Palmerston North to Levin

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Day 32: Palmerston North to Moturimu Whare Shelter (31km)

Our start today was delayed for two reasons - (1) we were enjoying chatting with Gail and John in the kitchen and (2) it was pouring with rain whilst we had breakfast! 


Fortunately the rain soon passed and we were on our way. Our plan was to walk via a supermarket to stock up for the next three days of walking. Of course it may have involved stopping at a cafe for a coffee too, but no surprise there! 


And then we were on our way. A really interesting day - very varied. Some quiet roads, riverside trails, a big climb up in to the hills, lots of wild flowers and even walking on a mountain bike trail. 







After a full day (circa 9 hours maybe) we reached our shelter and WOW! What a shelter! Very flash! 

We were really impressed by what was on offer and also very pleased to have the whole place to ourselves. 








A good day. It is great to be out doing this again.  


Roger’s notes and sketch: 





Day 33: Moturimu Whare Shelter - Tokomaru Shelter (16.7km) 

Fortunately the rain that we heard overnight kindly left us before we got up (which was a bonus!)

A leisurely breakfast and pack up and we were on our way. 

Today was our first real venture in to the Tararua forest (as part of the Te Aroroa anyway). And what an intro! A really varied day with some good views near the start and great tracks throughout. We were on the Burtton track for a lot of it and it was superb. 








We were parallel to a river for quite a while and with that we had a few stream and river crossings. However the lack of rain over the last few weeks (apart from a small amount last night) meant these were very easy to navigate with no danger of getting our feet wet.  








        A big slip obstacle



We made good time and were at our next camp before 2pm. We even considered carrying on but it is too far to do all of tomorrow’s walk this afternoon and there is nowhere else established to camp along the way (the Te Araroa Trust discourage freedom camping as it can upset farmers and land owners etc). 


So instead we had a late lunch, made camp and chilled out for the afternoon.  


A really good day! 










Day 34: Tokomaru Shelter to Levin (approximately 22km) 


An early start and surprisingly quite cold! However the uphill start soon warmed us up. 






       The Tokomaru reservoir


       The Tokomaru reservoir


Today we were back in the Tararua Forest Park and it did not disappoint. We followed the Mangahao - Makahika track and this was even better than the Burtton Track. 





We headed uphill for a while until we reached the Horowhenua Lookout, soon followed by the Archie’s Lookout. Our luck with the weather was still with us and we had magnificent views. 




Then it was down, down, down to a few stream crossings. All easy to cross and just added to the beauty and interest of the day. 



We made good time and before we knew it we were out on the road at the far end, waiting to get a phone signal to call our good friends, Jason and Sharon, for a lift to their house. 


An even better day than yesterday! An awesome track which we would love to come back and run one day (without heavy packs of course!) 




A lovely evening with Jason and Sharon and a very easy decision to have a “zero day” tomorrow to hang out with them for longer. 





















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