Legs and Borders

First rainy day on the trail. Luckily it was still dry in the morning so I quickly packed up everything and hit the road. After few miles of easy trail I stopped at the campsite Maggie and Ursula have stayed last night, they were having a late start today aiming for the visit at the tearoom down the road when it opens at 10am. I topped up the water and went on. Just after 9am I arrived at Puhoi, it had a general store which served coffee and breakfast baps with egg, bacon and hash browns. I sat down outside of it and had a chat with three local bikers about the trail and fishing (somehow you always end up talking about fishing around here). Fifteen minutes later I was back on the road, aiming to get to the highway and get a hitchhike to Waiwera as I didn't fancy walking along the busy road, especially when it rained. After ten minutes of waiting I got a ride from Ben who emigrated here from England fifteen years ago, we talked about what he liked...

"We do not know our own souls, let alone the souls of others. Human beings do not go hand in hand the whole stretch of the way. There is a virgin forest, tangled, pathless, in each; a snow field where even the print of birds feet is unknown. Here we go alone, and like it better so." Virginia Woolf Big quote eh? I know, found it buried in my notes and since there's not much to be said today I thought I'll add it in. Today was a long rollercoaster through the Dome Forest, lots of mud, lots of tree roots waiting to trip you over, a big friendly group of Chinese tourists, a jogger with an advice to "skip Auckland" I've heard at least ten times, two dead pussums hanging on the side of the road, empty cooler of 'trail magic' drinks, and that's about it. I finally met few other TA hikers on the trail (as opposed to campsites), Maggie from Canada/America (dual citizenship) and Ursula from Germany. They been both ta...