Journey to Urapukapuka Island

I was back in the beautiful Bay of Islands with still 12 days to wait before Vandalf’s garage appointment. To mix things up I thought I’d stay in another Top 10 down in Paihia, which is where I wondered too a few times when staying at the Haruru Falls campsite. This time I was an hours walk away from Paihia town in the other direction but there was a really pleasant trail to get to town. The campsite was by the sea which with the islands around it I kept mistaking as a big lake, and it was mostly pleasant weather for the week I stayed there. It’s the most I had spent on campsites so far but they did me a discount and I had started to feel a bit defeated at that point and thought Vandalf deserved the rest. I slept well and spent the next day relaxing, drinking coffee and reading on Vandalf with my back doors open to the sea which was beautiful. It didn’t take long for guilt to kick in about having a lazy day so explored the trail to the little stone beach area the other side where I sat and listened to music that would make anyone cry and feel a bit blue. So, after switching to one of my favourite playlists “Cheer up you depressed git”, I headed back and made a plan for an epic day.

Said epic day, will probably remain one of my most treasured memories and feelings in my personal life. Remember that man who said “you’re a walker aren’t you?” back on that strange campsite in the middle of nowhere? Well, he was so right about his recommendation to explore Urapukapuka Island and I’m forever grateful for him. I probably would have just booked the ‘Hole in the wall’ boat tour, which I had done with the family 20 years before, including some dolphin spotting, and whilst there were no dolphins on this cruise it is was still, epic.

I left the campsite just after 6:30, it would take just over an hour to walk to Paihia town and the docs to get my boat, which wasn’t until 08:10 but I was determined to see the sunrise on my way there. Which I did, and yes it was the best start to my little adventure of a day! I checked in the I site and got my tickets for the ferry, unfortunately due to it not being a busy day there would only be one pick up from the Island at 12:15pm instead of the 3pm one I was hoping for, which meant I’d have to shorten my trip and make the most of it. I was prepared for the boat with my sea wristbands, the behind-the-ear anti-sickness patches, the travel pills I took with a coffee and my gingins! (highly recomened them). We saw Motura Island and a few others before they dropped my self and a few other people off at Otehei Bay. There were a couple others prepared for a walk, and the staff of the little café/restaurant there where I planned on stopping for an after hike lunch, the rest of the boat went on to see the other Islands and the Hole in the rock.

I had 3 hours to take my time and walk around this beautiful Island, I had packed my bag well with snacks, lunch, water and powerade, spare socks as well as my swimmers and a towel. Twenty minutes in and the hoody was off, it was getting hot and I seemed to be going mainly uphill, thankfully no one was around to see me sweat and hear my ridiculous heavy breathing. One of the trails uphill was quite steep and had me clinging on to the small tree branches either side of me when I could and trying not to twist an ankle. The views from the top though, all around me were the lush greens from the island then small beaches with the bluest water I think I’d ever seen. Then it was time to go downhill, and I remember thinking “this is going to be horrible to climb back up”, but that’s future Anna’s problem.

The first little beach I got to was Otaio Bay where I walked gobsmacked along the sand staring at the blue gentle waves before heading into a little forest path back up the hill. It was there I got to a crossroads of either looping back around the island or heading out to the very end to Akeake Bay. It was coming up to 10:30 so I still had 2 hours before the ferry back, which they had said “don’t miss it, as it’s a long swim back to Paihia!”. So I made my merry way over the long bit of land and down a steep hill to the beach where I even took off my shoes and socks and went for a ankle dip in the sea! I sat on the rock and ate my sandwich whilst taking in the peaceful views around me before drying my feet and making my way back to the main stretch of the island.

Now this is where I should have probably just headed back along the same path I had just come from, but I still had 12:30 in my mind for the ferry despite what I had written earlier and was certain I had enough time to loop around some of the island and make my way back. So I carried on, and climbed the many, many steps up to the lookout on the other side of the island, trying not to let the long drop down to the dramatic waves bouncing off the pointy rocks below scare me. It started to rain lightly on my way back down but I was still in the best of moods and making it back down to the crossroads at 11:30, whoops, that took longer than expected so best head straight back to the Bay now to catch my 12:30 ferry, also better just check I’ve still got my ticket, yes here it is, 12:15…. Ah. So I’ve got 45 minutes until the ferry leaves, and ideally they want you on board 15 minutes before leaving meaning I have half an hour to get back. That’s fine, that’s totally fine, this sign here says Oneura Bay 20 minutes! Easy!

So I make my way down, down, down a steep and rooty trail and finally get to Oneura Bay. Which is not where I’m being picked up is it? No, that’s Otehri Bay, which says 1 hour on the sign but 25 minutes according to google, okay so it’s now 11:50 and my boat will be leaving in 25 minutes and oh my god is that the path I have to take to get back up?

Yeah remember earlier when I didn’t care about future Anna and all those stairs? Well I would have preferred those stairs as I was actually on a different beach and the only way back up was a vertical slope which the only blessing was the shade. I got half way up before I had to finish my water and try not to pass out, I was limping a bit thanks to a dodgy slope that caught my ankle, and my chest felt like I had smoked a pack of cigarettes and drank a bottle of fireball. I had to stop, had to breath, had to collapse, but if I colappsed there was no way I’d get back up and make it to my ferry, well maybe I should just stay here and fake a bad injury or something, but no one would know where I was, and what if they had to send a search party out to get me, oh my god the whole boat is going to be waiting for me, maybe they’ll slow clap when they see me running to get on the ferry before all giving me dagger eyes, or maybe they’ll just leave me here and I’ll be stuck on this island all night. Okay, one foot in front of the other, as fast as you can. My chest is going to cave in, but I’ve made it up that hill, and now I can run a bit better along the flat bit, then down, then up again?! Then back down, oh god I can see the boat, they’re probably all staring and laughing at me, “please wait, I’m so sorry” I actually say out loud in between invisible sobs, because I can hardly breath so there’s no energy for actual tears. I hop the fence down the bottom and limp my way across the last field until I see a family making their way back from the toilet with their pram and I almost collapse on the floor out of relief.  The staff and a few other people are making their way on the boat and I’ve made it. I check my watch, 12:14:28. “you made it!” the staff say, I have no idea if they were waiting for me or not but I can’t say anything except give a loud groan of relief, before I limp on board with shaking legs and collapse into a shaded chair and devour my warm bottle of blue powerade which tasted like the best thing in the world. I stick my sunhat on and slowly start to breath normally, I check my face on my phone’s camera to see the reddest person looking back at me with a mixture of sunburn and sweat except for the thin white lines around my lips, I start laughing a bit delusionally, probably scaring the children. The way back is bumpy and windy and people start to sit near me to avoid the big waves, this is where I learned that the visit to the hole in the rock was rough going and a lot of people were very ill on board and didn’t look all too pleased. I however can’t stop smiling. I look ridiculous and feel exhausted but not 20 minutes ago I was swearing like a sailor trying to run up hill, cursing my self for the stupid and reckless behavior and being an unorganized imbecile. Yet I made it, whether it was luck or willpower I made it back. I loved Urapukapuka Island, even that last, horrible, exhausting 25 minutes of pure hell.

My watch was happy too, closing all my rings before midday. Thought I should celebrate so I hopped off at Russell and treated my self to 2 Peroni 0s and a piece of cake. Then I thought I’d explore the town! The lady in the bar recommended going up to see the Flagstaff on the hill, a Historic reserve that I could also tick off my roady app! “It’s quite uphill but worth it”. Uphill you say? No problem after what I just did right? Wronggggg, my poor face was just getting redder and stupidly I did not stock up on liquids. I made it to the top, but I think the family in front of me thought I’d pass out on my way. I really wanted to shout about the walk I had just done to show off, my watch was telling me I had hit a new move record and burned over 1,082 calories which was probably enough for the day but I had also been recommended Long Beach, so naturally I headed there. Long beach was, shockingly, very long, I got right to the end, practically limping but treated my self to a dip in the sea, which was incredible, and bloody freezing. What felt better than that though was changing my socks – best idea ever. I was treated to the view of a double rainbow before leaving the beach and finally getting back to the ferry for a 16:30 crossing back to Paihia, which, oh yeah, I’d then have an hour’s walk back to the campsite! After crossing over slippery rocks, narrowly missing the tide and getting to the end of my trail before it went completely dark, I made it back to Vandalf, and collapsed.

The next day was spent in the campsite, lying in till midday, lounging in the swimming pool getting a few gentle lengths in, and gorging on tea, biscuits with a new book. I did not feel guilty for the lack of steps that day, just profoundly blessed for my pervious truly epic day.