest and some water and an energy bar for the walk out.
Not a long way, perhaps 7km, but we’re hot and an undulating forest road/track that made the walk seem interminable.
As I was descending to the Puketi camp came across a Swiss girl with no electronic map/GPS, just a paper map and a piece of paper with Apple Dam written on it. She’d just left Puketi and was going to try to get to Apple Dam. Given it was now about 3.00pm and I’d left at about 7.15am I suggested to her it was not going to be possible but she seemed determined and set off. I think she may have had a cold night camped by the river. Really had all the potential to end in tears.
Tonight I met our great old friend Axsel who has a bach just out of Kerikeri and had kindly offered to have me for the night and deliver me back tomorrow morning.
While he was ever polite and didn’t remark on my aroma, I did feel it necessary to apologise as I’m sure after five days with no shower and mud etc I was not the most appealing house guest!
Had a lovely night with Axsel and two of his children, include a choice of eight ice cream flavours, although I probably wasn’t the best of company hitting the sack at about 8.00pm.
So what will I remember today for? Probably walking up the river, ice cream and how good does a hot shower feel after another really long tough day.
Those wet toes will be feeling like tadpoles