Day 23 - forest mud
Pakiri Beach —-> Govan Wilson Road 14km
Milton’s ankle was really buggered and Josh’s body was feeling pretty battered too, so they both decided to skip a few days ahead and hitch straight to Puhoi where they could rest up and avoid the inevitable mud and treachery of both the Omaha and Dome Forests. Steph and I would report back and meet them both at the Puhoi pub in a couple of days.
The mozzies had been out in force overnight - my legs had grown exponentially with the amount of bites I had on me. After an antihistamine and a hundred clicks of my mozzie electric buzzer (thank you Izzy this has been a godsend), I waved goodbye with glee to the sand and set off down the road towards the small township of Pakiri.
The track into the Omaha forest started with a steep climb through wet grass onto the top of the ridgeline beyond. It was early 9am ish but the sun was already out in force and I was puffing all the way to the top. Having my morning OSM bar and hydralite looking down over the pastures and the beach beyond made it well worth it.
As I entered the forest, the wet grass gave way for mud. But not just muddy shoes kinda mud, thick squelchy muddy thighs kinda mud. Navigating over tree roots, branches and everything else that had taken over the track, I was slipping and sliding all over the place. It was pretty slow going but knowing I only had to get out of this forest and not into the next one until tomorrow I didn’t really mind, it was fun to be covered in the dirt for a little bit. I allowed my inner mountain goat to come out as I scrambled over rocks and around the trees.
There was a pair of sunglasses lying on the mud a few km in. Steph set off after me, so they must have been Wyatt’s. I picked them up and tucked them into my pack to hopefully return - he was planning on doing a big day through both forests, so wasn’t really sure if I’d see him again.
I continued to climb. When I finally reached the top, yet again the view was barely visible. There was a slither through the bushes but nothing that could match the effort I’d just gone through to get there. I sat and had lunch a little further along the track where I could escape the sun for a short while.
The mud continued after lunch, but now going downhill, it was even more slow going. I was averaging about 2km an hour - painfully slow. With about a km to go before the road I came across a little stream. It was flowing, barely more than a trickle, but enough for me to wash my legs socks and shoes and remove the grime. I was a new person! The last km was probably the hardest section of the whole forest, with sections almost vertical at points. Thankfully I managed to successfully navigate my way around the remaining mud so as not to undo my cleaning efforts.
The last few km for the day were along Govan Wilson Road, a steady uphill but a breeze compared to the forest. Camp for the night was on a farmer’s land just before the start of the Dome forest - they’d wonderfully provided a compost toilet and water for TA walkers, which was very well received as I was pretty much out!
Steph rolled in an hour later and both knackered, we lay in the grass switching between the sun and the shade for most of the afternoon. The clouds rolled in around us at about 7pm and we suddenly realised how high we were. We went to sleep listening to the birds sing their nighttime songs and the clinks of the neighbouring goat with a bell round his neck.
