Te Araroa Day 28: Orewa Bay to Takapuna 41.68km! (But only about 25 walked), (580km)

It was a day of mixed fortunes. Luckily for us, mostly in a positive way!

The rest at Orewa was just what the doctor ordered. Big breakfasts, beach walks without the burden of a heavy pack, long lunch complete with vino for me, icecream, snooze. And we were able to catch up with Pete, Nas and Daphne for a very enjoyable catch-up drink. When it’s getting you down, take a rest. That’s the motto of the story.

And so we left this morning in much higher spirits than when we arrived. A lovely walkway along an estuary before more of the dreaded road walking. A large verge along with our improved attitude meant it was a cinch.

We arrived at the turnoff to Stillwater, our intended destination for the evening, by mid morning. 7km to go. Sitting down to take a break, I made a quick scan of the hikers comments. “Avoid this road walk at ALL costs!” was the general gist. No point risking it. I stuck my thumb out and was rewarded one minute later, when the friendly Gareth pulled over in his brand new car, offering us a ride all the way to the caravan park. Sweet as!

Having arrived at the park by midday, we were planning a long afternoon spent rambling through the town and marina. That is, until I looked at the map and realised I had accidentally booked our accommodation in Auckland a whole day early!! There was no way we could make it in just one day….

A quick decision was made. We’d just keep walking. Get as far as we could….perhaps Browns Bay, and then get a taxi to where we were supposed to have been, the night before reaching Auckland. Slightly rattled, we set off again.

And this is where the magic happened! You see, part of this next section involves crossing a deep estuary. The only way it can be done, with any safety, is to cross right on the dot of low tide. That, or suffer delays and more road walking. As it was, had we stayed overnight, this is exactly what would have happened. In a stroke of great fortune however, this afternoon we got there bang on time!

And what a walk it was! A massive blue estuary, shrunk with the tide. Towering cliffs lining the banks. Rivulets of water pouring off them as a result of all the rain. And we nailed the crossing. Aubs went in first, sans pack to test the depth and current. Although chest height, we deemed it safe enough. Gear was stowed tightly. We crossed to the point it got deep before the HOSC swung his bag over his head and carefully made his way across. Once safe, he came back for mine. We both felt victorious to have achieved the crossing successfully. Like we had learnt from our mistakes and were ready for moving to the next section. It was a great feeling.

We made our way all the way to Browns Beach, at once admiring and despising the slew of expensive property along the coast. At Browns Bay, we ordered an Uber and 15 minutes later we were in Tapakuna. Easy as that! And we only missed 10km of walking. I can live with that.

One night to go. We have both decided to enjoy our last night in our tents, cooking on our gas stoves, before the adventure ends. I’m guessing it’ll probably rain!