Day 50-61 | Km 1363-1695 | The Tararua Ranges - Wellington
With lots of flat road sections between Whanganui and Palmerston North I thought I’d be up & running and knocking back the Km’s in no time. Unfortunately not. Firstly I felt very wonky following five days paddling hard out in a canoe, my hip flexors, hamstrings, calves… you name it, they were tight. Secondly my shoes were trashed. If a client appeared in my clinic room with shoes looking as worn and sorry for themselves as mine I would have given them a very informative talking too about the impact of tread wear patterns on your entire body. In fact, an article I wrote last year was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, specifically about this exact topic, yet still I ignored my own professional advice and put my feet through another 200km in them! To be fair on myself though, I had ordered a new pair of Joe Nimble trail shoes at Christmas but unfortunately as the Australian stockists Bprimal were out of my size they were being shipped from the European HQ via my mum. Postage just took a little too long before I headed back on the trail. The result? Road running became painful, yet power hiking on uneven terrain was a dream. The Tararuas was where I really found my feet again.
But first, rewind to Koitiata. Yet another estuary crossing was required at low tide…packs above our heads and pants on show we waded through the water a little too early. It was dinner time and hungry hikers don’t wait for low water lines!
Palmerston North I met Roel, a dutch guy who I quickly came to believe was Jamie’s brother from another mother. He had a bag of skittles literally the size of my pack. With his straight talking Dutch-ness we quickly became great hiking buddies pushing each other with speed and grace as we hot footed the Tararuas. Theres no way we could actually run them; the terrain was rooty and muddy and loosing concentration for even a second meant loosing a footing in an instant. We felt focused and strong, joking we were the Te Araroa special forces for how fast we managed to navigate the tricky terrain. Not that beating suggested timings between huts is in any way a competitive sport… but we were quick. We loved the challenge we had set, we worked hard, enjoyed the views and had an absolute blast! My most favourite day on the north island.
Climbing out of a stream I’m looking down at there floor, as I emerge I find myself head to head with a dog that had randomly appeared out of the bushes…getting a good fright I leap back and fall down a hole. With the weight of my pack being in the hole I cant easily pull myself back so floundering in the bush it took a good 5 minutes to get myself back up and recover from the laughing fit, I looked ridiculous!
I think everyone felt more than a little fatigued coming out of the ranges. Luckily the trail headed west out to the beaches north of Wellington where we took half a days rest to enjoy the sand between our toes and the salty water to wash away the dirt. Now having eaten through the contents of my pack I found returning to running actually much less painful for my foot than walking. I trotted into Porirua still feeling far from fairy like. However, all my woes were lost when greeted in a park by some of the lovely girls I’d met at the start of the Tararuas, I was handed a beer and relished in the joy of drinking on a park bench with my new trail family…pure & happy hiker trash right there! Apologies for the photo blur, that maybe shows how a few of them felt getting up to hike the next morning!
That night around 1140pm I woke with a start thinking a hundred feet had just stomped by my tent, rumbling the ground beneath me. Only later did I find out that it was an 5.4 magnitude earthquake that had woken me, the epicentre being not far from where I had camped the night prior near Paraparaumu. Apparently it has since been reported as the most felt earthquake in NZ. Feeling a little zombified the next morning from poor sleep, Roel and I finally made it up Khandallah hill into Wellington. I felt so fatigued I wanted to simultaneously scream and cry at the wind…
I said my goodbyes to Roel and flopped into the kitchen of our good friends Amie and Dan in Ngaio. One caffeine kick later and a bunch of baby cuddles I feel reenergised to get myself back out on the trail to finish off the north island, possibly forgetting how hilly Wellington is! I left my pack at their house and ran with my shopping bag - hiker trash part deus. Finally made it over Mt Victoria only to then run off Mt Albert on the wrong side. Now only 3km from the end I couldn’t face adding an extra two, it was 7pm and the rain clouds were rolling in so i caught an Uber to get myself back on track! Funny, you can travel 1695km on foot but the thought of adding 2 more unnecessary km felt totally out of the question. I finished the North Island exhausted with sore feet but feeling as proud as a pea for accomplishing the first half of my adventure.
Now home to Marlborough Sounds to organise resupplies and head into the real mountain ranges of New Zealand!
1695km to Island Bay from Cape Reinga Marks the end of the North’s island.