Holed Up In Karikari Peninsula As Storm Blows Through

On Friday 7th March I caught a bus back to Kerikeri. Bob picked me up from the bus stop and I spent another pleasant stay with him and Helen. Next day I walked on roads towards Matauri Bay. Jan a rural postie took my pack 3km and I collected it from the local gas station, where I was given oranges. After 25km I then hitched to Matauri Bay and booked into the camp. Next morning I hitched back and walked the remaining 17km back to camp. In the afternoon I visited the Rainbow Warrior memorial above the camp. The ship is now a dive wreck, not far off the coast.

Rainbow Warrior memorial Matauri Bay

After a 2nd night of poor sleep in my tent, I left Matauri Bay and headed for Whangaroa 25km away, all on roads. There were some spectacular views looking back down on Matauri Bay. At Wainui Bay I met Sailor walking on the road. We walked together for a couple of kms.  He's in his twenties and as we walked he told me about his life. He has 7 brothers and sisters, although his father has 15 children!  I had my big pack and Sailor wasn't carrying anything but I found I easily outpaced him up the hills and had to keep slowing down. Later a van stopped to offer me a ride and agreed to take my pack the final 7km to the camp.  Once at the camp I booked into a cabin and finally got a good nights sleep, despite the dozens of mosquito's in the room .

Next day I called in at a Farm Hostel after 12kkm but it was full. I managed 22km on SH10 towards Mangonui when a couple of Brazilian tourists did a u turn to offer me a ride.  I booked into a small backpackers room at the Mangonui Hotel. I was disappointed with the pub meal that night as the steak was full of gristle. Two things made me smile. One of the toilets at the pub was out of order and the sign said "Sorry for any inconvenience". The local shop had a bin of dated stock, one of the items was a box of condoms!

It took 30 minutes next morning to get a ride back to where I'd been picked up the day before and I walked the 12km back to the pub and collected my pack. The local information centre had advised me that there is a backpackers at Cable Bay. I walked 5km via roads and Coopers Beach to Cable Bay only to discover there are lots of B&B's but no backpackers. Jane, the local shopkeeper, was heading to Kaitia and gave me a ride to The Rockhouse Backpackers on Karikari Peninisular. Tonight will be my 5th night here.

This is quite a small establishment with just 6 backpackers beds. I have a large room with a small kitchen, an en-suite shower and toilet, for $30 a night. On Thursday I hitched back to Cable Bay and walked back here where I had lunch and then headed for Tokerau Beach via a rough track. I took a wrong turning and ended up crashing through gorse, scrub and an overgrown dry lake bed. Once on the beach I realized that I'd lost my bandana in the scrub. It was the 3rd one I'd lost so far and had been with me since Wellington. Once on the beach I removed my boots and walked for 9km down the sandy beach. Years ago this used to be the only way in and was used as a road. There is a 30km hour speed limit on the beach but twice I was passed by cars doing what seemed like 100km. At the end of the beach I walked to Matai Bay Rd and, after having takeaways for dinner, hitched back here having walked 24km for the day.

Friday was a big day of 34km. Initially it was going to be a day off but as a large storm was forecast for Saturday and Sunday I decided to take those days off instead. I easily got a ride back to my start point and walked towards Matai Bay. A track leads down to Karikari Beach and I walked the entire 6km  of beautiful sandy beach without seeing anyone. In fact I spoke to nobody all day.  I followed cattle tracks around the rocky headland between  Karikari Beach and Puwheke Beach. Another 3km of beach brought me to a vehicle track, 6km of roads then 7km of rough vehicle track and finally 4km of road. It had been threatening to rain all day and there had been a few short showers. Once I reached the main road and tried to hitch the rain started in earnest, so I phoned Ian the owner of the backpackers and he kindly picked me up.

Karikari Beach

Yesterday it was baked bean weather, wet and windy, as Cyclone Lusi made its way south. There has been no major damage here but further south there has been flooding and power cuts.

I'm still on track to make the final 156 km's to Cape Reinga on Thursday 27th March at 12 noon.

About a dozen or so family and friends have said they will be there to greet me and I'm really looking forward to that.