First week on Te Araroa: km 0-179
We packed up at Bluff Campground and walked out of town towards the terminus. We were seriously windswept and my nose was running like a faucet. It seemed a cold had been added onto my allergies. I felt terrible physically, but exhilarated mentally to be almost at the southern terminus of the TA.
It took a few kilometres of road walking before we rounded the bend and saw the signpost with yellow arrows pointing out in all directions. We beamed and rushed over to it, looking out at the pummelling waves on the rugged coastline.
The effort and intention it took to get to this point was immense. I reflected on the many years I have been dreaming of hiking this trail and felt so extremely grateful to be there. A few photos later and it was time to start our 3,000 km walk covering the entire length of New Zealand.
We immediately climbed a hill up into a lush forest. We marveled at the plants and birds we have never seen before. We took our time, mostly because we couldn’t go any faster. There were animal traps all the way along the trail and we met a woman checking on them and baiting them. She explained that the only mammal indigenous to New Zealand is the bat and all other mammals were introduced by humans. They are actively trying to catch these mammals because they pose a great threat to the diverse bird population. It was lucky we got to see this important practice at work.
As the first day progressed, the trail weaved us through sheep pastures and along the coastline before spitting us out onto the main road that connects Bluff to Invercargill. We walked the rest of the day on a path right beside the road. The wind was unrelenting and my symptoms from my cold progressed further. By the time we finally stumbled into Invercargill 32 km later, I was shattered. We checked into our hostel, Brian got us pizza, I took some cold and flu medicine, and we fell asleep.
We ended up taking 6 days off in Invercargill so that I could regain my health. Most of the time was spent in a nice hotel room and trying food from the various restaurants. Invercargill is a nice place to hangout when needing time off trail. We celebrated Christmas there and then the next day, hit the trail again.
Day 2: Invercargill to Riverton: 33 km
I was finally feeling well enough to start hiking again and I was so grateful for that. I still had allergies, but any symptoms of a cold were completely gone. This section of trail requires large mileage days because there is no where else for hikers to stay. So whether we wanted to or not, we had to hike 33 kilometres. The trail left town on the road for about 10 kms and then reached Oreti Beach, which consisted of the rest of our 23 kms of hiking. It is a gorgeous, firm sandy beach. The wind hammered us while we knocked off kilometre after kilometre along the beach. We had a river ford to do which was about knee deep and we saw another NOBO thru hiker who walked past us while we took a break for lunch.
There were many cars driving along the beach, which looked quite fun! By the end of the day we reached the estuary at Riverton and split from the route to walk into town to Riverton Lodge Hotel. We arrived just after the kitchen closed. They graciously served us a cold beer and checked us into our private room. It is a very old and musty building. The curtains were splattered with grease stains and moth holes. The shower I found was over a toilet and it wasn’t after I rinsed off in cold water that I discovered the shower over a bathtub. It was more than rustic, in my opinion. My allergies went into overdrive with the exposure to mould and dust. I woke up the next morning feeling horrible again. But, thankfully, no cold symptoms!!!
Day 3: Riverton to Colac Bay: 12.2 km
After a difficult sleep, we decided to do a shorter day today! We meandered down the Main Street of town and went into the museum to learn more about the local area and culture. We learned that the first humans arrived here in a canoe from the Polynesian islands. The Māori people named the islands Aotearoa. The film was really well done. My favourite moment was the final Māori quote:
“Walk on in the sacred footsteps of the ancestors. That way, you will never be lost”
Around midday we hit the trail. We walked through the rest of town, up into the hills, and through a tropical forest! When we dropped down the other side of the hill to the ocean, we met more cute sheepsies grazing in the most picturesque location!
A little bit more beach walking and we made it to the Colac Bay Tavern & Holiday Park. We got a meal and then pitched our tent. We met the hiker we had seen yesterday and learned a bit about him.
Day 4: Colac Bay to Martin’s Hut: 16.5 km
It was time to leave the coast behind and officially climb up into the hills! We entered the Longwood Forest, which is notorious for very muddy conditions. And it lived up to it!! We stopped trying to avoid the mud after a couple hours since it was slowing our pace so much. Straight through we went!! Mid shin was the deepest it got.
We wanted another short day, so we stopped at the forest hut called Martin’s Hut. Our new trail friend, James, was there and the 3 of us slept in the 4 bunk hut together. I was trying to figure out the right allergy medicine to take and took Benadryl before bed.
Day 5: Martin’s Hut to Merriview Hut: 27.5 km
Today’s mud would have laughed at yesterday’s mud. It was next level. We met a fellow hiker called Orangeman who, unbeknownst to us had set up trail magic just up the hill from Martin’s Hut. Brian and I slowly climbed to the summit and there we saw it, lawn chairs and a cooler filled with still cold drinks!! What an absolute legend Orangeman!!!
And that morale boost was very well timed. For the next 5-10 km we were sinking to our knees consistently in mud. Often sinking deeper than our knees. We made the most of it and laughed a lot! At a certain point, it is worth fully embracing the mud!
When we finally dropped out of the Longwoods the hiking got much easier on old roads. We were able to cruise into the private hut we were staying at. The local farmers built and maintain a hut for TA hikers. These are essential to the viability of the trail and we are BEYOND grateful. Thank you!!!!
Day 6: Merriview Hut to Birchwood Station Hut: 26 km
Today was a lot of farmland walking. We climbed a hill at one point and then when dropping down the other side we dropped through sheep pastures. It was perhaps the cutest thing I have ever seen.
Birchwood Station Hut is another private hut run by local farmers. It was so well equipped!! There is a bunk room, entryway with a separate toilet room and shower with sink room, and a lounge area with small kitchen and wood stove. This was key since Brian and I had very wet gear from hiking through the rain today! Our friend James was there, and we met 1 other NOBO hiker and a SOBO hiker.
Trail Sale (https://trailsale.co.nz ) sent us our resupply package here. It was fun to go through it and see what menu they had created for us!
We all dried out, ate dinner, and socialized. Thank you so much for such an integral and incredible hut!!
Day 7: Birchwood Station to Telford Campsite: 28.8 km
James headed off about 30 mins before us. We started out hiking through farmland and then as we were dropping off the road onto a trail, James was walking back towards us. He had taken a wrong turn and we ended up catching up to him. We decided to all hike together for a while.
We had to route find through the periphery of a farm through very tall grass. I started to notice that where the grass was brushing up against my legs I was getting hives. I took some Benadryl to try to address this.
We had some amazing talks as we started to climb up through pastures, passing cows and sheep as we went. The sun shining brightly.
We broke for lunch. I was in my shorts and the hives were getting progressively worse on my legs. I got stung as I sat eating lunch. I was starting to feel like a lot was happening at once. My eyes were incredibly itchy and I was out of tissue or toilet paper to blow my nose. Things weren’t feeling great for me.
After lunch, James went ahead. We climbed more and then ended up following the Wairaki River. We had to be careful to stick to the route, with lots of signs notifying us of wrong directions. We had to ford the river, but it was only knee deep.
I was struggling to keep pushing, but we had no other option, we were on private land until Telford campsite, our only camp option. We arrived at dusk and thankfully found a perfect little spot to pitch the tent.
I was sneezing like crazy, couldn’t stop myself from rubbing my eyes, and felt very physically exhausted. Brian set up our twinkly lights, knowing the joy it would bring. Tonight was New Year’s Eve, the final day of 2024. We reflected on our year and fell asleep well before midnight.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed week one on Te Araroa!! The next blog post will pick up right where we left on, New Year’s Day! See you then :)
- Story
