Te Araroa (day 12) - Mangawhai to Pakiri / mile 296

"Yes, its a good day for hiking but you should really moisturise your nose, sorry I'm a nurse" Donna the nurse

"She will either explode or go, one of the two" Glen

Day started with a steep downhill walk to Mangawhai where I bought a sausage roll and a coffee for breakfast, the guy at the Service Station surprised my by offering me the coffee for free. After that I took some money from the cash machine as I was getting low and had a chat with Petra, immigrant from Holland who was interested in people who hiked TA and wanted to know what their plans were.

Trail was going through few towns and industrial areas, until eventually it diverted to the long stretch of the beach packed full with shells of all kind! I met Donna and her mother on a walk here stopping quite often to inspect a shell or two. This section had few more tide depending river crossings but only the last one was any deep, it was recommended to cross it few hours after or before the high tide. I got here three hours after the high tide and the water was just below my hips.

In the meantime I texted Rosie the trail andel I was planning to stay with tonight, she said it was no problem to pitch a tent in her yard. On the way there an old green Chevrolet pickup truck stopped next to me, smiling Maori guy called Glen asked if I wanted a lift. I didn't really need it at this point but he looked so friendly that I said yes.

I jumped at the back with his dog Rippo, after about a mile the car stopped Glen got out and was trying to fix it but the old beast did not want to start, after ten minutes of waiting I decided to say goodbye and carry on walking. Glen did managed to fix the car eventually and he honked and waved as he drove by fifteen minutes later.

After an hour climb I reached Rosie's house, she was tending to her garden with her rescue chicken called Queenie, the friendliest dinosaur I have ever seen. There was two Swiss hikers staying here tonight as well. It turned out that they both hiked PCT one year earlier than me and we talked about it for over an hour, it was great to bring back to life the places and memories from that trail. Raven and Goodie as that was their trail names also had fond memories from the PCT, they shared with me few tips about food resupply in NZ, like buying feta cheese or carrying boiled eggs - which was more affordable and healthier than buying preserved meat or prepackaged meals.

During the conversation I was feeding Queenie with peanuts (which she loved) and dried peas (not so much), when I got too involved in the conversation she would peck at my socks and legs. Later on she would stay by my tent clucking.

Soon it got dark and we all went to sleep.