Day One: Mt Eden to Ferry Terminal (Downtown Auckland) (5km)

Almost a year ago today we walked out the front door (in Auckland) and walked south to Bluff.

We had hoped to immediately follow that with walking from Auckland north to Cape Reinga.

Sadly, my body was telling me something different (there are only so many anti-inflammatories and pain killers one should take!) so we settled back home to lick our (well, technically just “my”) wounds. Reaching for that silver lining…. this break gave me time to see an amazing Osteopath, Glenn, who has worked magic on my back.

So, having sat on the bench for the last six months, we (and hopefully the weather) are now match fit to get going again!

Unfortunately the tides are not making our start easy so we have broken up the first day in to two.

This morning we ran out the front door, re-joined the trail on Mt Eden (about 4km from home) and than ran along the trail to the Ferry Terminal at Britomart. We then got a train home so we can attend the Women’s Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony!

After a few cold and wet days we were blessed with good weather for our start. Yeah! Long may that continue 🤞

Tomorrow we will catch an Uber back to the Ferry Terminal, get the Ferry to Devonport and walk/run through the East Coast Bays towards Stillwater.

It is fantastic to be back on the Trail. I have been looking forward to this day for months! I have really mixed emotions as I am incredibly excited to be back out there but at the same time I don’t want it to end!

On Mt Eden, re-joining the Te Araroa Trail

Not officially part of the trail but we went back to Mt Eden (well, Eden Park to be exact) later in the day for the rugby! It was incredible! We had amazing seats, saw two great matches (England vs Fiji and NZ vs Australia) and really enjoyed all the entertainment (highlights being Rita Ora & a fly-by from a Hercules during the Black Ferns haka).

Ready for the action

Fiji winning a line out

England’s captain being interviewed after their great win

The Haka

Great seats - close to the action

Another great try from the Black Ferns

Each time there was a try, we got a lovely warm boost!

A successful conversion from right infront of us

Day Two: Ferry Terminal (Downtown Auckland) to Stillwater (35km/7.5 hrs)

We got the first ferry of the day to Devonport to ensure we hit the river crossing at low tide. This meant a bit of an early start but it was lovely light as we sat on the ferry crossing the harbour.

At Devonport we started walking in earnest! It was great to be “out there doing it” again. As we walked towards North Head we bumped in to Jaqueline from the gym. She was about to do a 7km ocean swim. Yikes! I think I would rather walk to Cape Reinga and back than swim that far! Very impressive.

In awe of her venture, we carried on up North Head, past the closed in tunnels. What IS in there? Treasure? Ammunition? Dead rats? Who knows…..

We then dropped down to Cheltenham Beach and started to make our way around the East Coast Bays. By the time we got to Mairangi Bay it was time for a coffee and “morning tea”. We found a great cafe for both (all a bit different from some of our other days walking when it was sitting on a fence drinking water and eating a muesli bar!)

From Mairangi Bay we carried on through the other bays to Long Bay. It is a great park and beach and was surprisingly quite quiet for a Sunday. Give it another month or so and I guess that will be very different.

As we left Long Bay and headed along the path over the headland to Okura Estuary, Roger said “Now I feel like we are back on Te Araroa trail”. It felt like Auckland was behind us and, with cows to our left and the sea to our right, we were out where we wanted to be! The weather was perfect and all was good in the world.

We soon dropped down to the Okura Estuary. This is the reason we got up so early! We had timed it well and got there just 20 minutes after low tide. The old trail notes had said “cross at the fourth white marker” but we weren’t sure if that was counting from the left or the right! Doh!

I decided to cross near the marker with the two orange triangles. Roger decided to head left a bit to one of the white markers……I am pleased to be able to report that I made the better decision and the water was only up just above my knees. I looked across to Roger and for him it was up to his waist! Although he did not mind, I was pleased I had chosen my own path as that would have been quite a bit higher for me and I would have had to take my pack off and carry it over my head!

Crossing safely traversed, the day had officially gone well and first hurdle heading north had successfully been overcome.

It was then an easy stroll across to Stillwater. As it was low tide we took the low level route. It felt really strange walking straight across where the sea would normally be rather than having to rock hop or climb up on to the headland.

When we popped out by the motor camp it was great to see Charlie there waiting for us. He very kindly drove us to his parents’ house (via the bottle store, of course!) where we had a lovely afternoon and evening with him and his parents, Richard and Nicky.

Having not really walked for more than a hour over the last six months, we knew it would feel like a long day but it was fantastic. We saw some beautiful houses and some “interesting” houses as we walked through the bays but also some amazing views.

Just off the ferry at Devonport and about to start walking

Devonport

Great view of Rangitoto from Cheltenham Beach

Cheltenham Beach

Walking along Cheltenham Beach towards the colourful houses

Low maintenance pets! Note giraffe and third dog in background

Where did my legs go?

Mystery explained! At the north end of Milford Beach

Looking down on Long Bay

Made it! Walking “across the sea”

On the far side of the Okura Estuary, looking back at the headland we had walked around

Walking the low level route towards Stillwater

Cool rock formations, smoothed by the waves

Day Three: Millwater to Wenderholm (21km / 5hrs)

Again, our day was planned around a low tide so we had a pretty late start. This gave us time to go shopping (huge thanks to Nicky for taking us) so Roger could pick up some new socks and jandals. I was very restrained as I knew that if I bought anything I would have to carry it!

At around 11am we walked from Milldale (where we were staying) to Millwater where we picked up the trail again. From there we followed the Orewa Estuary walkway and crossed over the bridge to be met by Robyn Curren’s beautiful smiling face! She joined us for a quick coffee whilst we had some lunch at a great cafe - the Orewa Estuary Art Cafe and Gallery.

Sadly Robyn had to return to work so we had a quick look around the gallery (very cool) before walking 3km along Orewa beach. It is a beautiful beach and made for a pleasant stroll.

The trail would have taken us up and over but, because we were walking at low tide, we decided to take the low level route around headland.

Once on Hatfield Beach we then continued “rock-hopping” around the headlands all the way to Waiwera. This was part of the trail and hence why we had started out so late in the day to do this at low tide.

We headed off the beach at Waiwera and walked past the closed hot pools. It was sad to see them looking so derelict and the town a ghost town. Being the school holidays I imagine that in the past it would have been really bustling with the sound of children laughing and having fun.

Fortunately for us the dairy was open so we treated ourselves to an ice cream as it was getting quite warm.

We then headed over the road bridge then left on to a beautiful forest track with amazing Nikau palms. This brought us out at the historic house at Wenderholm, where Nicky was very kindly waiting to pick us up.

The men in the Ware family were all gathered to watch the West Ham United game which had played overnight. Apparently this is a family ritual to all watch it together, or at least simultaneously if not in the same place. It was great to meet Bob (Charlie’s brother).

Meanwhile Nicky and I sat at the kitchen bench and had a lovely chat.

A lovely day.

Some very strange water creature that looked a bit like a mango!

Walking through the Nikau palms

View looking down on Wenderholm

In Wenderholm

The historic house at Wenderholm

Day Four: Puhoi to Dome Cafe (28km / 7hrs 15mins)

Charlie very kindly dropped us off at Puhoi first thing so we could get on our way. Roger decided to get a takeaway coffee from the Puhoi Store and we met the white store cat who had had both ears amputated due to skin cancer. Poor wee thing. He loved our attention but would not move from sitting in the sunniest spot of the shop so I guess there is no telling some folk!

Anyway… I digress.

So at about 8am we started up the Puhoi track. We both know this pretty well as we have run it a number of times.

Once we came out of the Puhoi track we popped out on to a road and then made a steep climb on to a private farm road where two young guys were planting about 30,000 native plants for the land owner! That will keep them busy for a while!

We then carried on up Dunn’s Bush and came out on Tolhopf Road from where we could see the Kaipara harbour and the Tasman sea and also the Pacific coast (both East and West). Interesting fact - Tolhopf Road is named after ancestors on Roger’s mother’s side from Bohemia who were founders of Puhoi.

From there we joined the Moir Hill track with amazing views right back to Auckland city. Then on to a long gravel track with a pretty steep descent. As we came down we saw a guy collecting honey. I don’t even him driving his truck down that road!

After a brief lunch stop at the end of the track (with great views, of course) we then crossed Woodcocks Rd (which heads in to Warkworth) but sadly turned left into another big climb up a road which seemed to go on forever! Up, up and up!

Eventually we came off that road and in to Smyth Bush with more up but at least it was in the forest.

We then had a long descent on road towards Dome Valley saddle and as we turned a corner it was great to see Anne and Chris walking up towards us. Seeing their friendly faces after a reasonably tough day was fantastic.

They were parked about ten minutes down the road and somehow they both managed the drive back to theirs without retching due to our smell!

We had a really lovely evening with them at Algies Bay with a delicious slow cooked chicken casserole.

This was sadly our last day of “slack packing” (just carrying day packs) and we both knew that from tomorrow we would be on our own again.

The Puhoi store ear-less cat

Crossing the bridge to the start of the track

Looking down from Puhoi Track

Where the plants are going

Day Five: Dome Cafe to Pakiri Beach (30km / 9hrs)

Anne and Chris made us a delicious breakfast of croissants and a smoothie and then very kindly drove us back to the Dome Cafe.

Once there, Roger and I had to re-familiarise ourselves with our heavy packs and slowly start to make our way on to the track. Anne and Chris joined us for the firs half hour up to a cool look out. There we said our goodbyes and they returned to the comfort of home and we, with the oh-so-familiar heavy weight on our backs, started descending a very technical track with lots of tree roots etc. to keep us on our toes.

The day involved lots of going up and going down. At one point quite late in the day we hit a summit point so I (rather naively) thought that from there it would be a straight forward downhill in to Pakiri where we were staying. How wrong I was. Ahead of us was some down (obviously) but then a track off to the right which was a steep climb up! Not only that but it was a very muddy narrow track frequently used by cows so was very uneven and had more than just mud for us to try and avoid!

This track seemed to go on forever but eventually we started heading down a big hill (albeit across farmland which cows still use) in to Pakiri. But we were still not at our accommodation! It was then about 3km walk from Pakiri to Pakiri Beach Holiday Park where we had booked a camping spot (as there were no cabins available).

When we got there the office was closed but I rang the after hours number on the off-chance they had had any “no shows” for one of their cabins. The caretaker answered and he very kindly found us an empty cabin that had not been fully cleaned (they were very short staffed) but hey, we did not mind.

It had been a really tough day which neither of us had enjoyed so being “upgraded” to a cabin was much appreciated. Not only that but it had a really comfortable bed with bed linen (rather than having to use our sleeping bags) and we found a great spot to eat our dinner and breakfast with a beautiful view over the estuary. All the horrible tracks were soon forgiven and forgotten!