There’s Kiwis on the road! It’d be awesome to see one for real on this trip at somepoint. We must see signs for them several times a day – you’d think you’d be tripping over them ;)
Turns out they’re actually nocturnal little fellas so we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled when we pop out the tent for a wee in the night ;)
Twin Bole Kauri
Another big’en. This was quite a magical spot hidden off the road – sun beaming through. Pretty awesome spot for an elevenses snack I’d say ? :)
Fairly uneventful road walk today, only thing worthy of note was that it was a pretty dry section, didn’t pass any water other than swampy stagnant stuff. Heard a stream just before the Kauri Grove and nailed it down the left hand side of the road to reach it, turned out to be further away (downwards) than it sounded!
Top Tip – It was bloody steep drop down to the stream, in retrospect if you need water here, walk 5-10 min past the grove. There’s an old landslide here that’s cleared what looked like a much easier way through the forest down to the stream.
The first Kauri Grove was a bit of a detour and the trees not really as impressive as others already seen. A bit further along the road though is a Twin Bole Kauri (signed from the road), this bad boy is huge, easy to get to and well worth a look.
There’s plenty of ridgeline tracks in the Coromandel marked on my Topo 50 maps, although I’m not sure if they are accessible to the public or overgrown and unpassable? Couldn’t find out any info online or from anyone we’ve spoken to, so have decided to stick to the roads.. We could walk all the way back to Coromandel town on gravel roads, but we’re running low on supplies (due to slow progress..) so are headed back to Colville, which has the northernmost store awaiting us.
After being roasting hot for days and so humid it felt like we were in scenes from The Deerhunter, suddenly, just as we decide to make a break from town the dark clouds decide to roll in. The mist descended on the mountains ahead as we got a lift back to the trail. It was starting to look a bit menacing ! … Was this a good idea?
Got a taxi ride out of town this morning to Maratoto Road, avoiding a bit of busy highway unpleasantness. Heading into gold mining country now, eyes are peeled for any leftover nuggets!
Lots of road walking today, and it’s hot hot hot! Absolutely knackered after such a long rest from walking. Who’s idea was this anyway? ;) Two layers of factor 30 and we still went pink! This sun is ferocious to walk in. The tarmac was literally melting onto our shoes. We left boot prints all the way to the next village! No exaggeration!
Yep, this road was as boring as it’s name suggests.. I asked a local why it was called ‘Line No. 2’, they answered “because there’s a line No. 1 & Line No. 3 Road”, fair enough. This is actually the first days walk with our proper packs on, for a couple of weeks now. Feeling a bit rusty, or is that just the chaffing..
Wehey we’re up high. Can actually see the sea in the distance. They bay that curves down to Wellington. The last city in the North Island for us… Not long till half way!
Didn’t get a photo of it, but Kahuterawa Road was the next leg our day along these quiet gravel roads.
