Okay. Big day today after a great night at the holiday park (let me pitch my tent for free PLUS I got a gold coin for a hot shower! Stoked! Good people here in NZ)
I was up well before dawn and on my way to Dacre Point. The estuary crossing comes with loads of warnings: only at low tide, only if you are confident you can get across, only if there hasn’t been recent rain.
I was taking this seriously. I had heard stories of hikers running in to trouble here and saw recent photos of hikers holding their packs above their heads, with the water up to their necks.
While I have taken a prepared but relaxed approach to the TA, I have still focused on risk minimisation. The only mishaps to date have been caused by me being clumsy, rather than challenges on the track causing me harm.
I needed to approach this section with respect; it is seriously demanding.
I had been keeping an eye on the met service website and monitoring rain fall, and I checked the tide height and flow rate. And I mean I REALLY checked it.
One of the fellas on the Facebook group put it this way...
‘Here's a thought for people crossing Okura Estuary. 90 minutes after low tide means the tide was 1/4 of the way in. The difference in depth between low and high at Weiti River entrance today is calculated to be 3.2 meters. If the tide rises at a uniform rate (I'm pretty sure it doesn't, but just being approximate here) then it would be 80 cm higher than if you had managed to hit exact low tide at 2:07 pm. For an average height bloke 80 cm is almost exactly the distance from knees to nipples.’
An 80cm rise is the difference between me making it safely across or not.
I changed into my sandals (Keens Whispers, best hiking sandals/camp shoes ever) and stowed my hiking shoes and tightened my (waterproof) pack down, did a pack check, looped my PLB around my neck and tucked in my clothes.
Here goes. I went in to the water at the fourth marker.
The water was up to my knees very quickly and then it reached my upper thighs and was at waist height within minutes. Ok. I wasn’t halfway across yet. The tow was strong but not frighteningly so. By the time I made it to what I estimated to be halfway, the water was lapping at my ribs and I was starting to think I would be pack floating the rest of the way.
Just as I was planning my steps to do this, the water started to drop away and I made it to the far side.
This is the deepest crossing I’ve done so far. I know it sounds fullon, and I guess it is, but I felt confident in my ability. The river crossing course I took earlier this year was well worth it. I made what I believe is a reasonable assessment of the environment and my ability.
Probably the only thing I would change, in hindsight, is wait and see if someone else came along and then cross with another person (although this too has risks, you are dependent on their ability to cross AND keep a clear head if things go pear shaped).
There were a couple of other hikers at the holiday park last night but there was no movement from other tents this morning when I headed off. I figured they must have been on a zero or were taking a detour today.
I was fine and got across.
But I still should have waited.
After a shoe change, I was off walking. It was an interesting, wild start to the day that contrasted sharply with the rest of today’s walk of beach walking interspersed with pavement and suburbia.
The footpaths are really hard on my feet. I have terrific trail runners (innov8) which are just brilliant on trail but there’s just not a lot of cushion for the hard town surfaces.
Okura estuary and the TA route
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