Everything looks better in the morning. Getting out of where we were wasn’t easy but at least we could see now and weren’t so tired.
There were a lot of dogs at the farm house. About 10 of them. Luckily the owner was home. After that we walked down Makene Road until we got to a Trampers Camping spot at the bottom where we filled up on water.
The road to Mangamuka Bridge was hot and busy. At one point a drunk home owner invited us in fro a drink. I was very tempted.
Maybe 3 hours later we were at the Mangamuka Bridge dairy and I was scoffing a pie and downing a couple of Lifts. Not feeling much better but today is a short day as we only have to reach Apple Tree Camp which we did at about 2pm.
It is nice and has water. Our lives revolve around water.
Hindsight
- There is a trampers camp near the bottom of Makene Road. You can easily filter water out of the stream there.
- The Mangamuka Bridge dairy is a great place to stay for lunch. They also have some accommodation I think.
- Apple Tree Camp isn’t the greatest when it is raining as the water comes down the drive. Try and grab the top spot.
- Due to rain people try and walk the road around Puketi to Kerikeri. It’s supposedly a horrible walk. If you can’t wait then hitch…..or you can go halfway round and try coming back up the Lower Waipapa River Track.
