Today will be such a lovely hike! Last time I loved it, but thought it was quite challenging. Especially the middle part where you walk on the slope next to the river. The trail would be small with little detours up and down because of fallen trees or landslides. I also remember that halfway there was a sign saying another 5h to the campsite, but it was significantly less. Seeing how much easier Reatea forest was. I was certain I would find Puketi forest enjoyable.
What wasn’t enjoyable, was the night. At midnight the Possums called each other with horrible screeches and took over our campsite. I heard them near my tent, so I got out and ran after them. My previous experience is that if you do that about 3 times, they’ll stay away. Nuhuh! These knew that they could get away with it. After my neighbor took his trash away from the vestibule, the possums moved to the other side. Their mistake because there was Andy and his hiking poles. But even as he hit them, they would still come back. Luckily no tent had been chewed through, but some food had bite marks.
At 5 am, the first group woke up, and as I was near the kitchen, so did I. I packed my tent and took my time to eat breakfast, and take a group photo with the hikers I met on the first campsite (minus Grant).
Not sure about the departure time, but soon I saw the mud that stopped me yesterday. It was very slippery, but I went straight through. The river will clean my shoes anyway.
Soon I saw the group that left before me. As two wore sandals and therefore a bit slow (constantly getting sand and gravel in their shoes). I walked a bit with them, but the pace was too slow and so I went ahead. I reached the junction where you have to take a small detour on the left because otherwise, you have to swim across. Some poor people miss this and swim across with their packs. Heard it last time, and heard about it this time.
I got there early and decided to go for a swim, created a ‘stop’ with stones, and sunbathe. Waiting for the others to point them in the right direction. The Kiwi brothers saw it themselves, the group after that was the one that I did Reatea with and left after me. As I told the group I passed this morning, I felt I could join them again and the other group would know where to go.
The crossing was still a bit deep, but nothing too crazy. Just when we finished. The other group arrived and they still missed it. Even after my warning. Luckily we could point them in the right direction before they plunged in.
The trail after wasn’t as difficult for me as it was the first time. I stayed with Sonja, who hurt her ankle on 90-mile beach, and just wanted to keep her company.
Before lunch, I saw the 5h sign. We took a small break and the four of us (Andy, Anna, Sonja, and I) were ready for the stairs. To be fair I underestimated it this time. But we all succeed. When they decided to take a break, I continued and soon bumped into Gordon. He was left behind by his speedy brother and I felt it would be helpful if I stayed with him. Having another person hiking in front makes it easier to continue yourself. I never asked and he never said so, but we did the last half hour together.
Once we hit the 4WD track, we saw Colin and the rest of the Reatea group. Who just woke up from their lunch nap. My own lunch was interrupted by a speck of rain.
The rest of the road was easy and the campsite even had a shower, although cold.
Dinner was cut short by another short shower and everyone disappeared into their tents
Zilla-in-the-wild 