Te Araroa Day 26: Dome Cafe to Puhoi, 28km (524km)

Nothing for it but to jump back on the cart right?

I slept fairly fitfully last night. It was a strange feeling lying in the half packed up cafe, sugar pots under the bench and menus still taped to the fridges. No curtains on the large glass doors, and adjacent to the night time trucks blaring their way along Highway One. Still, it felt like the most comfortable place on earth when the winds started raging, lightning crashed and rain ferociously lashed. Another outrageous storm.

The mood was slow and quiet in the morning as we contemplated what to do. Still raining, but supposed to dry up during the day. Possibly even some sunshine! We talk about taxis and other options, but in the end, we came here to walk, so that’s what we did.

It’s a long, but reasonably interesting day of walking. An uphill road walk to start. A patch of muddy bushland. Another road walk along a quiet, gravel road. This time with views over the valley. An “easy 1km tramping trail” which devolved into a 1 hour mud soaked slip and slide. Further road walking. A 1km section through a patch of lovely bushland full of tree ferns and palms. Paddock walking between spiky gorse bush and an electric fence. Luckily the fence was off!

Finally we reached the intersection with the Puhoi river track, a section I had been looking forward to in completing the day. A fresh sign on a wooden barrier tells us the area is currently closed due to logging. We are left to road walk the remaining four kilometres into town.

It’s a disappointing way to end the day. Though the disappointment could have been avoided if I’d read the track notes properly. Note to self, I’ll have to improve in keeping up with the alerts and closures next time…

To add to the disappointment, a phone call at lunch time had alerted us to the fact that we were no longer able to stay at our booked accommodation at the beautiful, old Puhoi Hotel. The town had been without power all day and they had decided to close. They had no suggestions for an alternative place to stay.

So it was, that by the time we arrived tired and worn out in Puhoi, we had made the decision to take a taxi to Orewa, book ourselves a couple of nights accommodation and take a break. This would mean skipping a 17km section of the trail, much of which was road walking along state highway one. I’m ok with that.

In a rare lucky boon, our mates Pete and Nas were waiting for us at the fish and chip shop in Puhoi when we arrived. Pete was being picked up by his wife Liz and offered us all a ride to Orewa. Perfect!!! Now we just need a place to stay. It’s a big city…this should be easy right?! Wrong!! We rang and rang and rang. Must have tried 15 different motels and caravan parks to discover they were all booked out for the night. The backpackers “Pillows” rated 4.5 / 10 was the only place with a bed. Desperate, we stayed the night.

This place deserves its rating. My room is…ok. Aubs room is the “worst he has ever stayed in”. We’ve got an alternative place for tonight. Hopefully it won’t have old blokes standing around drinking at 10am and rat shit in the shower.

So this afternoon we’ll be resting in our lush accommodation and planning the last of our trip. Just two more days of walking and we’ll be in Auckland. That’s the plan anyway!