Second week on Te Araroa: km 179-277

Day 8: Telford Campsite to Wild Camp: 11.2 km

Happy new year! It’s the first day of 2025!! We slept in the grass and my allergies somehow got even worse!! We slept in and I took Benadryl in the morning to try to take the edge off my allergies. Then we started our climb. We had to climb straight up from camp about 700 vertical meters to a peak at 1,000 m.

I decided to wear my Rab rainpants today to protect my skin from the grass. But, at noon in the full sun and with a strong dose of Benadryl, I was super lethargic on the climb. I think it took me 4 hours to get to the summit. Another few hours and Brian said he was too tired to continue, and I agreed. We were 10 km short of our original goal. We checked the FarOut route and the TA app and deduced it seemed like wild camping was allowed in the forest. I spotted a flat-ish spot and pitched our Durston tent. It was a bit wonky due to the uneven ground but I decided it would have to do for tonight.

Not a perfect tent pitch, but it worked for the night.

Mushrooms near our tent site.

Day 9: Wild Camp to Aparima Hut: 10.2 km

We were up early to start our forest hiking. It was an incredibly stunning forest and very cruisy hiking. We crossed paths with a couple headed SOBO. Their collective trail name was the Snail Pilgrims. They are both GPs and they graciously gave me advice for my allergies. I can’t even tell you how incredibly grateful I was. They told me the medicine that would work the best and what dosage I could take. Thank you beautiful snails!!! 🐌

We arrived at Aparima hut by 1 pm. Our original plan was to hike further, but upon studying the map realized there likely was nowhere we could wild camp. The route weaved in and out of private property for the next 10-15 km. We decided to camp at the hut. We pitched in the grass out front and the hut was filled with other hikers.

Day 10: Aparima Hut to State Highway 94 Junction (to Te Anau): 22.5 km

I woke up strengthened with a new allergy medicine routine to follow and resolved to make it to town for some zero days. It rained all night and the soothing sound lulled me into my deepest sleep on trail yet.

The route is ordinarily muddy, but the overnight rain meant it was much wetter than usual. We wore full rain gear, including our ponchos when rain showers occurred throughout the day. I sunk so deep into the mud at one point that Brian couldn’t even see my legs.

Half my body was in the ground. Visiting Middle Earth.

There was tussock (long, tall grasslike plants) lining about half the route today. At times it was hard for me, at 5’8”, to see over them to the next trail marker.

We worked well together as a team, keeping ourselves on pace and motivated. We gained our main saddle of the day and then slowly dropped down through coastal forests to Lower Princhester Hut. We met a woman finishing her final section of the TA headed SOBO. We chatted for a few minutes and then we knew we wanted to just send the last 6 km to the highway.

The rest of the hiking day was on a farm road. Adorable sheep everywhere. It was a glorious moment!! My new allergy medicine routine was working better than anything else I’d tried! I couldn’t wait to get into Te Anau for a shower and a hotel room.

Many of the DOC (Department of Conservation) huts have maps like this showing the local area.

We arrived at the highway around 4 pm. We got cell signal and searched online for a hotel room. It was a Friday night, peak holiday time and everything was fully booked! Brian was able to book us the last campsite at a Holiday Park and then we had to hitch a ride into town. It took about 10 minutes and a police car pulled over. I wasn’t sure if we were getting a ride or getting in trouble. Turns out it was a ride and great conversation. He drove us right to our campground in downtown Te Anau! Glorious!!!

I was relieved to have a place to pitch our tent, a hot meal, and a hot shower. I was also disappointed we hadn’t been able to get a room. I was so exhausted from these last few days battling such intense allergies, but I really struggled to sleep because I was very cold all night. I was ready for a hotel and a couple zero days.

Day 11 & 12: zero days in Te Anau

We booked into a hotel for 2 nights, allowing us 2 full zero days in town. It was a perfect reset. I had a bunch of content creation and emails to catch up on. We bought our resupply and had some much needed rest. We made a plan for our next section and got ourselves ready. Our friend James hit the trail again a day ahead of us and we hope to see him again.

Day 13: state highway 94 to Kiwi Burn Hut: 29.5 km

We had our glorious included breakfast at the hotel and then got picked up by our shuttle. This was a private charter and for two of us it ended up being cheaper than catching the bus. It was awesome!!

The first 13 km were highway and then gravel road walking. It was hot and dusty. We were happy when the trail forked off down to the river.

Unfortunately for me, the route along the river was VERY grassy. As soon as we started walking through the grass my allergies flared up again.

The rest of the day consisted of wading through knee height to overhead height grass, spotting very intermittent trail markers, and fording the river. There was a fence to our right and the river to our left all day. We eventually learned that the best route seemed to be closest to the fence. When in doubt, hug the fence!

We finally hit the junction for Kiwi Burn around 8 pm. We still had lots of daylight, but we were both exhausted. That final 1 km to the hut felt impossibly long. We found an adorable little spot in the trees behind the hut to set up our tent. Brian set up the twinkly lights and I battled through my allergy symptoms while trying to fall asleep.

Day 14: Kiwi Burn Hut to Carey’s Hut: 24.8 km

I had a rough night. My nose felt like it swelled up on the inside as I was trying to fall asleep, so I couldn’t breathe at all through my nose. The quilts we brought with us haven’t been warm enough for me for the past few nights and I’ve been shivering through the night. So I was exhausted in the morning. It’s been unseasonably cold weather the locals have told us. We’ll have to decide if a gear change is required.

We got going around 9 am and the trail was a really nice cruisey trail today!! We started off walking along the Mararoa river before reaching the southern shores of South Mavora Lake. We had a nice lunch break in the forest where two SOBOs walked past us.

The trail around the lake was so nice! But my feet got sloppy at one point and I face planted into the moss. Thankfully I was alright, just got a bit dirty.

I kept my pants on for most of the day to keep the grass from brushing on them. This helps a little, but my legs are still so itchy all day and especially at night when I’m trying to sleep. I’ve woken up scratching them so hard I create open wounds. It has been incredibly challenging for me. With the nasal, eyes, and throat allergies and the itchy legs I am at my wits end. I am seriously contemplating if continuing is the right call for me. I just feel so incredibly horrible.

The rain started to pelt down at 3 pm when we had another 10 km of lake shore walking. We put on our ponchos, crossed a foot bridge, and followed the route along the east shore of North Mavora Lake. This part of the route is a 4x4 track for vehicles. We saw cars and dirt bikes.

We arrived at Carey’s Hut for dinner. Ate our cold soaked ramen noodles with added peanut butter, and chatted to the 3 Kiwi guys staying there. We pitched our tent outside hoping it would be better for my allergies than the dusty and smokey hut. There weren’t any flat and sheltered spots, so we pitched the tent on a slope and tried to make the most of it. But it was honestly a pretty uncomfortable situation and I was not feeling okay. Another night trying to sleep with horrible allergies and feeling cold all night.

This week ended with me seriously considering if I was physically able to keep going. Hopefully something turns around soon.

I’ll pick up right where we left off in next week’s blog!

All the best,

-Story