Start – Puhoi
Finish – Stillwater Holiday Park
Daily Distance – 33km
TA Distance – 563km
Today was an exercise in positive thinking. That statement is itself an act of positive thinking, because
what I really want to say is that it was bloody awful pretty much from start to finish. I now understand
why there is an expensive and seemingly pointless 6km kayak journey from Puhoi to Wenderholm. It’s
because the alternative, walking on state highways 1 and 17, even at 06:30, is frankly horrible. I thought
I’d be able to dodge the traffic with an early start, but boy was I wrong. Loads of traffic and when there
was one, the hard shoulder was ridiculously small. The most annoying part being that my early start
meant I arrived at Waiwera with the tide too high to do the beach walk, so that was another 4km on the
road instead, aargh!
I did finally get off road upon reaching Orewa, which felt great after so long on tarmac. Orewa is a cute
little town full of trendy shops and to judge by the number of people milling around at 10:00 on a Friday,
also full of people too rich to worry about mundate matters such as work. I really enjoyed strolling down
the town’s beach, full of dogs chasing seagulls and occasionally looking enquiringly at my hiking poles as
if I may be willing to throw them for a game of fetch. Both the oddest and cutest thing I saw was an
enderly golden retriever being pushed in a specially adapted wheelchair. Sometimes I get the impression
that NZ is a very odd country that is totally unaware that it is any way unusual!
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and the trail reverted back to pavement and road for the last
12km to Stillwater. It’s fair to say that by the time I reached the Stillwater campground my mood was a
smidge less than chirpy. I am very glad to say that the evening has offered a great improvement over the
day. Peter, who runs the campground, provides free camping or a bunk in the games room for TA hikers,
which was a lovely surprise. He also provided 4 strawberries (delicious), advice on tomorrow’s river
crossing and a recommendation that the boat club down the road has a decent bar. Curiously, after
visiting the boat club, all of the annoying road walking doesn’t seem quite so bad. Funny that…
