Bushcamp to Wanganui
22.6 miles
Mile 845.9
It was a chilly night atop the volcano at over 6000 ft. in elevation. I was on the move by 5:30 AM, since I didn’t want to be camped out when the droves of tourists reached the top for sunrise.
I was glad I’d gotten such an early start, not even 15 minutes after leaving camp I began passing people on their way up.
The remainder of my trek down was hindered by a never ending line of hikers heading up, I felt like a fish swimming upstream.
Eventually I reached a junction that led me away from the main trail, and back into solitude.
A couple hours later I passed through the village of Whakapapa before joining the Whakapapaiti Track.
After a brief jaunt through the forest, the trail opened up revealing the snow spotted volcano lurking behind the clouds.
A couple hours later I reached a paved road, which I walked to the town of National Park.
From here my original plan was to canoe the Wanganui River to Wanganui, but I couldn’t make the last minute DOC campground bookings, so my only options were to walk the 76 miles of highway, or hitch hike…I choose the latter. It’s a bummer missing the Wanganui River section, but it is what it is.
Within minutes I scored a hitch with a pleasant Kiwi couple who were also heading to Wanganui. The drive took about two hours, during which I got the low down on New Zealand politics, religion, culture and history.
It was late by the time I’d made it to town, so I found myself a motel and called it a day.
Cheers!
Wow, you’re really getting close to the South Island, more hikers, more wilderness, less cities, great things to look forward to! Thanks for taking the time to blog and upload photos, they’re amazing.
Thanks Dee!