Day 36: The Hell River and the Non-Existent Campsite
November 15, 2019
Kilometers: 870.6-890.9
Te Kuiti Airbnb to Sam and Laura’s campsite
Ok seriously, who advertises that they have a hot tub when they don’t? We’ve hiked 870 kilometers and just wanted a hot tub sesh with a beer. In an effort to recoup some of the money we paid for the Airbnb I began the day arguing with the owner about their false advertisement. He tried to say that they call bath tubs hot tubs sometimes. I called bs. My textbook McMillen mini temper tantrum got us a $60 partial refund (Cha-Ching).
From the Airbnb we set off for the laundromat to dry our clothes that we couldn’t dry at the Airbnb. The clothes dried quickly and we repacked our bags. We then walked to the New World grocery store a block away. We spent awhile shopping for the next five days. Ethan and I spent a good amount of time figuring out a way to get enough calories in our dinners while also completely avoiding salami. We also bought a chicken, a side of Mac n cheese each and a pastry for an early lunch.
As we sat outside the grocery store eating and packing our food, looking like a bunch of hobos, we met Matthew Gordon. Matt is a TA hiker that started a bit before us and who we’ve been following through his blog. We were happy to finally meet him in person. He had the same campsite in mind for the night so we all set off from the grocery store together.
A quick stop at Super Liquor for a plastic flask of Jim Beam and we were off. However, Peter’s camelback exploded and drenched his whole bag as we were headed out of town. Peter and Charlie decided it was best to head back to the laundromat and that they would catch up to us later. Ethan, Matt and I began the days walk at about 11:30. We only had about 23kms to go and seeing as it was mostly alongside a river figured it would be an easy day. That was a miscalculation.
The first few kilometers of the walk were quite nice. There was a clean cut trail that followed a quick flowing river. There were a few small climbs but they led to nice views. We crossed another suspension bridge and stopped for a break around 1:15pm.
With only 15km left in the day we were looking forward to an early arrival, baths and a relaxing afternoon. We quickly realized that those thoughts were somewhere off in fantasy land. The track began climbing alongside the river. It got very narrow and muddy and filled with thorny bushes.
In some places the track would give out beneath us. The earth on the outside edge of the trail would give way and leave us sliding. Other sections were filled with thorn bushes completely covering the trail, our legs and arms getting scratched. One area had a fallen tree on top of a stile/fence we had to cross.
We made incredibly slow time through the river track. The climbs and rough terrain took it out of us. On top of all this we were carrying the heaviest packs we’ve had all trip. Our packs weighed about 45lbs each, some of this weight due to the extravagant dinner we had, which I will get to in a bit.
In between the sections of insanity the river did provide us with some nice views. Yet, these were hard to fully appreciate.
As we got to a junction we finally turned away from the river. We began to climb up the side of a steep hill. The sun was low in the sky and it created a really cool view. I really enjoyed the climb because of this but Ethan called it his least favorite part of the day due to the height and possibility of tumbling hundreds of feet.
Eventually the trail turned into a farm path. With 7.5km to go and it already being 4:30 we were not super happy. The farm path, which looked easy at first, turned back into the a hellish river track for a few kms, posing all the same problems we had earlier in the day. With about 5kms left it finally turned into a gravel road. Ethan and I made good time over the last five kms arriving at the supposed campsite at 6:30.
However, the campsite was no where to be found. We searched for thirty minutes going up the road, down driveways and still had no luck. The Guthook map app had finally mislead us. We angrily turned around and headed back down the farm road to the last campsite three kms back. It was 7pm and we were backtracking, definitely not great for the morale.
As we backtracked we saw Peter, Charlie and Matt walking towards us. After explaining that the campsite was non-existent they joined us in our slog backwards to the closest campsite.
Luckily soon after that a man in a pick up truck cane driving down the road. He asked if we were okay and offered to drive us the last bit back to the campsite. We all jumped in the bed and he took us to the spot. He then offered to grab us all beers and returned five minutes later with one for each of us. The super tough day was finally over and had a pleasant ending.
Peter, Charlie, Ethan and I had decided earlier to all go in on dinner together tonight. Master head chef Charles Louis Laming got to work preparing the feast. We had a chicken curry with rice, onions, peppers, mango and coconut milk. Ethan called it the best camping meal he’s ever had. I will also be happy to shed all that extra weight from my pack for tomorrow’s walk.
Also, late in the days hike I noticed that both of my shoes had formed holes in the mesh top front part. I knew this was going to happen eventually but wished they would have held together a bit longer. In an effort to repair them I will soon be breaking out the sewing kit. I have only really sewed one time in my life. When I was in third grade I had a school project on orcas. My mom had me sew together a stuffed orca for a diorama, kinda like a DIY beanie baby. That dumb whale was covered in red spots from me constantly pricking my fingers with the needle and bleeding onto it. Let’s hope my fine motor skills have improved since third grade.
Tomorrow we have about 38kms of all road walking starting with the 3kms Ethan and hiked the evening before. Hopefully the rain holds off.
-Alex