Day 22: Govan Wilson Road to Puhoi (489-529)

Knowing it was going to be another long day, I hit the trail a little before 6. It was nice to be in a forest for awhile. Although they usually mean some steep uphills and downhills, they also mean some appreciated shade. I got through the forest by 11 and stopped for some food at Top of the Dome Cafe. A healthy meat pie and chocolate milkshake did the trick!

By 11:30 I was back on the trail. It was mostly gravel roads, which meant less shade, so I went a little slower than I did through the forest. But I still thought I'd make it to Puhoi by 8:30. After some trail, the route pops out on Edgerley Road. A lady was driving down the road toward me and stopped to let me know I could fill up my water bottle with the hose at the blue building a few minutes down trail. On my way there I walked by a nice man who was getting his home ready to move.

I crossed the road and started making my way to Moir Hill. Another couple drove by me and stopped to talk. They had just done the trail to the top of the hill and told me it took them about an hour and a half. That meant I would still get into Puhoi around 8!

It was all uphill and unshaded to the top, but I knew once I made it to Moir Hill, the trail into Puhoi was almost all downhill from there. I was walking through some farmland, about 7 kilometers from Puhoi when I had to walk through a bit of a construction area. There was a nice man named Mickey there with his daughter Charlotte. He was a contractor working in the area and saw lots of TA trampers walking though. She was visiting him to show him the first car she'd ever purchased and was really excited. As we were talking, she offered to drive me into Puhoi. She had to drive through there to get to Orewa and I could be her first hitchhiker in her car. It sounded great! And since it was about 6 or 6:30, I figured it would mean I could still get dinner at the Puhoi Pub.

She was so nice and dropped me off right by the pub. I walked up and asked if they had any rooms (they have rooms for $50 or you can camp free across the street. I thought staying in a historic pub sounded really neat so I splurged a bit).

I took a shower and went back down to get food. They were about to close the kitchen so they were only serving chips (fries). But the chips came with sauce and bacon on them and I asked the cook if he could put a little cheese on it. It was much better than the couscous I would have eaten otherwise! And if I hadn't taken a ride the last few kilometers into town I wouldn't have even gotten chips.

After I eating and 2 long days (even though I cheated a bit today) I was very ready for bed. But I had one last thing to do. The next part of the trail is a river section, which I didn't want to rent a kayak to complete or road walk around. There's a 3-4 day kayak trip further down the trail that I'm looking forward to, but this one didn't seem worth it. I booked a bus ticket from Puhoi to Orewa. That will cut about 16 km off the trail for me, but the alternative involves road walking on the really busy State Highway 1.

Some of the morning's bush track through the forest

The view from around the top of the dome

An interesting car at the Top of the Dome Cafe

A New Zealand Meat Pie. I had a milkshake with it too!