My zero day was amazing. I took a lazy walk around Matakana and visited a great brewery, had a nice long nap and then met up with my trail buddies for a scuba dive at Goat Island Marine Preserve. The water conditions were pretty terrible – the surf was still really strong from the storm and the visibility was less than three feet. We had fun anyway and I was really impressed with how everyone handled the conditions. It was the first time that Margaux had tried diving and she had a blast. We were all freezing when we got up from the dive. I love thru hikers because they tend to laugh when they are cold, hungry or tired. Hey, no one else to blame for the situation that you are in so you might as well laugh about it.
After the dive, we hitched to the next town for a big Indian dinner and then grabbed another hitch back to the campsite next to the trail. This place wasn’t really set up for camping but was just a spot behind an abandoned restaurant that hikers had appropriated as an overnight rest spot. It was pretty nasty. The ground was soaked and smelled sour. The back of the building was a ramshackle lean-to with some dirty furniture and abandoned hiker clothes and there was loud traffic noise from the busy highway below. The water source was this disgusting looking drum labeled “grey water”. It wasn’t the worst campsite I’ve stayed it but definitely in the bottom five. I named it Camp Sad Panda.
Things got much better as we headed back onto the trail the next morning. The next section was a combination of beautifully groomed trails and forest service roads with amazing views of the bright green hill country just north of Aukland. I felt great after my rest day and hiked hard for about five hours with Thorsten directly to the famous Puhoi Teahouse. Steve runs this place and it is a fun mixture of fancy teas and delicious hot meals combined with a free camping spot for thru hikers. We ordered one of everything on the menu and my Roobios vanilla tea was nothing short of spectacular after hiking in the cold rain. Steve is a wonderful host but not a fan of ducks. He shot one with an air gun while we were waiting for our lunch. The air gun just stuns them a bit as he is trying to keep them away from his chickens. I don’t think it’s working very well as the ducks were right back at it a few minutes later.
We rented kayaks in Puhoi for the next section down the Puhoi River and to our next campsite for the night. It felt great to get off my feet for a bit and let the tailwind carry me down river. Right before our campsite, we spotted a dog swimming across. We yelled over to a woman on horseback on the shore and she confirmed it was her dog and that he loves to swim back and forth alone. This was not a short jaunt across a creek but a wide river with strong ocean driven tides. He glanced over at us as we paddled by and we knew he was in his happy place.
The rest day did wonders and set me up really well for our next few days around Auckland and then further south. We got separated from Thomas for a few days while he takes care of some work stuff but we hope to meet back up with him after Hamilton. Our campsite tonight is a beautiful nature preserve right on the water. I had a big dinner at sunset and rested in my tent listening to the birds and lambs. The ducks came by for a visit. I’m in my happy place too.
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