Day 45: Tiora Shearers Station to Weraroa Track

Distance Covered: 38 km

Wow, it can get cold here in the summer. We were cuddling to stay warm and tossed and turned trying to find the warmest position. The windows were open and we could have closed them, but it wasn’t our place so there was hesitation to change things that may be for a reason. We wanted to get up early anyway as to not overstay our welcome so the cold was extra motivation. We were out the door pretty close to 7 AM.

And then that road walk we delayed from last night greeted us bright and early. It ended up being just about 14 km including all of the back roads. Fortunately, because we could charge in the dorm last night, we had power enough to listen to podcasts. What a difference that makes mentally. And it was early enough that there wasn’t too much traffic on the highway. In the distance, we could see the peak we would climb and descend today.

The trail at the end of all the road walking is actually a cycle way that can also be hiked. We took out our gear to air it out at the sunny carpark, ate a second breakfast, and filled up on water. An hour later, we were off.

So the track started off like we were in some sort of hikers dream. Wide, well graded, highly maintained, irrigated to prevent mud, and signed frequently with interesting insights into the local fauna or history of the region. Also, even though we were climbing, the trail was kept to a minimum angle so that cyclists of all ages could get up it. It was unbelievable. Like, a transcendent hiking experience.

Usually, tracks we do start out awesome. Maybe some stairs or perhaps a boardwalk. But that’s only the first 500 meters or so… kind of like training wheels or a warm up before the real trail starts. We kept expecting that here too. It went to 1 km and then 2 and then 3… we thought that they should make the Te Araroa a cycle way if it meant this level of awesome. Even 11 km in, the track maintained its high level of excellence. We were dumbfounded and elated at the same time. Like some sort of Pavlovian experiment subject, we were almost afraid to enjoy it too much since that would mean it would end.

At 11 km, it kept going while the Te Araroa split off to climb the 1,000 meter Mt. Pureora peak. As we were already quite a bit up the peak this was just a couple of km up and then down. The track up was decent with just a little mud. The track down was much worse. The peak was worth it all, though, with some of the best views of the entire adventure. Way off in the distance was Mt. Doom hiding behind some clouds. Lake Taupo was there too and many other interesting things as well. It was cold and windy at the top so we stayed as long as the residual heat from our climb let us. You can just see Mt. Doom hiding in the clouds on the right on the picture below.

Off the peak and back on the cycle way, we cruised along for another few km. What a great trail. And then we split off again for the last time to follow a trail up to a ridge. We were reluctant to leave because we already knew what to expect… muddy, overgrown forest that you slog through for hours as you scramble up and down without views. In this we were not disappointed. It had its charms, though.

At about 5 PM, we reached a turnoff for a hut. It felt a little too early to call it a day, so we opted to push forward. An hour later we cooked dinner and considered our options. The first was to camp at the next available flat spot. The second was to push over another 1,000 meter peak and then down to an established camp about 5 km away. We decided to start and see how we felt.
About 1 km down the trail, we found something that helped decide for us: a fellow hiker’s packaged tent, sitting neatly in its bag in the middle of the trail. He was nowhere to be seen. Hmm…

We knew that he had a habit of running on the trail sometimes. We figured he must have been jogging and somehow shaken his tent loose and not felt it or heard it. We imagined how his face would contort when he got to camp and realized he didn’t have a tent. Yikes. None of the scenarios we played out in our mind ended with him smiling.

So we knew we had to push to the campsite. It was unlikely he would be there… the most probable scenario is he would realize he was in trouble and not able to know if we would find the tent or make it that far. He would probably make a mad dash for a hut 8 km down the trail, even though it would be dark before he got there. We felt we had to try, though.

So off we went, picking up our pace to beat the dark ourselves. We worked our way up to the tall peak and were only mildly surprised to find that there were no views because the vegetation was so thick (the trail is frequently pulling this trick) and then worked our way down. The last km was rugged and the dark made it challenging. Fortunately, the relatively dry day today meant the dark, loamy mud had a chance to dry a little bit. In many places, it was like walking through pits of squishy Playdoh. Like what you would make mud pies out of.

About 10 minutes after the last light of dusk faded, we showed up in the spot. (Side story: this awesome campsite was not in the notes at all, but in an app you can buy from an unaffiliated company. The Te Araroa could make money by having a similar app with useful information.)
  
As expected, the hiker had moved on. We hoped he made it to the hut safely. We will try to get him his tent tent tomorrow. It seems probable he will hang out, hoping someone comes by with it. 

For ourselves, it is now Tuesday. Our big day today helps us out quite a bit for getting to town on time. Hopefully tomorrow is a good day and we can cruise.