I slept pretty well despite the traffic noise from the highway and being on a slight slope and feeling like I was rolling off my mat all night. I felt a bit out of sorts somehow though, I couldn’t find my Swiss army knife and then didn’t check that there was still toilet paper when I used the bathroom and had to call out for someone to bring me some. I finally set off up a gravel road that eventually turned into a track, where I passed the 500km mark.

After the track it was back onto road and then over some farmland. One of the farmers said hello and we chatted a bit, he told me how the trail used to detour around on some roads, but that when he bought the land, he started to let walkers across. He also offered me to fill my water bottles, but they were full already. After a bit more road, there was a big climb up a track to the top of Moirs hill. Just before the climb, some of us took a break and along came this girl on horseback, who I would guess was about 10. She came right up to us and said hello and asked us what we were up to and then told us that she rides every day and also goes out pig hunting and eeling with her family, catching an eel recently that was 1.5 meter long. She promised us that more mud was in our future and she didn’t lie, although it wasn’t anything compared to yesterday and it was only in a quite short section.

The trail into Puhoi, our destination for the day, was closed for a logging operation so it was along a paved road for the last kms.

The Puhoi pub is the oldest in New Zealand and all the hikers met there for a drink and some food. It was such a treat to have some real food for dinner, the best burger I’ve ever had.

Cécile, Caroline, Michael, Erik and I are staying in a trail angel’s garden, but she lets us use the bathroom in the house, as well as giving us fresh eggs and just being very nice and welcoming.

Day 25: Puhoi to Red Beach

The official trail from Puhoi is a river kayak to Wenderholm on the coast. Since it’s a tidal river, the kayaking is dependent on the tide and we had to wait for 10:15 for the outgoing tide to start. It was a leisurely morning with a stop in at the cafe in Puhoi for a breakfast sandwich (egg, bacon and a hash brown in a bun) and a flat white. There was a market happening so I also checked it out. It was mostly bric a brac type stuff and very little produce.

We must have been about 30 people doing the river kayak, more people just kept on showing up. It was about an 1.5 hours starting off by going under the state highway and then through some farmland.

We ended in Wenderholm regional park and a steep climb up some stairs and gravel path brought is to a lookout.

The condition of the track deteriorated significantly and we unexpectedly ended up on a slippery muddy descent. Not being mentally prepared for more mud today, I found it quite exhausting. Thankfully it was quite a short track. After lunch, we arrived at the bridge that crosses over to Waiwera and thought we would have to walk the side of the highway since low tide to be able to take the coastal route was still a few hours away. However, the highway looked twisty and busy and very unappealing so we decided to head toward the coast and see if we could pass. On the way, we passed a cafe and decided to stop in for a tea and allow a bit more time for the tide to go out. When we finally made it to the coast, it looked very doable so we went for it. There were some locals diving for sea urchins and interesting rock formations.

When we got to Orewa beach, we made a detour into town to go to the grocery store. After getting distracted by some gelato, we made it to the New World and I got a banana and small broccoli. It was a few kms into Red Beach afterwards, where we planning to stay at the campground. It was raining as we arrived and we got a deal for a cabin that only cost slightly more than a campsite. It was lovely to take a hot shower and then be able to cook dinner in our little cabin.