Piropiro to #10 Campsite (The Timber Trail)

25kms

Total 989kms

There are 35 bridges in total on the timber trail, nine of them are large suspension bridges. Not long after I left the lodge, I crossed the largest one which is 141 meters. It was very impressive.

At the southern end of the bridge is where the timber tramway ended because it could not cross the Maramataha river. The trail follows what was the main artery line all the way to Ongarue where the logs were milled. There are lots of interesting information boards along the way which explain the history of the area.

I did not see any other hikers or cyclists the whole day. It seemed strange because it was busy yesterday. I got to my camping spot at about 5pm. I had plenty of energy to keep going but the next camp in Ongarue is still 20kms away and I would not get there before 10pm. At about 7pm another guy called Liam turned up who is hiking the TA. He is an electrician from Pirongia. This guy does some serious kms. He did 44 today and 55 yesterday. He decided to stop for the day and will walk to Taumarunui tomorrow. That’s another 43kms from here. It doesn’t sound like fun to me. Three others arrived a bit later on. They had all had bigs days and I was ready for bed so I didn’t talk to them for long.