Legs and Borders

"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 befo...

Thursday, 30th November 2023 Late start to a decent day of hiking. I was all packed up and ready when Blair rolled on to Reotahi Beach driving mini tractor attached to a boat, he reversed submerged the boat half way in and asked me to jump in. Within 5 minutes we were speeding across the Reotahi Bay. I was the only person taking the ride, it cost me 40$, others grouped in 5 were paying 12$ each. Blair stopped on the other side of the bay, ride only took few minutes, he noticed that my pack was very light compared to others and I think it was because there was no food in it! Next section was going along the beach, I found few cool shells here, including a black Camino style shell which I'm planning to replace with the one on my backpack.  After an hour I took an alternate path going through Ruakaka and next to a supermarket as it was time to resupply. Store was called Fresh Choice, they had a good selection of products, slightly above the regular prices, for ...