Shag Harbour

Waking up with a beach view - we could get used to that. After our improvised breakfast we had a 15km hike to do of which the last 3km were only passable around low tide. And since low tide was either at 7:22 or 19:53 we decided to go for the evening low tide and take our time in the first 12 km. After about 2 hours through the usual amazing jungle, we arrived to Onetahuti Beach. We had heard that this beach was very nice and that turned out to be true. It was great weather and the sun had quite some power, so it was only logical that we would go for a swim, especially because now it was almost high tide, so the water was quickly very deep and that made it very easy to actually swim. The water was cold but who cares if you can swim in such a location! There were no showers here either but by now we were pretty handy rinsing the salt off using a foot tap.

Afterwards we were very hungry. We decided to only have half of our usual lunch, and then cook at Awaroa in the late afternoon while waiting for the low tide crossing and have the second half of our lunch when arriving to our campsite. This required some discipline but worked out somewhat.

Having spent 2 hours at Onetahuti, it was time to get moving again. Already while walking along the beach we noticed that it was really getting high tide: the trail which was basically the beach was getting very small and a part required passing over a small ocean river. The trail afterwards was surprisingly hilly but apart from exhaustion also offered amazing views of the Awaroa Inlet which was still filled with more or less shallow water giving it all shades of blue and turquoise. In Awaroa we prepared dinner and then decided to wait at the hut for the crossing. It was also a good moment to evaluate how much food we had left for the following 24 hours: 9 wraps, 70gr oats, 2 energy bars and some nuts, honey and peanut butter.

We read beforehand that the crossing is possible from 1.5 hours before up to 2 hours after low tide and low tide was predicted at 19:53. Speaking to a ranger at the hut, we heard that predicted low tide times are not so accurate and that instead of starting the crossing at 18:22, we should attempt no earlier than 19:00 and even then it would probably still mean we could get wet up to our waists. That wasn't exactly what we had invisioned as a low tide crossing.

Turned out we were not the only ones being surprised by the delay and depth. Several people were waiting on our side of the river, but a couple from the other side attempted the crossing first. Someone on our side had binoculars, so we could follow their progress and it wasn't looking too good as they clearly struggled to find the shallowest path to walk. After they arrived and some others on our side started crossing as well, it was time to go. The sun was going down and after the crossing we still had to hike some kilometers and set up camp. The crossing was a combination of sticky mud with sharp shells, and now and then we had to go knee deep through a stream that tried to pull you to the right. Susanne lost her flip flops a few times, but eventually we managed to reach the other side. There we struggled to clean and dry our feet so we could put on socks and shoes again, while being under attack by sand flies. And believe us, sandfly bites are among the most itchy things you can imagine. Especially because they tend to bite your feet so every step you'll feel it. After putting on shoes eventually we walked to the campsite in one go, spoke to the other people that crossed, and went to bed.Read more