Waitomo to Bushcamp
29.4 miles
Mile 560.6
From the hostel I’d stayed at in Waitomo, I began my day with a 10 mile road walk to the shearing capital of the world, Te Tuiti.
I swung by the New World supermarket in town to top off my food supplies for the next 110 miles, as I wouldn’t see another town until Taumaruni.
As per usual, I over did it a bit in the bulk nuts section, but I don’t mind carrying the extra weight since the variety of snacks makes eating less of a chore.
Leaving town, it was a brief road walk to the Mangaokewa River Track.
The track began next to a mill, winding its way alongside a river through tall grass on unmaintained trail before joining the main track.
Once I reached the main track the trail became well maintained and proved to be an enjoyable hike through the forest, continuing along the river and passing a couple small waterfalls.
After crossing over a suspension bridge the track reverted to unmaintained cross country styled tramping through farmlands, high grass and wild forest.
At one point I lost one of my shoes while trudging through knee deep mud. It took about five minutes of wading through mud up to my armpit until I finally located my shoe. That gave me a good scare…I guess I need to tie my shoes a bit tighter.
Pushing on, I eventually reached a farm road that brought me out to a gravel road.
At about 6:00 PM I passed a shelter where I stopped to clean myself and top off my water. I was tempted to stay the night, but I needed to make more miles, so I pushed on.
Two hours later I found a flat grassy area alongside the gravel road I’d been walking to setup camp for the night.
Cheers!