Te Araroa (day 20) - Manawatu Manganui to Purora Forest Park [Timber Trail] / mile 605

It was a day of dead hedgehogs, enthusiastic cyclists, lessons about timber logging and meeting British people.

Day started with a long road walk up to a trail, I saw three flattened hedgehogs along the highway, a sad sight especially as the road was very quiet. After two hours I reached the Timber Trail I would hike along for the next two days, it was a cycling trail so many TA hikers rented bikes to traverse it. The path, especially after hiking the neglected Managoakewa River Trail yesterday was immaculate, one of the best maintained walks I have ever seen. There was a lot of posts with information about the timber logging in the area and how in 1970s people started to protest against cutting native forests to preserve it.

An absolute highlight of this section were three suspension bridges build by DOC along the way. Other than the bridges trail itself was build and maintained by volunteers! Thanks to the grading and accessibility of the path I walked over 30 miles during the course of the day, which will be hard to beat in the weeks to come.

On my way to the campsite I've stopped at the Timber Trail Lodge. Here I met Alex from Sheffield, young guy who came to NZ on a working visa and ended up staying, he was a chef. He wasn't sure if he will remain here long term but he enjoyed the space and opportunities NZ was offering.

While in the lounge two guys who were cycling the Timber Trail started taking to me. Their families knew each other for six generations thanks to a fruit farming business they both ran, they were here on a binding adventure. One of them said that he had an English friend who fought during Second World War in Poland, ended up marrying Polish girl and emigrated to NZ with her. He wrote a book about it called "Red Runs the Vistula" which was quite a popular read.

Once at the campground I topped up the water and ate, on the way back from the stream two emigrants from Newcastle Sara and John started talking with me. Sara was cycling the North Island from Cape Reinga to Wellington and John was joining her for couple of days, they both lived just outside Wellington since coming here from England. We joked about how whacky and wonderful New Zealanders can be, how the dairies close at 5pm and restaurants at 9pm, unless there's more than four paying costumers. How the country is behind 30 years compared to the western world and dining out in Auckland feels like a 90s movie. How everything but birds is considered a vermin and how Taika Waktiti's movie "Boy" is more of a documentary than a comedy. Sara also helped me to plan next section through the national park, then I said goodbye.

There were many tents scattered along the field, few families lighting fires and making barbeques, couple of TA hikers with their rented bikes and other cyclists stopping here for the night. Swallows were cruising along the campsite catchin insects. At night I heard many bird calls one of which might have been an elusive kiwi.