Back in November, when I hiked through Northland while on Te Araroa, I had to skip the stretch between Ruakaka and Mangawhai. I attended a conference then and needed to return to Auckland for a few days. As we knew it would be much easier for me to return north and hike the section during a long weekend, my partner John continued hiking. Well, it took almost a year to go back and close the section, as it turned out a little harder to actually make the time to hike it. Also, I wanted to have considerably good weather (I had to postpone once as heavy rain and high winds were forecasted for the few days I was planning on going back to hike.)
Eventually, I took an Intercity Bus to Ruakaka on a sunny and warm spring day and returned to Te Araroa. Walking from the gas station serving as the bus stop back to the trail was rather uneventful, but arriving back at Te Araroa was terrific! In this section, the trail follows the beach at Bream Bay for about 13 km. I could not stop marveling over the turquoise waters of the Pacific, the rugged rocks and hills of Bream Head to the north, and the almost perfect white beach towards the south. Dark clouds in the distance added an absorbing layer of dark colors to the scenery, making it even more dramatic. It was great to be back, and I could not believe that at some point last year, we started taking the beauty of Northland almost for granted as we experienced it every single day. Halfway along, a couple strolling along the beach approached me. They were curious about the trail people with backpacks seemed to follow along the beach. It turns outthat they immigrated from Germany to New Zealand over ten years ago and settled in Tauranga. They were on vacation in Ruakaka and even knew the book „The Pants of Perspective „in which Anna McNuff describes her epic run along TA. After several minutes of engaged conversation, I continued along the beach and towards Waipu. Once I left Bream Bay, I followed windy backcountry roads to Waipu, Waipu Cove, and then up into the hills above Waipu Cove. I really enjoyed the gradual uphill for several kilometers. My legs almost rolled uphill, and I felt fit and strong. It was so good to be back on the trail! Eventually, the tarmac road ended, and the Cullen Brynderwyn Walkway began.
Suddenly, I was reminded why I had miserable days on Te Araroa: once hitting a forest, the trails get muddy and occasionally quite slippery. But it didn’t last long because I arrived at Waorahi Campsite halfway into the walkway. This campsite was installed in 2023 by the Wairahi Tracks Charitable Trust and makes a very convenient stop after 27 km out of Ruakaka. They built a shelter in an open space up on a hill and installed a water tank and a long drop for TA hikers. I arrived at 6.30ish pm. The place was full of tents, and about 15 hikers were already hanging out in or around the shelter. All were notably surprised to see yet another hiker they never met before. They asked some questions, but I quickly got the notion that they’d rather stick to themselves, and I could tell there were two or three separate „trail families „(people who met on the trail and decided to hike together as they liked each other) present.
During the last few years, the concept of „trail families „became crucial for many hikers on busy long-distance hikes, and many expect to find one for various reasons early into their hike. As fun and assuring trail families (or „tramilies“) can be, at least from my perspective, hiking a long trail is a very individual decision, and committing to hike in a group can be limiting and excluding others. Especially on Te Araroa, I started to experience a certain refusal toward other hikers from different groups. Groups seem to be defined by the starting date at Cape Reinga. I can only guess that it might have to do with the inexperience of hikers on that specific trail, leading to anxieties and worries about having to hike the trail actually by themselves. I came across an interesting article about the topic recently, and it is an experience other experienced hikers also have. https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/unpopular-opinion-why-your-trail-family-sucks/
Anyway, after having dinner, I withdrew into my tent and enjoyed reading the book I had brought (what a luxury to bring a book on the trail!). It also helped to have brought earplugs along. As the second day would be a relatively short and easy hike to Mangawhai, I did not hurry in the morning, so I fell asleep again after the first hikers left just before 7 am. Eventually, I left camp sometime between 9 and 10 am. The sun was out, and only two other German walkers left in the camp. I went further down Cullen Brynderwyn Walkway and stopped many times to enjoy the fantastic views over the ocean and the forest. Suddenly, one of the German hikers appeared and we ended up hiking together for the next several hours. It was nice to hear some of this year’s gossip on the trail, listen to their experiences, and share some of my perspectives on TA. Interestingly, people started to split up hiking the 18 km through the notorious Raetea Forest into two days. Most of last year’s hikers did the whole forest in one prolonged day to avoid camping in the mud in the middle of the bush.
After leaving the forest, the trail wound its way over some hills and farmland. Suddenly, a farmer yelled, Good Morning! and asked us whether we were enjoying the trail. Last year, John had a conversation with a farmer at precisely that point, too, and it was probably the same person! Rolling farmland eased into the well-maintained Mangawhai Cliffs Walkway. Steep up on the cliffs, the trail offered spectacular views of Kaipara Harbour and Mangawhai Heads. I, again, stopped for many pictures. Eventually, the trail dropped down towards the beach and turned inland towards the town at Mangawhai Heads. To my surprise, this turned out to be quite a touristy place, and many construction sites indicate a prosperous area. Clearly, Auckland is not that far away.
After having coffee and cake at a mall in the town center, the trail followed the road for a bit longer and turned into an interesting boardwalk through mangroves. It was time to decide where I wanted to stay overnight. Initially, I planned on pitching my tent in the Holiday Park in Mangawhai, but I spontaneously decided I wanted a proper shower and soft bed for the night. So, I booked a private room with Philip and his wife in the suburbs of Mangahwai. As the couple was not at home most of the time, I had the place all to myself.
My bus back to Auckland was scheduled at 10:15 am from Kaiwaka the next day. This is a roadside town on State Highway 1 and is about 15 km far from Mangawhai. I planned to hitchhike there, and as I knew that the road between both towns was relatively sparsely used, I had already left my accommodation at 7:00 in the morning. After visibly placing myself at the town exit, I realized all cars turned towards Warkworth. It is Saturday morning, and Warkworth has a huge farmers market. Oh my, the very minute I thought that catching a ride here towards Kaiwaka would be challenging, to say the least, a car stopped. An elderly lady offered to take me at least halfway to my destination. I was happily throwing my backpack on her backseat. As soon as I took place in her passenger seat, she laughed and said she had never given some stranger a ride, but as I am a woman all by myself, she said she wanted „to risk „it. Soon, the property she wanted to visit appeared, and I got out of her car. Only about 6 km remaining to Kaiwaka. Quickly calculating my chances of yet another ride on that narrow, windy road with no traffic, I started walking towards my destination. I made it to Kaiwaka with enough time at hand to have coffee and breakfast at Eutopia Cafe, with its round and colorful architecture, clearly inspired by the art of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (quite an interesting artist, who conducted art and architecture projects all over the world, and also in Whangarei, in Aotearoa’s Northland, which is on hour north of Kaiwaka). Some yummy egg on toast and a huge flat white later, I found myself in a seat on the Intercity Bus, and when I was getting ready to get comfortable, the bus stopped, and the bus driver announced a problem with the engine. A couple of calls later, after restarting the computer system of the bus several times (and some typical chill Kiwi jokes later), we slowly made our way south towards Auckland.
I am thrilled I eventually found the time to hike this section of Te Araroa, which I missed last year. I felt like a visitor to the trail rather than like a thru-hiker. I am one, but not this year. Weirdly, this freed me from ongoing vague social pressure on a busy trail such as TA. I hiked my own hike; I enjoyed it to the fullest and had a fantastic time out on the trail in a country I call home for now.
Ruakaka – Waohari Campsite
31/20/2024, time: 6:52, distance: 32.71 km, elevation gain: 565 m
Waohari Campsite – Mangawhai
01/11/2024, time: 4:25, distance: 18.92 km, elevation gain: 405 m
