From Camp spot neat freehold creek to Camp spot 1km from Birchwood road
Hiking time: 08:50a.m.-07:20p.m.
Daily/Total distance: 25km /804.5km (230.5 hitched/skipped, 84 biked)
Steps: 38623
Weather: cloudy then fine

I got up at 7:30am this morning. I didn’t feel like getting up before it started to get light outside my tent. The others all pretty much did the same. I got finished quite slowly. Preparing my breakfast and lunch of wraps with Nutella, peanut butter and salted crisps before starting to pack my bag.

My tent had stayed completely dry camping writhing the trees. I like that, this way I only had to dry out the footprint before I could pack it away as well. By 8:50am I was off, before the Dutch couple and the American girl.

Immediately upon setting foot on the track two older kiwi guys came up the track. I started talking to them as we were continuing on. They are leap frothing sections of the trail, having a car parked at both ends of the car park. I stayed with them while the track was still level, though as soon as the uphill started I started to fall further and further behind. I just have a slow speed going uphill.

After nearly an hour came a boulderfield to cross. Here I caught up with the two guys as they were having a short break. They both told me, that compared to me, they were pretty much just carrying day packs with them, so they had less weight to slow them down. Though both are still carrying a tent, sleeping bag and mattress, saying that they are old and need to have these things with them in case they don’t make it towards they destination.

Then we continued on. Though as it was going uphill again they soon left me behind them. We had now reached the bushline and were moving into tussock. This is more the terrain that I enjoy, even if it is hard. The track was not too clearly marked and we had to look for the actual track others had walked a couple of times, all the while moving further up. At some point there were markers in different directions, even though there isn’t another trail crossing here.

Then we had to climb further up through the grass. It felt like it went on forever. Every time I saw a pole up high and though this would be the saddle, we saw the track going further uphill once we reached the pole.

Just after noon we reached the Saddle. The sun was now also peaking out and trying to burn us alive. It was very warm. We had a break together up there before starting the track down into the valley to follow along the river.

The track first went along a scree slope before continuing further down into the valley.

At this point the other from my campspot the night before had all overtaken us. They are faster than I am. Upon reaching the river, we had to cross it a few times, though I managed to keep my feet dry throughout. Today is the first day that I’m wearing my camp socks for hiking, and I want to keep these socks nice and clean for as long as possible;)

After quite some time, the track diverged away from the river and upon a mostly flat area, though there were some ascents and descents, they weren’t as high as anything before. The track turned quite monoton at this point, mostly in a straight trajectory through the fields.

We then came upon a fence from which the track ventured further up a hillside. There was a DOC worker there, and he told us we should instead follow the fence, as this would be nicer to walk as it is flat and he has just cut away the grass from the fence. The track joins up with the fence at a later stage anyways. So we followed the nice and clear track along the fence.

Then the track went onto a very big mostly open plain, still following the fence line. We followed that fence for a couple of kms. The wind was quite strong here in the open and at times come from the opposing direction, slowing me down. Here I could also see other workers working on the fence. They seem to be renewing the barb wire.

After about 3km of this straight line, we came upon the Ahuriri River. We were up high on a cliff next to the river and could see its dimension. This is a river that has seen a fair share of trampers turning back and walking a 10k detour over a bridge. From our vantage point up high I could see why.

We three went down the cliff towards the river to find a good spot to cross. It was good that we all took similar breaks and had a more or less similar speed, as we were now able to do the crossing using the mutual support method. I might have been able to cross the river alone but it is better to be safe than sorry. So we linked up and grabbed onto each other’s packs. I was in the middle. Then we started to cross. We always had only one of us moving at a time, so that the other two would be a stable support while one person is trying to find a good place to put their foot. It took some time for us the get across, with the water reaching up to mid thigh, but we managed without any problems, even though the water was quite strong in places.

On the other side of the river we got sorted again, getting our packed away poles back out and continuing on. We had to find an alternative track up this Cliffside, as the part where the markers are is eroded and very steep, bot something I would go up. Luckily there was a more gradual track towards the right, though this meant a small detour.

Up on the cliff we walked along the cliffs edge until coming upon another fence, similar to the one on the other side, which we followed for another km before reaching the road.

We reached the Carpark at 6pm. The guys got some cold drinks out while we chatted some more. Then I set off to go and find a camp spot for the night.

The track now continued as a gravel road through a sheep paddock. Though the sheep were all far away from me. They would have run upon hearing me anyways…

At 7:15pm I ca me upon the others from the previous night. The guy told me there was a really great camp spot further away, or I could camp next to them. Somehow I got the feeling they would rather not have me there’s so I went on to find this great spot. I found it about 200m further and set about filtering water and pitching my tent.

Then I went about to prepare my now customary dinner of a ramen bomb. Two minute noodles with 2 slices of cheese and mashed potatoes. Very nice and very filling. While I let the noodles soak I went about preparing my snacks for the next day while eating some potatoe crisps.

After dinner I packed everything away securely from rodents and went about my nightly routine of teeth brushing and going for a wee. Then I was in my tent and ready for sleep at 10pm.