222 km - 384 km

I will continue my story with what happened after we left the jungles and had that delicious burger in Whapapa village. We continued walking that evening to Kerikeri (both feeling reaaally tired, Sjoerd: "not another 8 km!"). A rainbow appeared in the sky when we walked into the town The rainbow seemed to promise something good.. And good things came: a shower, a washing machine, no rain and heaps of sun, bays and beaches. We enjoyed a  day of rest in Kerikeri, a very nice town. All the residents seemed to have vegetable gardens and all the trees and flowers seemed to blossom and spread pleasant smells (a bit like paradise to me). After Kerikeri we entered the Bay of Islands and then we followed the less busy coastline down to Bream head. We passed many tiny towns, lots of cows, and wonderful secluded bays

I am starting to get used to the daily rhytm of getting up at sunrise, put on my shoes, walk 20-something km, take off my shoes and go to sleep at sunset. It also has been fun walking together with Sjoerd and sharing the good times (wonderful views and landscapes) and the less good times (no streams for ages while being thirsty and without water, feeling exhausted because of the heat, loosing the trail in an estuary full of mud and sharp shells).

The current state of me: no blisters (they have healed), sometimes close to being sunburnt or getting a heatstroke (but not there yet :), feeling happy and enjoying the whole adventure.

We are now on a campsite in Whangarei (this is not part of the trail but we hitch-hiked to here). A hot spa is waiting for me now (hmmm....) so I will end this written story here. I trust the photos below will continue telling you the story...

Arrival at Kerikeri

One of the oldest houses of New Zealand from 1832, located in Kerikeri

Camping in Russell forrest

The summit of Mnt Bledisloe with a view across the Bay of Islands

Beautiful horses in Paihia

The beach of .. (I forgot, Sjoerd says Matapouri). I loved the maze

And the beach at the bay of ... (forgot again). An awesome place though, and the backyard of some very lucky people.

Early morning boat trip across Ngunguru river with a local fisherman  

Walking at low tide across the Taiharuru river

A camping spot with a view across Ocean beach

The first light of the day

Sunrise :)

Good attempt :)

The summit-without-name of 476 m high. This rock is the remain of an old volcano. A great hike up! until we were back down at the road and realised the SPOT locator beacon was still on top of the summit... Had to climb up and down another time.

This is Ocean beach, and the village with the same name where we realised we had a few peanuts and some chocopasta left for a full day hike. There were no shops around within the next 12 km. We made it through the day though.