Te Araroa (day 34) - Parawai Hut to Paekakariki Holiday Park / mile 1021
"Kiwi's have eccentricity of Australians and the manners of old England" Will Out of the mountains and into the beach, last stretch of the North Island, it looks like I will be able to dock in Wellington for Christmas after all. It feels nostalgic already, even though I didn't like hiking North Island that much. It had a lot of road walking, traversing farmlands and overgrown bushes. But what I really enjoyed was interactions with people. Kiwi's have this quirky, warm and little bit childish charm to them. They are relaxed and open to interactions with smelly backpackers. It's definitely something I will miss while hiking on much more remote South Island. In the morning I said goodbye to Tararua Range by climbing over Pukeatua peak. It took five hours to arrive on the other side of the mountain where I started the road walk towards the town of Waikanae. About half way through I saw a car about to leave from one of the houses and I asked for a lift to town. Man...