Te Araroa
Riverton to Colac Bay

19th November, 2025

Morning Trail Talk
It was good to have a chill day today. Reaching Colac Bay was mostly beach walking and relatively short, about four hours. High tide was around noon, so there was no rush to leave early. Some sections of the beach become very tricky and some would be cut off anyway, so leaving later made more sense. The sunny evening before and the dry morning had almost dried up my shoes, tent, and clothes. But I was anxious about tomorrow, the Longwoods and their infamous mud. Almost everyone who had gone through recently had reported knee-to-thigh-deep mud and a gazillion fallen trees from storm damage. I was feeling a little scared, especially now that I had become very aware of my height. Today, I joke about it. That I survived two months with less than minimum, and yet the one thing I missed almost every day from day three onwards was my height.

So that morning became a lot of chatting and comparing notes with Aaron and Vlad, they were the the first walkers I met on the trail. Vlad, being from Christchurch, was super stoked about the “whimsical Longwoods” despite its challenges but was planning rest days before. However, Aaron was planning to head through and after a lot of back and forth, I eventually decided to continue on to Colac Bay and attempt the Longwoods from there.

Before starting out, Aaron was surprised at how heavy my backpack was. And honestly, compared to him, it was. At that point, I was carrying almost 13 days of food, close to 4 kilos just in food weight, and my gear was simply the best I could reasonably get in India. Though I had invested in keeping the gear weight low without spending exorbitant amounts of money, I had underestimated volume which then came to haunt me soon. Some things can only be learnt through experience, even after several treks, months of research, and tips from some of the best in ultralight hiking. One such example was my travel adapter. I was carrying a proper multi-pin international adapter, and their question was simple: “Why?” Here, I only needed a small NZ single-pin adapter. Even though the difference was maybe just 60 grams, small things add up on trail.

That morning, I learnt a lot from both of them about packing and trail efficiency, small principles that quietly shaped the rest of my journey afterward.

The walk to Colac Bay
I began walking at 3:30 PM. Instead of heading straight onto the beach, I decided to take a little road detour skirting the beautiful backwaters, planning to join the beach track after a couple of kilometers. The Colac Bay Tavern, the only designated accommodation in the area, was closed for renovations, so freedom camping was my only option. The owners of the lodge warned me again about camping alone along the roadside and suggested pushing ahead a little further and finding a spot somewhere along the Long Hilly Track. Aaron and I made plans to meet up and camp together for the night because I was honestly a little scared to wild camp alone. It would have been my first time doing so. I left a little earlier than him, secretly hoping that if I spotted a house nearby, maybe I could try my luck and ask if they would let me camp in their backyard.

It was a really hot and sunny day. After about an hour of road walking, a car pulled over. A guy asked where I was headed and whether I wanted a lift. It was far too hot to keep walking on the road, so I asked if he could drop me at the beach turnoff and hopped in. That is how I met Brodie, and just like that, one of my first core memories of the trail began. As we got talking, he mentioned that he lived right opposite the starting point of the Longwoods with his wife and children, and that I was welcome to stay at their place if I wanted. It would also save me from a about 1.5 hrs of road walking after the end of the bay. He made every effort to make me feel comfortable and secure. I said I would be happy even just pitching my tent outside his house if he was okay with it. But I also did not want to miss seeing Colac Bay. My plan was to drop my bags, walk back to Colac Bay, and then return in the evening. But he said his wife had been dealing with a migraine since morning and would probably love to step out for a bit too, so we could all go together. Of course! I am always up for being around people who know the area best.

I walked into a home that instantly felt homely. Brodie, Kate and their children, Jonah and T (I still feel guilty for not remembering his name properly), welcomed me with so much warmth and affection. They were an infectious bundle of simplicity, joy and life. Within ten minutes, Jonah had already given me a full house tour and made me familiar with everyone’s personalities in the house, including the pets! And soon enough, I received my first early Christmas cookie, hand-decorated specially by him in my favourite colours. I have always loved bikes, and seeing T zoom across the farm on a dirt bike made me ridiculously happy and also a little jealous. I wish I could do that too.

Soon we were at Colac Bay. The view opened up beautifully in the sunlight, sprawling and full of bright colours. It felt very different from the stretch of beach I had walked the previous day. This coastline was rougher, rockier and more alive. The whole place felt full of textures and movement. Color graded rocks, covered in seaweeds, sea shell belts, reflections in the little tide pools. And the breeze had an oddly calming effect on me. I had been quite stressed about the Longwoods, with all sorts of what-ifs running through my head, but being there helped me put them aside for a while. My trail mode had temporarily switched off. We walked around, chatted, and I remained in awe of the insane beauty surrounding me.

After a while, they asked if I would like going somewhere else instead, one of their favourite spots nearby. The timing was perfect since it was low tide which meant it was accessible by foot. Otherwise, the island remains largely cut off or you need to wade through. I had been so focused on the trail itself that I had barely thought about exploring anything beyond walking distance from the route itself. So getting a chance to see something different was an immediate yes!

A 15-20 minute drive brought us to Monkey Island, a place straight out of paradise. An expansive flat beach surrounded by cliffs glowing golden in the sun. The waves somehow moved in perfect rhythm, forming concentric arcs as they rolled inward. And in the backdrop, on one side, were the fringe hills of the forest range I was going to enter the next day. We climbed the stairs up to the viewing deck. Jonah immediately ran ahead of us, hopping across the rocks fearlessly, the kind of jumps I would have been slightly terrified of doing.

“AAAAHHH!”

We all got startled by a scream from a few meters ahead. Jonah came running back toward us. He had spotted something between the rocks and scared himself in the process.

A baby seal. Perfectly camouflaged among the stones, just lazily sunbathing.

We slowly moved closer. It was my first time ever seeing a seal. Actually, my first time seeing any marine mammal in the wild. As excited as I was, all of them somehow seemed even more excited for me, which made the moment even more special. This was completely out of syllabus. We spent quite a while there just watching it laze around, yawn, and eventually shuffle away. Meanwhile, Jonah kept inching closer every few minutes. That kid truly had no fear, only infinite curiosity.

We drove back home and shared a lovely meal together. I had few additional ready-to-eat meals and honestly, there could not have been a better way to end the day than sharing some homemade delicacies – pav bhaji, dal baati, and sheera – with the people who had made this day so special. Over dinner, we also discussed a bit of route planning. They regularly walked their dog along the Long Hilly Track, which formed the initial section, and Brodie and T had ventured further deeper into the forest before. Back in Riverton, the lodge owners had suggested an alternate route, the old TA route from before the official trail was changed a couple of seasons ago. By then, I had pretty much made up my mind about taking it.

I messaged Aaron to let him know I would be staying there instead of camping out, and we decided we would both take the alternate route and probably meet somewhere along the trail the next day. It was finally time to pack for the morning, wind down, and get some sleep. Kate and Brodie were very generous to offer me their couch instead of pitching my tent.

As I lay down that night, safe and warm in a home tucked away among farmlands, I could not help but smile at how the day had unfolded. Just in the morning, I had been anxious about the Longwoods, unsure about wild camping, and overthinking every possible scenario ahead. But the kindness of a so many complete strangers had somehow made all of it a little less overwhelming. I was still nervous, but one thing had become very clear to me, I was at least going to try. Whether it was the official route or an alternate one did not matter as much anymore.

Before starting the trail, I already knew I was never going to be a strict EFI (Every Freaking Inch) walker. I simply did not have the time for that, and honestly, I was not deeply attached to the idea either. But I carried a subconscious pressure to walk as much as possible, all day, every single day. The walk from Invercargill to Riverton had already broken the “all day” part of that thinking. This day broke the “everyday” part too. It was far more fulfilling.

If not for a stranger stopping their car to help me out, if not for them going out of their way to show me their favourite places, I still would not have seen a seal to this day. But more important than that, I would not have received that warmth exactly when I needed it most. I would not have walked away with a little more courage, a few more friends, and far more confidence for the next morning than I had when I arrived.

And just as I was about to sleep, my phone rang. It was Sonal. She had been reading the messages I was sending on the WhatsApp group I had created for the people who had helped shape this journey long before it began. The uncertainty did not sound great and she called just to ask if I was okay. I smiled. Out there, I was walking alone. But behind me was this entire little cheerleader group, quietly showing up whenever I needed them, most of the time without me even asking.