Day 2 Raikura Track

We woke up around 6 am, feeling pretty refreshed. I had some of my typical leg pains that plague me after a day of hiking followed by tent camping. I’ve yet to find a light weight side sleeping system that works for me! We had to borrow a match from a kind Kiwi to light the dang stove again but soon enough we were enjoying a bag of Cooked Breakfast and a cup of coffee. Other than those dang flies, it was a lovely relaxing morning!

We broke camp and hit the trail, having about an 8 mile hike to the next campsite. This section of trail took us inland and over a few nice rises. It was somewhat muddy but passable, although I could see that in a raining period it would be an utter swamp! The forest here just feels so old and strange compared to home. I lost track of the times we exclaimed wow, look at that tree! Steve bemoaned the tree fern logs that are used to help erosion in the trail. They make some awesome bridges and once the outer fiber is gone, they look just like their fossilized brethren. Along the way we passes the remnants of the old steam engine log haulers they used to take out the felled trees.

We stopped a bit short of midway to have a snack before the descent down. The rest of the trek was less up and downs, gradually heading back towards the coast. North Arm campsite sits up on a rise, with a lovely shelter for cooking. We set up camp and then went for lunch in the woods to escape the flies (which were much better here than the previous site).

The beach was just a short walk down from camp, passing thru the hut area. The bay here is pretty shallow and the water actually felt comfortable! It was the wind that made me shiver but by the time we got out the sun was full on and we spent time drying on the rocks. We basically spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening lounging and reading in various areas! Dinner on the beach (bag of chicken mash), followed by berry smoothie. I had high hopes for this and it did not disappoint!! Now I hope I can get them in the states!