Mercer to Bushcamp
30.2 miles
Mile 451.1
It rained throughout the night, but by the time I crawled from my tent only clouds remained.
From Mercer, I headed across the freeway to join a pretty horrible farm track that led through wet tall grass and marshy fields.
The track ended on a dirt road that I took down to the Highway 1, where I walked for a few miles before joining a river track.
The trail ran adjacent the river through farmlands and reserves.
While crossing over one of the many stiles along this track I shocked the snot out of myself when my leg brushed up against the electrified fence. I’d been wondering if these fences actually carried a current…I can now confirm that they do indeed.
Cattle, dense vegetation and a pitted trail made the going slow, but it was scenic and away from the roads, so no complaints here.
When the river track ended I joined a paved road that I walked for about 5 miles before crossing the Waikato on a bridge.
Next came another 10 miles of road walking…
When I reached the town of Huntly, I made a quick pit stop at Subway. For some reason I’d been craving a sub for the past few days, so I was super pumped to satisfy the craving.
From Huntly I continued on down paved roads for 3 miles more until reaching the Hakarimata Walkway.
This well maintained trail led straight up into the hills through Kauri groves.
I passed a couple epic lookout points that offered sweeping views of the river and lands below.
Finally I found a perfect place to camp for the evening at one of the lookout points. There was just enough room to pitch my tent, along with a bench and an awesome view.
Once I’d finished setting up camp I treated myself to the sub I’d packed out from town. It was absolutely delicious.
Cheers!
Wow, some great views, nice to be at elevation with overlooks. So much water and moisture, hope it’s not too swampy, it makes everything so green 🙂
Just the right amount of swampy!