Days 43 and 44
- john51648
- Nov 15, 2020
- 6 min read
Day 43 (8 November)
Timber Trail Lodge to Ongarue (~42km)
I decided that the 42km to the end of the Timber Trail was doable in a day especially as Garth kindly organised for about half my pack weight to be taken to the end of the trail with the bike riders gear from the adjacent Camp Epic.
I took enough in my pack so if calamity struck I would have a night in the bush but be warm, dry and not go hungry albeit without a tent or hot food etc.
Staying with Garth and Angie is a little like when I had the couple of nights at home in Hamilton, I feel my routine slipping. After breakfast I had a coffee with them and before I knew it it was 9.00am and I was still sort of cruising along.
It was interesting how much difference having only a 7-8kg pack made. I rocked along averaging nearly 6km despite stopping for the odd chat with bike riders, reading the very interesting information boards and taking photos.
It did rain intermittently, seemed to start as soon as I took my coat off and finished as soon as I put it on so a bit stop start and somewhat frustrating. Because I was going at a good clip it was just too hot to leave the coat on all the time. I was one of those days where one of those ridiculous looking ponchos that go over your pack would have been the go. At least you put it on and take it off without removing your pack each time, function over form!
On the Timber Trail you do frequently come across hunters who use parts of it as a quad bike access to hunt in the forest. Most of these guys are of the same elk, rugged looking, with hunting gear and heavy boots etc. So I was rather surprised when a couple of swarthy looking guys in street gear (looking like they’d come straight from the food court at St Lukes) wandered towards me brandishing what looked like a new rifle. No packs, no other gear just two guys and a gun. Hmm as I walked past them I did for a few moments have a slight tingling between my shoulder blades, just hoping they weren’t looking for a lone hiker to test the new toy on!
Not long after this I heard “JB” called out it was Robin (another TA walker who I’d last seen up north at Whananaki) who was biking the second part of the timber trail. Lovely to catch up, she dismounted and walked a couple of km with me allowing us to share our various adventures. She also mentioned Tahlia was not far behind, having decided to bike this part with a friend who had travelled from Auckland.
Tahlia did finally pass me with her friend, but not for about three hours, seems their progress was a bit slower than they expected and a bit like the lady yesterday they might have been tempted to swap bike for pack!
I finally got to the camp spot at end of the trail at about 5.30pm. Imagine my joy as I walked in there initially thinking there’s was someone there with a tent the same as mine only to find Robin and Marian (another TA walker who I’d not met until then) had put my tent up for me. Not only had they put it up but they’d put all of guys in and had it really well pegged down, something I’ve got a bit lazy on to be frank. This paid dividends when the storm hit during the night.
Despite not carrying a lot today I have managed to create a blister under the blister that is under the original Northland blister on my left heel. So three layers of blister, a really interesting experiment in creating skin then destroying it going on down there!
Day 44 (9 November)
Ongarue to Taumarunui ( 26km)
Well then was definitely a wet stormy night. A bit of everything, torrential rain, thunder, lightning and for some reason even though we’re camped beside a seemingly quite country road the odd really heavy truck rumbling by.
Even though it was still drizzling in the morning the pack-up was pretty painless as it was possible to transfer everything into the shelter and pack there. A very wet tent though so will need to try and dry that later.
Today is a road walk into Taumarunui so nothing too onerous. The route follows the country road to the east of the Ongarue River and run parallel to the main trunk rail line.
Interestingly in walking alongside the main rail line for over four hours there was not one train. Perhaps this was an unusually quiet day or time but looking at all of bridges, electrical stuff etc. it does make you question whether we are utilising it enough. You can tell road walking is boring when I have time to ponder these sort of things!
I’ve given up on porridge for breakfast and am converting to various bars. Today were a couple of paleo bars, great flavour, heaps of kJ (which is actually all that matters) but disgusting texture so they’re off the list.
I walked with Marian for a first couple of km which was lovely as I hadn’t met here before yesterday and it as nice to get to know her. She’s also the first hiker my age or older Ive come across.
Once I left Marian I made pretty good time to Taumarunui, arriving about lunchtime. Caught up with Tahlia who was having a burger and chips outside the rail station but decided to have Thai for lunch (Ding, you’ll love it) as when I’m walked past the Thai place it looked pretty good. Tahlia joined me for a cup of tea then proceeded to do an audit of her food on the table!
We then went to New World and re-supplied for the next six days.
I also needed to resupply on those hikers essentials of Ibuprofen and blister plasters, both of which, I’m sure, are noticing a spike in sales since I commenced the TA.
Tonight, I’m staying at the canoe hire place, they have a converted container and a builders shed they allow TA hikers to bunk in so pretty rough and ready but all I need.
The Taumarunui Canoe Hire folk picked us up at New World and took us out to their place (big mistake, but I’ll go into this later). Absolutely lovely people and they run a really slick operation getting people on and off the river at various locations. Interestingly mates of Garth and Angie which was a nice connection.
Because I’m doing the canoeing with a group of mates I don’t need to think about leaving a resupply with them for this section which does make the logistics a bit simpler.
The most exciting part of the day was when I arrived they had my new pack there which Marie had couriered down. Either the old one had stretched or I’d shrunk but either way I’d run out of adjustment in the waist belt. I’d remedied this using a piece of repurposed yoga mat and a bunch of cable ties. This worked ok but it was a bit hot and sweaty and needed to constantly adjusted which was annoying. The new pack is actually about half the weight of the old so a bit of a weight saving there too. My only concern is on occasions I have food for several days and need a fair bit of water I’ll well and truely exceed the recommended load for it. So again a bit of an experiment on the go, sort of like testing new software in an aircraft in service (sound familiar Boeing)!
I also had to do the canoe briefing which was pretty casual once Ron worked out I knew what I was up to. We did discuss at length my last foray down the river about 30 years ago when we did it in truck inner tubes. We did have a life jacket though, albeit one between four of us! Seems times have moved on and that adventure is now deemed reckless, although Ron was full of admiration for the spirit of it!
Tahlia and I shared the builders hut for the night as a German/French couple had the container. Not the best sleep as the bunks were rickety and if either of us moved the entire structure rocked. I did score the bottom bunk though!
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