Days 74 - 77 The North Island draws to an end!
- john51648
- Jan 25, 2021
- 7 min read
Day 74 (December 9)
Waikanae to Paekakariki (20km)
I shared room with Robin last night but was up and ready to go well before her so headed out looking enthusiastically forward to being able to stop at a café for breakfast and enjoy a generally cruisy day.
As seems the case most days now it was raining heavily as I started out. Having had barely any rain for the first 1500km (I think two wet days) the last ten days have been pretty much wet continuously.
Initially the trail follows the river/estuary track from the town to the river mouth and Paraparaumu Beach. It then follows the beach through Paraparaumu and on to Paekakariki. I chose to alternate between walking on the beach and the adjacent road due to the tide being high.
The walk along the Kapiti Coast is, I am told, on a nice day, quite pretty and scenic. Today with rain and sea fog so very little to see, even Kapiti Island off the coast remained hidden through the day.
Because it’s a relatively short day I stopped for a really nice brunch on the way through Paraparaumu. I know for those of you at home bacon, eggs and mushrooms aren’t a big deal but after nearly a week of either porridge or muesli bars for breakfast this was luxury!
On arriving at the end of the coastal walkway I was sitting outside the holiday park pondering whether I continued on for a few more km or stayed there when Bruce contacted me to say he had a cabin there and Robin and could stay with him if we wished. Decision made! So a day of luxury, hot breakfast, soft bed and a hot shower!!
We went into the township for dinner and I finally met Brian and Kelly Haybittle. Brian (who Bruce and Robin had met earlier on the trail) is a bit of Facebook legend on the TA. He has been documenting his journey on Facebook and his enthusiasm is contagious so it was great to meet him. Brian is a furloughed Air NZ 777 pilot and knew some mates of mine which was a nice connection, he’s doing the TA at very much his own pace ably supported by Kelly who follows him in their luxury campervan that has colloquially become known as the “tin tent”.
Great meal and a few beers and Brian and Kelly very kindly dropped us back at the camp ground.
Day 75 (10 December)
Paekakariki to Porirua(25km)
Well woke during the night and realised that third Panhead last night was not a good idea. I’d left my raincoat in the restaurant which, while on the route out of Paekakariki, was an issue as the rain overnight and in the morning was torrential.
Had a look at my sore leg/ankle and overnight it had swollen pretty badly so will be interesting to see how it goes today.
I was up early, packed and decided a cab was the go to get back to the restaurant. The good news was, because we’d walk there yesterday, for dinner, that bit of trail was done so no skipping required. The bad news was the cab guy rang me to say he couldn’t get there to take me for at least a couple of hours. So back to square one.
I was sitting in the camp bbq shelter pondering this when I struck up a conversation with the camp manager who walked past. Explained my problem and he very kindly offered to drop me off at the restaurant. So problem solved!! Yet another example of how people really do help us TA walkers. I’m not sure they understand how significant their help is or how much it is appreciated but for my part I can only say these small acts of kindness really do make an enormous difference.
Once I got to the restaurant I had to wait for an hour for the owner to arrive so had a second breakfast at the cafe over the road.
Coated up I headed off into the rain. The first challenge was a little unexpected, on the path leaving the town there was a drain from the hill above that had totally over-flowed and required backcountry river crossing skills to cross despite being on a footpath in town.
Todays walk is billed as one of the TA highlights, It follows a new track cut into the side of the Paekakariki Escarpment rising high above the coast with SH1 and the main trunk rail line below. This track has been created specifically for the TA but is obviously available for everyone who wishes to walk it.
Again my luck on high view points held and the view was obscured by fog and rain! It did start to clear as I got about halfway down and even from there the views were spectacular. This really is a walk I would recommend to anyone if they are passing this area. It is also very accessible with train stations at each end hence it would be possible to walk one way and train back.
The track was steep and narrow in places but given I’m carrying very little food or water it was pretty easy going. Interestingly I didn’t see another person on it, perhaps due to the weather as it feels like a track that would become popular for people looking for a local spot to exercise.
Once down from the escarpment track the route generally followed the main road to Porirua. By this time the rain had stopped, and it really was quite a nice walk just looking at the scenery and watching cars go by. A bit like the walk around the back of Mangere in Auckland it is amazing how when you’re walking you see beauty in places that you just miss as you drive through.
At Porirua I decided rather than staying there I would get the train into central Wellington then train back tomorrow to do the Porirua to Wellington section so booked a studio in Wellington and wandered along to the train station. Having not used the Wellington train system before I was impressed by the frequency and standard of trains.
Day 76 (11 December)
Porirua to Wellington (34km)
So, a rather big day for the penultimate day, being over 30km and some significant hills in the way!
I got up early and was on the train (with coffee and croissant in hand) by 6.30am. On arriving in Porirua I decided on another coffee (this city living is good already!) which if I had of known what the day held I night have thought twice about.
The route today climbs the hills to the west of Porirua then runs along the top of them until dropping down for a road walk. There is then another climb to follow the ridges to the west of Wellington before dropping down into the city.
The initial climb from Porirua was actually a lovely walk, about 1.5 Hakas (450m) with a mix of track and steps all in the bush so nice and sheltered. On leaving this however the true nature of the day and area was revealed. It was blowing a gale and in places was almost impossible to stand up, it was also pretty cold. Turned out Bruce and Robin had started ahead of me but had gone down after the first ridge to get the train back to Wellington.
Ever determined I plodded on and eventually reached the end of this section and dropped down through a bike park to the road and the road section to the next hills. There was a café marked on this road and I was looking forward to enjoying a nice, albeit early, lunch before carrying on. Got to where the café was shown on the map and alas there only seemed to be a shop selling horse riding equipment (made sense as this was an equestrian centre). So went in and turned out the café closed a number of years ago, the lady who sold the horsey stuff was lovely though so I stopped and had an early lunch of Coke Zero and two Crunchie bars while chatting to her.
After leaving the equestrian centre the road continued until a dead end where there was an access road to the power pylons which meandered to the top of the hill. Again, it was blowing a gale and again the walk along the top was cold and miserable although in places the views were spectacular.
Dropping down into Wellington I somehow became horribly lost, amazing how you can successfully navigate through dense bush but streets are an issue! Anyway, the silver lining was I stumbled upon a really nice little café where I stopped for a smoothie and cake, so a day for the healthy food options.
As I meandered my way back to the apartment what was apparent as how steep Wellington is. Some of the suburban streets I went up were very steep and in places the route went up sets of stairs that ran between streets. Again nice to see parts of a city that you don’t normally see.
As I was getting back had a chat to Bruce and he explained how he and Robin had returned early which did solve one thing that had been puzzling me as all day I’d been looking behind expecting to see them and was intrigued there was no sign of them. We decided to meet up for a quick beer which as these things do turned into a couple of beers, but nice to see him for one last time. Tomorrow I’m doing the final section then returning to Hamilton whereas he’s having a rest day then doing the final section before heading off to the South Island.
Day 77 (12 December)
Wellington end of the North Island TA (13km)
Well, a real nice short day to finish!
Decided to get up early and knock this off so I had the day to just chill before returning home tomorrow.
The route followed the harbour around before climbing what would be last hill of the North Island and running along the ridge to the South Coast.
A nice Saturday morning walk with a lot of people out and about. Had a couple of coffee stops and then the issue of toilet while in town, not as easy as when you’re in the bush!
As I walked the significance of what I had achieved started to dawn on me, I was now 1700 km from where I had started and had walked every bit of it! I did feel bloody good about it and, dare I say, rather proud of having gotten this far!
The plaque at what is known as the “North Island Terminus” is somewhat understated and sits adjacent to a kid’s playground. I’m sure there were parents there wondering what the slightly scruffy guy was doing posing for selfies in front of this innocuous little rock that they had probably never bothered to investigate.
Anyway, got the selfie and headed of for a celebratory brunch at a café that was just a little further around the coast. It was a funny feeling sitting there amongst all of these people having their Saturday morning brunch. I really wanted to tell them “I’ve just wandered here from Cape Reinga!” but sat there quietly processing it myself.
So, the North Island journey is over! I’m planning on Christmas and most of January at home then restarting the South Island section.
John, we are loving your blogs and are full of admiration for what you have achieved. Best wishes Colin and Diane