Day 116: Full Circle

February 3, 2020

Kilometers: 2897.0-2939.7

Martins Hut to Riverton Lodge Backpackers

Last night I was having some trouble falling asleep. At about 10pm I heard some mouse noises. I turned on my headlamp to see two huge rats crawling around in the rafters, climbing over where our clothes were drying and our food was hanging. This made it even harder to fall asleep. Fortunately, they didn’t ruin any of our stuff or eat any of our food. I hope I don’t contract the bubonic plague from staying there last night. 

It was raining when we woke up this morning at 6:40. We put our still wet clothes back on and started walking. We had 24kms left on the forest track. I got out in front of the guys and was moving quick through the forest. About 15 minutes into the walk everything and every part of me was soaked. 

Due to the weather I didn’t get many pics this morning. The trail was so muddy and so slippery. I had a few big tumbles but luckily they didn’t result in any injuries. With about six kms left on the forest track there was a bailout option that takes you out to a road and into Colac Bay. This cuts about 9kms off the trail. I didn’t think twice as I continued on the normal route, i’m not much of a path of least resistance guy. 

It took me five hours to get through the forest. Once I got to the parking lot I saw a sign with the distance to Bluff on it. The end was near. I ate the remainder of my craisins, peanuts and chocolate. I was soaked, cold and tired. However, I had did it. The last serious obstacle was over. From there it was beach and road walking to the finish. As I walked down the highway towards Colac Bay I couldn’t stop smiling as I jammed to my music.

I arrived at the Colac Bay tavern to find Team Belgium already there. They were over the whole miserable forest rain walk thing and took the shortcut. We all agreed that this was the second hardest/muddiest/miserable forest section after Ratea. Although it does sound like Charlie’s curse words per km rate was higher for this forest than Ratea. 

We had a beer and huge fried seafood baskets. The Super Bowl was on but the TV was playing cricket instead. I thought the whole world watched the Super Bowl? 

With 29kms already behind me for the day I threw on my wet rain jacket and we got back to it. We walked from the Tavern towards the ocean. Finally, we had arrived at the southern coast of New Zealand. The fog made it a bit underwhelming but we were all extremely happy.

We had 13kms left for the day. They were mostly on the beach. The rain held off as we traversed our way along the shoreline.

With a few kms left in the day we veered inland and climbed 200 meters to a lookout. The fog kinda ruined the lookout but we could see Riverton a few kms away. We headed down the hill into town. 

We got into the small town and went straight to the backpackers place we had arranged to stay at. It was a ten person bunk room but we were the only three there, just like a big private room. 

We dried our stuff and showered. Scrubbing all the mud off my legs took awhile. After that we ordered food from the takeaway place and bought a few things at the grocery. The guys think I look ridiculous when I have my full rain gear on. 

When we got back we did laundry and relaxed. It is so nice to be laying in a bed indoors with no rats around. 

Te Araroa starts with a beach walk on Ninety Mile beach and then goes into the Northland Forests, most notably Ratea forest. The trail ends with a similarly muddy forest and then a bunch of beach walking towards Bluff. I couldn’t help but think today how the trail has come full circle. As I walked through the rain forest today I thought back to those first days on the trail. The beach beat up my feet pretty badly and then the forest was a nightmare. But four months later I was faced with nearly identical obstacles and they were conquered easily. Twenty four kms in a forest like the one today followed by a 6km road walk at the beginning of the trail would have been more than a days work but today I finished it by lunch and then added on another 13kms. It’s awesome to seen how much my hiking has improved over the course of the trip. However, it is coming to end. We are only two days and 66kms from the finish line!