26 October 2026
Makene Road Campsite to Blackbridge Road Campsite
14.1 mi/22.6 km
When the alarm goes off, I sit up immediately, pop out of the tent, and take my legs for a test drive. I can definitely still feel the sore spot, but it seems less intense than yesterday. I make the call to do the walk today. Besides, it’s essentially all road walk, and the forest section tomorrow is supposed to be much easier than the one yesterday.
Mash and I pack up and set off down the road to the dairy. In New Zealand, a “dairy” is basically a grill, often along a road. They have a limited menu of grilled and fried things as well as some drinks and a minor selection of supplies. When we roll up to the Mangamuka Dairy, there are packs and poles outside and a group of hikers chilling at the tables just inside the door. It makes me so happy, full to the brim, to see this. I recall all the other times I’ve rolled into towns and seen other hikertrash. My kin, all together around food and drink! I do love togetherness.
I order a cheese, tomato, and bacon toastie, while Mash opts for a hot meat pie (he’s relaxing his vegetarianism on this hike specifically for the sake of NZ pies). We both get long blacks, and I swear I can feel the caffeine course through my veins. Now I’m awake. Before they leave I chat with the others about their plans for the next section. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, and rain is dangerous in this forest because of all the mud and water crossings, so there is the option of taking an alternate. But we are are all reasonably confident that we’ll be okay if we start early and get through the stream walk and river crossing in the morning. By now I feel good enough that this is my decision too. I might regret that tomorrow, but the bypass just doesn’t sound that interesting, and I don’t want to miss this section.
After the dairy, the rest of the day is road walk. But it’s on gravel and dirt tracks, and it’s not nearly as busy as any of the other road walking I’ve done. Plus, I walk with Mash most of the day, so the time goes quickly. It’s sunny but not overly hot. We stop for a break at the crest of a hill so I can put my feet up against a tree. The leg is definitely still hurting, but much less than yesterday. Still, I’m dying to elevate my lower extremities. Thank you, tree.
The road continues winding its way up into the woods. In a little while we come to a turn-off for what the DOC has marked as a “giant stump.” To be honest the stump is not that impressive to me, except for the moss growing all over it, but there is a nice flat spot by the entrance to the woods, which is where we finally have lunch.
A few miles later we cross a stream on a low concrete bridge. This is the point where, if the water is over the bridge, you’re supposed to turn back and do the alternate. Since it hasn’t rained yet, the water is well below the bridge, meaning that we should be safe to do the stream walk tomorrow if we get an early enough start. We cross, taking in the deep blueish tint. Wonder how deep the water will be tomorrow? That’s a tomorrow question.
Following the road for another mile brings us right to camp at Blackbridge. This is a pretty new camp set up for TA hikers by the DOC since the old one is in a kauri dieback zone. Kauri dieback is a disease spread through soil by a pathogen that kills native kauri trees, which are incredibly impressive conifers that can grow to 50 meters tall and live to between 600 and 1,000 years. We’ve seen a few so far in this region. Once you see one, you’ll be instantly sad that they are threatened. They’re beautiful trees.
We set up the tent and then Mash goes to start dinner and chores while I “write” (read: pass out) before joining the others in the covered shelter. Dinner is noodles with fried eggs, and it’s delicious. Mash has also made coffee tonight, for the morning, and poured it into one of my plastic bottles so we can just get up and go as early as possible to beat the rain while also still being caffeinated. Genius.
There’s still a lot of evening left, so we stand around chatting with everyone for a long while. I couldn’t tell you any specifics of the conversation now, but I can tell you how good it feels to be at camp with fellow hikers again. Hannah lets me borrow her wooden massage tool for my leg. It looks like a comb on one side with a sort of smoothed edge on the other, so I dub it the “meat comb.” It’s important to comb your meat at camp, everyone.
It’s an early bedtime for our ultra early start tomorrow. Bring on the rain. Just not before the river.
