Day 25: The Dome Carpark to Puhoi

Distance Covered: 27 km

Last night was terrible! That little park/pullout by the highway was visited by teenagers, cars, semis… all the things. Until about midnight, every five to ten minutes someone pulled in, shining their headlights in the tent and opening or closing doors, talking, etc… The teenagers were giddy and laughing about “Don’t let the people in the tent see what you’re doing!” for thirty minutes or more. It did finally settle down, although semis still charged up the hill so lots of loudness. Neither of us slept well, tossing and turning after being woken up yet again. Lesson learned! (But on the other hand, there weren't a lot of options.)

We did get a great breakfast at 7 AM, though! The cafe opened at 7 AM and we were there bright and early. We very much enjoyed the French Toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, juice, and more. It’s great to feel full before a day of hiking.

They asked how we slept (they drove by our tent) and when I said, “it was rough” they kind of smirked. Apparently, many others have camped there and had a similar experience. This is one of the growing pains of the trail… the trail links smaller, local trails via roads. Many times, especially as we’ve been getting closer to Auckland, the trails are really logging roads through private forests or 4×4 trails on private land. It’s extremely generous to allow us to walk on their land, but of course there’s no camping allowed for insurance reasons and such. When they dump us out into towns we run into city ordinances that prohibit camping. Sometimes there are camping parks you can pay for. These are between $10 and $30 per person per night (more expensive the closer we get to Auckland). In the US, the Appalachian Trail has free shelters on the trail spaced out at reasonable intervals. The Pacific Crest Trail has open camping just about everywhere. Those trails have been around much longer (this one started in 2011), so hopefully this trail will be able to do something similar. We knew about this before coming over so all of this is just explanation in case you’re interested in some of the “why” behind things.

Anyways, side story over. A great breakfast later, we headed across the street then up and up onto the first ridge for the day. There, we surprisingly ran into someone from our typical bubble of people. As we took a day off, we thought we weren’t going to see anyone. Apparently, us making it all the way to the cafe in one day was above average. That’s what resting a day can do for you!

Then it was down and down into the valley. This was a farming community and picturesquely tucked into low, green hills. We needed water and thought might find it there. Unfortunately, the water was all farming irrigation channels, which makes you wonder about pesticides and such. So we kept passing up streams.

We were wondering where the trail would go next. Emily pointed to the tallest peak on the next ridge and said she guessed there based on the trail’s past work. Checking the map, Emily was right! Ha!

We started up the next ridge when an elderly man in a truck pulled over and asked if we would like fresh water. Yup! He lived just up the road so we walked up there and he let us use his tap. Then he opened a wooden gate covered with ivy and flowers that lead back onto the trail. Magical. Then pasture walking and cow herding along the ridge.

This mini ridge lead into another secluded valley. There, we met a woman having her horses shoed. She invited us to watch. We chatted with her, her daughter, and the two shoers. There are nice people all over the place here. But sometimes we're not sure if the livestock will be as friendly.

Then it was time for the serious climb. And the serious heat. We carry umbrellas to help block both rain and sun. They can keep us 5 to 10 degrees cooler. Out they came. Even so, it was a trudge. Hot, humid, and little wind. We had to stop several times not because we were tired, but because we needed to cool down. It was the kind of effort that has you peeling your sweat-soaked clothes away from your skin.

We enjoyed lunch in the shade and hydrated. We reached the top a little while later. And then down the ridge again. (Sensing a pattern here?)

We popped out of the forest at a dirt road. As soon as we did, a man in an orange vest rushed at us urgently saying something in a thick Kiwi accent. It took a moment to understand that he wanted me to stand in the road and block traffic for him. His logging truck’s brakes locked and he was stuck in the center of the gravel road. He didn’t want people to come around the corner at speed and hit him. So I stood out there blocking traffic for 15 minutes or so wearing a backpack, yellow-rimmed sunglasses, a hat with draping sun cover, an ever unruly beard, and black biker gloves. I’m sure people slowed down just out of curiosity for the bizarre. The things you can get up to when you venture into the real world…

The trucker got his situation under control and thanked us for helping him. Good times. And then down the path we went to the Puhoi River Track. 

The river track was great! It started with a wire bridge and then followed a very well maintained path through deciduous forest, ferns, and palm. Cool, well graded, forested but not densely so you could see. Just top notch trail we warmly recommend to you. And then it leads you into Puhoi, a small community in its own small, green, river valley with a general store, a pub, and a park. 

We picked up a few delicious things at the store and sat outside enjoying them. An older couple from Holland struck up a conversation with us. They live here for 6 months and then there for 6 months. Never winter! They invited us to stay at their house and said they’d feed us and let us shower. What wonderland have we stumbled into? The only catch was they were about a km in the wrong direction away. Rats! It’s not that far unless you’ve already walked 27 of them. 

Next, a woman walking her dog stopped to talk with us. She said that, even though the sign on the park says “no camping” that we should anyways. Nobody cares and people camp there all the time. The store manager said the same thing. Alright then. So we got some fish and chips, then joined a few other hikers at the park. One small trip to the pub for an apple crumble dessert and then we crawled into the tent. 

What a crazy, random day.