Adventurous mates complete Northland straight-line walk for charity

Alex Smith, Tane Tarlton and Ben Reeve on Baylys Beach, the starting point of their six-day Northland crossing.

Crossing manure-filled creeks, scaling towering sand dunes, and bush-bashing through tall cutty grass, gorse and mangroves.

That’s not the way most visitors choose to experience Northland, but for three Auckland mates on a mission to walk in a straight line from Dargaville to Whangārei for charity, it was all part of the fun.

Alex Smith, Ben Reeve and Tane Tarlton, who are all in their 20s, are now recovering from their six-day adventure which raised money for Movember while honouring Smith’s father who died earlier this year from prostate cancer.

“There’s a lot more to Northland than a straight-line challenge, but we walked through some really nice pieces of land,” Smith said.

“We’re all so chuffed when we got it done, we’re over the moon.”

Smith said their bodies were “super sore” after the challenge.

“We had cuts and grazes and bruises everywhere, and a bit of sunburn.

“We hadn’t been inside for six days and barely got any sleep, so we were super tired as well.”

The friends embarked on The Straight Line Challenge – a trend which started in 2019 when YouTuber Tom Davis attempted to walk in a straight line across Wales – on November 25.

Theirs was the first successful attempt at the challenge in New Zealand.

The Auckland adventurers with Whangarei friend Cobe Howell [seated on Tane's shoulders] who provided them with food and water, and recharged their phone batteries along the way.

The friends planned their route, gathered a tent, sleeping bags and foam mats, and asked permission from locals whose land they would cross.

They had a GPS and their goal was to not stray more than 25m in either direction from the line.

The trio’s journey began from Baylys Beach with a “huge cliff to scale”.

They were soon in the thick of Northland’s beautiful forests, and crossing rolling farms, rushing rivers, and creeks.

“Everyone was so welcoming, it was nice how supportive everyone was,” Reeve said.

“We reached out to farmers and property owners beforehand.

“We went door knocking and if they weren’t there, we left notes in their letter boxes.

“People turned off electric fences for us and donated along the way ... we bumped into someone who gave us a $10 note.”

Alex and Ben take in Northland’s diverse landscapes.

The lads also had support from a Whangārei friend Cobe Howell, who met them each day to provide food, water, and recharge their phone batteries.

Day two involved paddling across the Northern Wairoa River in an inflatable raft.

“We got the tides a bit wrong, we were expecting it to be flat, but got dragged by the current,” Reeve said.

“We ended up doing spins the whole way.

“We also had a couple of hundred metres of tall cutty grass to get through at the end, which made it really hard going.”

The hard going wasn’t over - there was more cutty grass and a sludge-filled creek that stunk like cow manure to cross.

“We tried to jump across and got it all through our boots and it stunk,” Smith said.

“A kind farmer saw it happen and thought it was hilarious.

“He let us have a shower using his outdoor hose.

“If it wasn’t for that farmer, we would have been toast.”

The lads with a Northland property owner, who stopped for a chat along the way.

The friends finished their challenge in Takahiwai near One Tree Point on November 30, raising nearly $11,000 for Movember, which raises funds and awareness of men’s health issues.

The last day, which included battling a “huge section” of mangroves during bad weather, was by far the hardest day, they said.

“By that time, we were all soaked and covered in mud,” Reeve said.

“We’d been wearing the same Movember T-shirts for days and were looking pretty grim.

“That was followed by a really steep forest climb ... we ended up getting through that, but a dog from a nearby house scared the living daylights out of us.

“Then we could see the finish line and it was an easy walk to the east coast.”

Alex, Ben and Tane with a friendly farmer whose property they crossed during their journey.

Despite the discomfort it was “a fun week”, Smith said.

“I haven’t laughed that much for a long time.”

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.