Days 34-37 | km 871-1033 | The Timber Trail

On top of Pureora Peak…literally

I’ll come back to the beautiful Timber Trail in a jiffy. What I didn’t mention in my last blog (and I didn’t mention much to be honest - so be prepared this might be a long’un) was that yet again the postman had left me in the lurch. It didn’t take long to see the postman was actually my knight in shining armour. I was cream cracked from blitzing 46km the day prior from Pirongia Forest Park through Waitomo forest and into the back of Te Kuiti, with the last few km of energy sucking steep terrain with ankle breaking dried hoof prints, a far cry from the mud of Pirongia! So, although my body actually felt great my brain I had left somewhere in Waitomo Caves…. in addition the forecast said there’d be 23mm of rain to fall right when I’d be tackling another muddy forest. It was decided, a Coffee and cake day.

One thing I feel my journey has taught me so far is to be more flexible. It’s great to have a plan but also to have a plan B and C and not be phased if said plan A, B or C can’t be implemented; staying calm, not cursing the universe and just reassessing my options has definitely been refined. So when Mr Postie didn’t turn up for a second day I figured I’m going it alone! I’d run without my pack (which would be glorious anyway) and then hitch a ride back.

If your wondering what the goon is up to above, I think unleashing a new top speed, plus mud, plus a track as narrow as a elf’s footprint meant after I leapt a giant mud patch my foot slipped on landing and I shot off the side of the track with my body and legs dangling off the side and hands grabbing for anything to save me slipping further. Seeing as I had my phone stuck down my top I wasn’t going to miss a photo opportunity of me being a goon…thank goodness the grass held with my other hand, it would have been a long slide down to a river dip if not!

Finally my delivery arrived and with one hitch later I was back on track to start the Timber Trail! A side hike up Mt Pureora couldn’t be missed….

From its peak you can see Lake Taupo, Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu and Mt Taranaki - a skyline of Volcanoes. Bog Inn hut was the first nights stop off, damp, cold and very old I happily let the 2 couples (Brit’s and Texan’s) I’d been hiking with that day share the 4 bed hut whilst I found my sunny camp spot. I’d not done much running that day due to my stupidly heavy pack (check the Pack V’s Nat video below) so it was nice to have friendly trail chats.

Finding my flow early on I knocked off 50km that day. It may of helped I’d tried to eat my way through my pack the day before to reduce weight. That bar of Whittaker’s chocolate did not last to the end of the Timber Trail I can assure you!

I met an elderly couple early that morning bombing along on a quad bike to spray weeds, as you do. They told me there was no water at my planned camp spot. Keeping that in mind I planned to fill up from a stream prior to it. When you have water you pass all the accessible streams, when you have none and it’s 2pm and your then gagging for water there is none! Well in fact there was plenty…just at the bottom of giant gorges requiring swing bridges to cross…totally inaccessible! Finally I found a stream, refilled with 3ltrs of water to last me that night and morning (yes that’s 3kgs…) and scratched a message in the dirt of the track- ‘Brit’s and Texans no H2O at camp #10’ just in case they hadn’t met the quad bikers with the intel. Running once again became pretty hard after that, I sense there’s a tipping point with the weight of my pack between running comfortably and then impossibly; I really don’t care to know that weight! It was such a nice evening I just kept on trucking… I only met one other person that day, a cyclist who said ‘Your a long way from nowhere’. My reply, ‘ that’s exactly where I want to be’.

The view from my wild camp spot. Perfect.

Next morning I hit my true 1000km mark. I took a few minutes to reflect on some of those Km’s - I felt so grateful I can have such an incredible adventure, how can I be the same person now as when I started over a month ago? Where will I be and how will I feel in 2 more months? Likely I imagine with even bigger calves and more bean pole like arms, but I’m feeling stronger than I ever have both mentally and physically so bring it on.

1000km completed of the Te Araroa trail!

The Timber Trail was stunning, varied terrain and interesting facts along the way. One story I remember reading was called ‘Stumped Bro’ - 2 brothers and their cousin living in a tiny hut splitting totara wood for fence posts. One day the cousin brought home his new wife, the 2 brothers were promptly demoted to live in a giant old totara tree stump they had been using as their storage shed!

Stumped Bro’!

The 84km Timber Trail was created from old logging tramways dating back to 1903. It’s generally used as a cycle way but that makes for great running terrain. Near the end there’s a spiral rail track - there’s only 81 of its kind in the world! Over the years the river has been redirect 4 times if I remember correctly, quite the igneous piece of engineering. See the pics below if your keen to know more..

The final stretch from The Timber Trail into Taumarunui was 26km of gravel road and tar-seal. I needed a second coffee before tackling that. As I was making my brew I waved goodbye to two German backpackers as they headed off down the road. 20minutes later I flew by them, yelling coffeeee, then again yelling the same thing 10mins later having taken a wrong turn. They totally thought a was an utter caffeine fuelled loon! By the time I neared Taumarunui, the wind had died, it was 30°C and a thunder storm was on the horizon. My head felt like it was going to explode. All I was dreaming about was the frozen food isle in the New World grocery store that I was heading straight for!

Looking like a total bogan, sweaty and depleted, chilling next to the New World Street sign with my shopping whilst I waited for a lift to the campsite in Taumarunui. Classy.