Litoria to Kauri

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AFTER briefly exploring the area on this overcast and slightly foggy dawn, I returned to the campsite at Litoria and packed up to start the long return to Kauri.

After the initial descent to King's Bore Road, I continued along the main track only with a brief stop at the lake as mist covered the hills. Returning to the track I headed up the hill through the cedar forest as the sun attempted to come out whilst crossing the hilltops. I rested briefly before following the steep descent to cross Frankis Gulch Road and starting the long climb up towards the scrubby plateau. The hike uphill was interesting watching the forest change. Upon reaching the top the track turned to follow along the top of the plateau through scrubby forest and masses of wildflowers. The sky remained mostly overcast along this long section.

Eventually the track reached the edge of the sandmass and started rising moderately into denser forest. One fast hiker passed me heading towards Litoria as I passed through the tall forest. A few minutes later the cloud cover suddenly cleared to a sunny day as I arrived at Wildflower Road to rest at the half way point.

With no sign of the cloud returning, I headed back onto the track and followed it as the forest gradually thickened into rainforest as I entered a hidden valley. The trail through the rainforest was long and cloud once more covered the sun, though not the entire sky. The sun was out by the time I was out of the rainforest climbing through cedar forest towards Broutha Scrub Track running along the top of a ridge.

After resting at the top of the ridge, the track quickly descended through the cedar forest as the shadows of the trees lengthened with the late afternoon sun falling towards the horizon. Eventually I reached the next ridge crossing Pettigrews Road and descended towards Kauri Walker's Camp as the sun set. I arrived at the camping ground and set up my tent as it was getting dark. There was nobody else here tonight.

Not long after setting up the tent, light rain began falling and would continue falling on and off all night.