Kaitaia to KeriKeri

• Start: 7:00 @ km 121.5
• End: 20:45 @ km 154
• Hiked: 32.5 km ⭐️

Ahh, today was the day we entered the infamous Raetea Forest. Holey Moley, what a day! We all decided to skip the 5km Highway section (as advised in the trail notes) and instead catch a ride to Ruaroa road. Raetea Forest is know for being extremely wet, muddy, slippery, and extremely steep at points. Given that it had not rained in days, we wanted to push ourselves to the summit where we could camp for the night. The incline leading up towards the Forest was a nice start. When we started passing long-ago abandoned cars, camper vans and horse trailers, it felt a little horror film-ish. 😬 (note Mathias: a horror film with sunny weather and beautiful views)

After some time, we made it to the first campground. Luckily it had water so we could filter it and fill our bottles. It also had a picnic table with cushions (luxury). We had a relaxing break as it was still quite early and we thought we had more than enough time to make it to the summit. Little did we know...

Raetea Forest was filled with plant life; ferns galore, trees that seem to just keep going up into the air and roots that overtook the forest floor. We kept thanking our lucky stars that the weather has been so dry... we didn’t even want to imagine what this trek would be like in the rain! The last 200+ meter incline was so intense; nearly vertical. Again, we kept thinking ‘we’re so glad it’s not raining... and hasn’t rained in days’! It felt great to make it to the summit. And we shared in enjoyment with Sarah and Julia.

We were exhausted, but we couldn’t ignore a few facts: 1. The weather report we viewed earlier had said that rain would start at night and continue all day the following day. 2. We didn’t want to have to face the long steep downhill track in the rain... because it would be like a death trap (in Leah’s dramatic mind).

So, the decision was made: we were going down today (only an additional intense 12kms). Downhill, uphill, downhill, uphill... every time we went uphill gain we thought ‘Shit! This will just lead to more downhill.’ We were counting the km markers that had been put up in the forest, and they just seemed to take forever from one km to the next. It would be a tight fit to get to the campground before dark and rain. Julia and Sarah were motivating us and keeping a good, steady pace.

Finally we made it out of the forest, down the farm (where we all came face to face with a wild horse, who graciously let us pass), past the barking pack of dogs to the little campground filled with more German hikers (and others too). We just finished setting up the tent before it turned dark. Mustered up enough energy to make dinner and eat it in the tent. Went to sleep sticky, dirty, exhausted and legs/feet hurting, but thankful to have made it in, up, down and out of Raetea Forest with no rain. Happy Thanksgiving to us!

• Start: 9:22 @ km 154
• End: 16:00 @ km 172
• Hiked: 18 km + 0.5 km to campground

Had a bit of a sleep in today. Last night’s sleep was a bit rough. Kept waking up with leg pain. We began the hike with some road walking and soon-ish (a couple of hours) made it to the Dairy. Woo woo! We treated ourselves to energy drinks, egg sandwiches and potato wedges with sour cream. Hell ya! We grabbed a seat at a table out front and set up shop: snacks, journals, phones.

Today was so hot and humid and there was no wind. There was some discussion and worry about the water situation: Would there be water at the campground? So when we passed a stream under a bridge, we walked down to filter and fill up on water (3 liters each) just to be safe.

We arrived in Omahuta Forest and began seeing Kauri trees; big and beautiful. Currently there is a disease killing these beautiful trees which is why particular portions of the TA are rerouted this year to stop spreading it.

It continued to be extremely hot and humid and we were so thankful every time a gust of wind came by to stop and say hello. It started to drizzle about an hour before arriving at Apple Dam (our campsite for the night). Our legs were hurting from the day before and rain started to pick up as we pitched our tent.

We went inside our tent and never left it again this day. We had dinner in bed again and foot massages. Mathias tried out his new sleeping liner as he was tired of feeling like he was sleeping inside of a plastic bag. It rained all through the night. And for the first time on this trip we heard the ominous sounds and screeches of the opossums. 😬😳

• Start: 7:45 @ km 172 
• End: 17:30 @ km 197
• Hiked: 0.5 km + 25 km

We are reminded everyday that we have no idea what to expect... even when we think we do. Did we think today was going to be a relatively chill 24km stroll along some backroads? Yes. Were we correct? No.

The Puketi Forest was a beautiful and adventurous. We trekked along the dirt path and when it appeared to dead end into the river, we soon realized that the river was now the path to follow. We changed into our sandals and shorts and stepped on in. The water was quite cold, but it felt great on our aching feet. At times the water came above our knees, but for the most part it was pretty shallow. After a bit, we came across Deborah who was having her breakfast in a lovely spot along the river. We decided to plop down right next to her and do the same.

We had our first experience crossing a river with a stronger current. Spoiler alert: we made it without falling. We were so pleased with ourselves that we missed our turn off. Luckily Sarah and Julia yelled for us to turn back. They had crossed successfully just behind us, and must have been on a high as well because we all walked right by the turn off again (this time in another direction). We figured out that we were to exit the river and begin the new adventure climbing upon the forest floor.

This next section of our daily adventure was muddy, steep and challenging. There were definitely times that felt a bit dangerous/unsafe where a slip or a fall could result in a bad injury. However, there were also times with a wooden boardwalk (perhaps to help put us at ease for a bit - but for real to give the Kauri trees a break from us trampling hikers). We made it through, and for the most part really enjoyed this portion of the trail as well.

At some point we came across a sign that told us: 12km-5hours. Wtf? It was soon after that we saw the never ending stairs. Legs burning, legs burning, breathe. Just when we thought we could see the end above, we’d get there to see more waiting around the corner.

The final kilometers were spent on a gravel road that led to the spacious Puketi campground. We celebrated an awesome (yet very unexpected) day with freezing cold showers and multiple packets of Ramen noodles. Did Mathias cut up fresh garlic to put with our noodles? Yes. Will we do that again? Definitely. We ate our dinner at a picnic table I called ‘The German Table’- Six Germans + Leah. Sie sind überall.

• Start: 7:10 @ km 197
• End: 14:30 @ km 221 
• Hiked: 24 km + 2.5 km to campground

We planned to hike first and eat breakfast later. Plans...hahaha. We saw in the trail notes that today would be about 24 kms. Now, we thought we had learned our lesson yesterday about not expecting, so we were open to whatever came our way... that was before we were knee deep in a cow shit filled muddy river.

A bit of a back story: 1. Last night we spent some time talking (and dreaming) about all the food we wanted to consume once we got in to Kerikeri: pizza, hummus, fresh produce, Thai food... the list went on and on. 2. There was a detour that was in effect. Interpretations of said detour turned out to be different.

So today when we woke up, Leah was ready for this food extravaganza to be an immediate reality. This created a bit of mental struggle; realizing that there was a whole day of tramping before the feast could begin.

We headed on our way and realized (a good 5-10mins later) that we passed our turn off. We turned back and met up with Deborah just as we were climbing over the first of many stiles this day. Once over the stile, we were in a field of cows. Now we do not have much experience with cows and to be perfectly honest, have no idea what to do in the event of being charged by one (although Mathias seems fine about it). Deborah didn’t either. The cows seemed curious and were observing us as we walked somewhat hesitantly toward the next stile. Luckily, the next stile led us into a field of sheep. After the sheep came another field, this one not appearing to have any animals at the time, but the ground was filled with cow poop.

And here is where it got messy. We could not find the next trail marker. Deborah thought we should go along the fence (we should have listened), but GPS was showing us to go through the middle of the field. Mathias went first and was soon sinking into a nasty swamp of filth hidden by overgrown grass. Of course we followed. I mean, if the GPS says... We got back on the path a bit later after having to pass through two more ‘rivers. Deborah joked about the farmers sitting around enjoying their afternoon tea while watching the stupid TA trampers walking through liquid cow shit.

Once making it out of the fields, we did some more road walking that seemed to just keep on going. Then onto the highway (which luckily was a very short walk). We were glad when that portion ended and we entered the Kerikeri river track. It was a pretty trail along the river and it led us to an overlook of Rainbow falls. Who doesn’t love a waterfall?!

We eventually arrived at our final destination: Kerikeri Holiday Park, still smelling of cow. We had to laugh when the receptionist showed us where the tent sites were: down three very steep hills. 😂 But the sites were also right next to the river which was very nice.

By the time we pitched our tent, showered and did laundry, we were beyond hungry. So we headed up the three steep slopes and further up the road and each got ourselves a pizza each. We inhaled them. Finally, we grabbed ourselves a bottle of wine and headed back to the campground where we shared drinks and chats with Johanas.

We went to sleep, not setting an alarm; knowing that tomorrow would be a Zero Day.

• Hiked: 0 km

Food glorious food! Today was our first (and much needed) Zero Day. We slept in. We went to a cute cafe and enjoyed coffee and breakfast. We looked over the trail notes for the upcoming days. We wrote blog posts. We bought more food. We stocked up at the pharmacy and treated our aches and pains. Thanks to Voltaren Mathias’ heel calmed down a little and Tiger Balm helped against Leah’s back pains.

The day endet with a delicious Israeli dinner and some more chatting and blog updating. All in all a great and needed Zero Day.