Mercer - Hamilton

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 Day four: Mercer - South of Huntly (48km, of which 24km walked) 

Our “start of day” selfie outside the Mercer motel  




This was our toughest day so far. The terrain was incredibly overgrown in places and it was impossible to see many of the trail markers. A lot of Bush-bashing and double backing on ourselves in places. The first 3km took about two hours! 
Hence when we finally got off the trail on to a road end 8.5km north of Rangiriri and saw a guy with his Ute, it did not take me long to stick my thumb out to hitch a ride! 













Daniel was not even going in that direction but very kindly took us to Rangiriri. I don’t think I have ever been so grateful for a lift! The thought of walking 8.5km along a road after averaging about 3km per hour for the previous 7 hours was really not that appealing!!  

In Rangiriri we had something to eat and felt ready to carry on. However, instead of walking through more grass we started to walk down the road (parallel to the track) towards Huntly. We had only been walking for about 5 minutes when a car pulled up unprompted and offered us a lift! We were not going to say no! 

These two guys dropped us off by the Huntly power station and we walked for about 5km through Huntly and then our friend Evan very kindly picked us up. 




Our “end of day” selfie in Evan’s van. 

What a day!! 

Day five: South of Huntly -  outskirts of Hamilton (32km)

Much better day! Hakarimata walkway followed by Riverride track from Ngaruawahia to Pukete water treatment plant. 

Just day packs again which makes a huge difference! 

Start of the day where Evan dropped us off. 

2.5km in to our walk we reached the start of the Hakarimata walkway 

Walking up with the Waikato river in the background. 

















At the end of the walkway. 


Old railway bridge In Ngaruawahia. 



The Perry bridge across the Waikato. 






“End of day” Selfie. 



Comments

  1. Unknown18 December 2021 at 07:43

    Welcome to the Waikato. Watch out for cyclists on the Te Awa Trail. Have fun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kerstie18 December 2021 at 14:17

      Thanks. Not sure who is saying this but wise words!

      Delete

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