Day 7: Herekino Forest to Raetea Forest

Distance Covered: 21 km

Today was a tale of two adventures. The morning was more of the muddy, rooted out madness of a tramping track. The afternoon was a scenic hike along farming dirt roads. The experiences are so extreme relative to the other that it hardly feels as if they could both have happened in one day.

There ended up being quite a bit of rain last night. While cozy in bed it was peaceful, but it brought thoughts of the mud it was creating, which was the opposite of peaceful. We made it out at 8:15, a great time for us, and followed an old logging road. Although rutted and occasionally muddy, it seemed things were looking better than we could have hoped. Then it abruptly ended and the trail became even more crazy than the previous day. Wild, twisting paths with mud pits 20 meters long or more. Steep ascents and descents that forced inch-by-inch progress. Emily kept saying “Madness”. And now we know why they call it a tramping track and not a trail. It was built as the bare minimum and it’s up to you to figure out how to make it work safely.

Here is a picture of Emily after slipping a good couple of meters and ending up in a heap in a little hollow.

Four hours or so and 6.5 km later, we finally popped out on an old road. It was amazing. The open space, the dryness, the flatness… it made us lift our arms to spread out and smile.
From there we hiked 14 km or so of farming and logging roads in various states of repair. It was the New Zealand hiking experience you might imagine. Pastoral views of green, lush valleys with cattle, horses, and sheep. Babbling brooks and a mild, tropical weather day. Just fantastic, really. 

Along the way, we spent a good amount of time with our Cyprus friend. With the slippery, dangerous forest trail we partnered up to make sure we all made it out together. She was good company and it was fun to learn more about Cyprus and her travels around the world.

We wound our way around and up the contours of a couple of valleys before finally camping at the Raetea Forest trailhead. It definitely feels odd to us to walk around on the roads then just setup a tent anywhere we can find flat ground.