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Te Araroa – Day 16

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!

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