Distance day: 12 km

Total distance: 73 km

After we realized in the morning that we didn’t follow the Te Araroa but a route along the river that Logan still knew from before, we didn’t let ourselves get carried away and followed the alternative route to Macetown

Our breakfast every day so far consisted of muesli – unfortunately only available sugared here – with milk powder dissolved in water. In my opinion, not a bad substitute for milk. Certainly better than lugging heavy “real” milk through the pampas

Macetown is an old gold mining town that was revived from about 1860 to 1920. There is nothing left of the original houses, unlike Arrowtown, which looks like the Wild West

A few cabins with information boards have been reconstructed. Unfortunately, we had not been able to muster much interest for it

Sleeping places were again easy to find at the river, but the sand flies gave us a hard time. These are really very inconspicuous beasts that look like European fruit flies and have the unpleasant property to like to nibble on legs. The difference is that, unlike fruit flies, you can’t hear them and they feed their offspring with the sucked blood. Oh man, would we be bitten a lot

After the important things like setting up the tent, having lunch and smoking a pipe (all pure ) were done, we headed up the river to explore. For lunch we had wraps, kale and beer sticks (small sausages).

The first two days I had a lot of trouble with my hip. Both sides started hurting me after a short time of running with the 22.5 km heavy backpack. As it turned out, sitting out or in this case running out did nothing

The solution was to make the backpack larger on the side facing the back. Thus, the load is distributed differently on the hips and shoulders. After one day I had no more problems

Slowly it begins as, as we started our exploration along the river towards the old mines. The beautiful pink and purple flowers along the riverbank and the shale that loomed in the background created a comforting feeling for me. I started playing with my frisbee and start throwing it too. Lupines, which Logan identifies the flowers as, decorate not only the banks, but a wide expanse along the slowly rising slopes. We stopped for a short break at the first battery (machines used to crush the ore)

All senses seem to be working at full speed to satisfy the greed for new impressions. As we walk along this enchanted forest of dead trees (presumably caused by plant killers), we keep stopping to take in the whole scenery. Tulip-like blossoms keep getting lost among these ghostly-looking creatures, giving it all a breathtaking depth

We climbed the second battery for a better view. After contemplating the function of the Batteries for a while we started our breathtaking journey back to the present

Official website of Te Araroa