• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1017km
• Official kms: 41km
• Garmin kms: 41.29km
• Total time: 5:39
• Calories burned: 3087
• Body battery: 7/10 legs sore but no worse than yesterday.
• Accommodation: Airbnb in Taumaranui
• Tent nights tally: 10

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

This morning I’m planning to leave at around 8am & get this bike ride done. Antonia will be waiting at the end to pick me up. It’s supposedly 45km from here to there. I’m also going to go over the official 1000km point on the trail!

Camp Epic is definitely a nice place to stay, at night you have all the stars out & nocturnal bird life.

I set off at 8:10am & slowly started climbing within a few kilometres.

About 4km in I had reached the Maramataha bridge. The Maramataha Bridge is one of the longest and highest suspension bridges in New Zealand.

I then proceeded to climb a few 100 metres over the next 5km mostly pushing my bike up, before there was a nice gentle downhill. Just over 2.5 hours in I stopped at No. 11 shelter for a snack & to reapply sunscreen.

Not long after this I had reached another milestone. The 1000km point! This makes 1/3 of the trail being completed! Who would have thought at day 47 I would be here.

I stopped at a picnic table for lunch & Matt was sitting there, I hadn’t seen him or Naomi for a few weeks. About 4km ahead I also bumped into Naomi who was having a break in one of the shelters.

Number 10 Camp is one of the other places Te Araroa hikers can camp for the night on this trail. For those that are unsure & walking the trail the formal accommodation locations are – Ngaherenga to Bog Inn Hut (20km), to Piropiro Flats campsite (18km), to #10 campsite (21km), to the campsite at the Ōngarue terminus of the Timber Trail (17km), this will take you four days. Then into Taumarunui the following day (26km).

About 8km before the end of the trail is the Ongarue spiral. An impressive sight, it comprised a lower-level bridge, a very deep cutting, a curved tunnel, a complete circle of track and an over-bridge.

After getting out, I had Vaughan & Antonia come & collect me at the trail end, these guys are awesome & go out of their way to cater for Te Araroa trail users who want to cycle this section. Definitely worth using them.

After leaving the Timber trail bike HQ we headed into Taumaranui & gave Tim & Andrea a lift as they were headed that way also. After dropping them off we decided to go to McDonald’s for an ice cream as it was hot! 31 degrees & no breeze!

Back at the Airbnb we have rented for the next 4 days Antonia & I went for a dip in the Whanganui river as it’s situated right in front of our cottage. After doing daily admin (repacking, showering, washing, charging devices) we ordered pizza from the local pizza joint in Taumaranui & drove in & out to collect it. On the way back Antonia had to hit the brakes & her pizza that was on the back seat took a nose dive. Below is what happens to pizza that is left sideways!

Looking forward to an early night tonight & a 30km day tomorrow walking! No more bikes for me for a while I think!