Te Araroa 10/10/25

Day 16, Ocean bay to Ruakaka (426k)

A beautiful morning as I set off to retrace yesterday's walk back to the saddle, half an hour to get down yesterday and an hour to get back this morning!

Morning view back to Ocean Beach 

The rest of the ridge involved some more very steep ups and downs but a lot of the steep parts had steps.

Up we go

Views were limited by the vegetation but there were a few gaps here and there with spectacular vistas.

Some views from the ridge

A very steep descent of about 200meters on steps and I emerged from the bush onto farmland and a beautiful view of Urquharts Bay.

Urquharts Bay

A walk round the bay and over a bit of hill to get to The Deck cafe which was a very useful place to recharge an sit for a while before walking down to the ferry. There had been no need to to the first section of the ridge last night, I had plenty of time.

Some beautiful trees by the seashore 

Down to the beach then to meet with the others and sit in the shade waiting for the boat.

Waiting for the boat

The crossing was very quick and we arrived at Marsden point which is an oil storage depot and container port.

The ferry boat

We decided to walk down the road to reach the shops at Ruakaka for essential supplies and pizza. The road was busy with 18 wheelers and other trucks but there were very wide margins to safely walk on.

Pizza stop

Stuffed with pizza we carried on down the road to the large, nearly empty campsite.

Wide road verges