The first section today was a coastal walk which I think is the most beautiful of all the hikes we’ve done so far, gorgeous green rolling hills next to beaches surrounded by dramatic rocks, just amazing!
Then there was a section that switched from road walk to beach walk, back to road walk and some trail before going back to more road walking. As much as I hate the road walks, partly because the roads have very little space on the side and partly because they kill my feet, hanging them broken up by little walks makes them much more tolerable.
We did a quick stop at the dairy in Matapouri, I was hoping for something good for second breakfast, but they didn’t offer takeaway until later, so I got a popsicle (hot day again today) and a snack. Usually when hiking toward the end of the day you start fantasizing about food, now it’s starting in the first hour. It’s 8 am and I’m dreaming of Korean BBQ, steak, sushi, just all the things!
Then there was a section of woods that was nice, but very similar to other sections we have done lately. The biggest attraction was a huge kaori tree called Tane Mona, which was really beautiful.
Then more road walks and finally got to Ngunguru, where I ate a whole pizza and drank a beer and was still hungry. I picked up a falafel sandwich for dinner and yogurt and a pastry for breakfast. It’s not full blown hiker hunger, but my body definitely wants more calories than before.
Got a water taxi across Ngunguru river to Nikau bay eco camp near km 341, 28 km today.
