National Park to Whanganui River

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 Day 23: National Park to Kaitieke Monument (30km)

After a good breakfast at the hotel we were soon on Fisher’s Track (another mountain bike track which Roger had ridden before). An early start meant I was lucky enough to see a deer run off the track in front of me. 

It was another stunning day and we captured a few more glimpses of the mountains behind us as we made our way down. 

It was with a twinge of sadness that we walked away from the mountains which had been with us for several days. However we knew we had exciting new sights to see and adventures to have. 

A few bikers zoomed past us as they enjoyed the long downhill of the track. One stopped to chat as he was doing the bike version of Te Araroa in 25 days! Yikes! That is a lot of distance to cover each day!




After the Fisher’s Track we were on a quiet road for a while. The day was getting hotter and hotter and we were very glad we had left early. 



We reached the monument and let ourselves in to our accommodation for the night. Locals (another Roger and his partner) are in the process of building a new house on their land and their starting point was a very smart large farm shed. In here we found two single beds, a table and chairs and chilled (very much appreciated!!) bottled water for us to use. 


The metal of the shed meant it was even hotter inside than out but we managed to find some shade in which to whilst away the afternoon. 

Charlie, a fellow TA walker, arrived a few hours later and the three of us had our dinner in the evening sun before turning in for an early night.  


No, not our sleeping quarters! An interesting building on the other side of the road. 


Roger’s notes:


Day 24: Kaitieke Monument to Whakahoro (25km)

Roger got up early (as per) and, armed with his phone, went out to capture the interesting morning light. 

Alongside the war memorial there is a horse sculpture made from horse shoes. 

Again an early start to try to avoid the hottest part of the day. We knew it was going to be on back country gravel roads with very little shade. 











Sadly the lemonade stand was empty when we got there but Charlie, who was a few hours behind us, was lucky enough to have ice chilled lemonade as he passed by. 

There was very little traffic - mostly canoe and kayak companies taking intrepid adventurers to the water and then returning empty to base. It was one of these drivers that stopped to tell us the sad news that Roger’s Mum had passed away. As we had not had phone coverage for over 24 hours Rachel (our daughter-in-law) had managed to track down the canoe hire company we were using and asked them to pass on the message. 

We quietly carried on to Whakahoro and settled in to the Blue Duck cafe for the rest of the day whilst Roger spoke to family and together they worked out a plan for the next few days. The staff there were unbelievably kind and helpful.  







Once the decision was made to stay, we moved our stuff in to the Whakahoro DOC hut and walked down to the river for a swim to cool down before making dinner.  



The DOC hut was an old school house. 

   

         Some of the buildings close to the DOC hut. 

R.I.P Maggie Twiname. A wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. I had only known her 13 years but she always made me feel incredibly welcome and she was always smiling and joking. She loved flowers and bright colours so Roger took this photo in her honour. 

Roger’s notes:
















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