• Te Araroa Day 21
• Ngunguru to Taiharuru River – 18.5 km in 4 hours 30 minutes
• Lost possessions today: 0 – phew!

It is weird that it’s now been three weeks since I started walking. Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real to be actually doing this, walking the parts and staying in the places I’d read about and researched so much.

It was up at 5:30 am for a quick pack up, smoothie, and out the door at 6:05 am this morning. The Horahora river runs about one and half hours slower than the other tides in the area, James said. He felt this must be to do with the geography, but it certainly was a quirk I’m glad he briefed us on. High tide was at 5 am this morning, but he said we’d be fine to cross at 8 am. Ian and I wanted to be conservative though, so we left early and walked with our head torches on.

It was really pleasant walking in the cool early morning, watching the sky slowly lighten. We followed the detailed instructions from James, and found the correct place to cross. Fish were jumping, and there were a few grey herons. I was relieved water in the deepest part was only just at the bottom of my shorts. Ian said he saw a flounder and Greg later reported he’d seen sting rays! After that the mud in the mangroves was indeed thick and soft, and unfortunately we missed the exit and went on a 200 metre muddy excursion… The dewy grass helped to clean our feet and legs.

After that it was an uneventful road walk to Pataua. My quad had felt a bit better this morning, and although it still didn’t like downhill parts it was overall a bit better than yesterday. I think I can keep walking on it gently, without doing more damage or slowing the healing dramatically. My pack now being a bit lighter helps too.

We ran into the lovely hosts Hugh & Ros of Tidesong Bed & Breakfast just as they were heading into Whangarei. Like James from yesterday they are big supporters of Te Araroa and a popular place to stop. As well as the B&B they have a campsite, cabin, outdoor hot shower and toilet set up for hikers. Ros showed me around and introduced me to their two cute pet lambs. They kindly left us with tea, coffee and cake (!!!) and headed off.

I settled into the little cabin, had a good nap, then when Greg & Jo arrived we all had afternoon tea together. Later I caught the end of the America’s Cup, and went down to explore their garden that backs onto mangroves and the Taiharuru River Estuary.

Dinner with Hugh & Ros was without a doubt the best meal I’ve had on the trail so far. It was such a generous spread, and the six of us enjoyed talking about Te Araroa (Ros did it in 2014, with support from Hugh), and a wide range of other topics. They had some great stories about rescuing various hikers lost in the mangroves – one even on Christmas Day!

Each year they have a meeting with Te Araroa trust chairperson Mark Weatherall, along with others in the region like James. It’s a chance for them to give feedback and discuss any issues, so they were keen to hear our thoughts on the journey so far. Ros has been lobbying the local council for a road sign warning of walkers on the road for some time. Frustratingly they write back each time mentioning that they are busy working on a cycle way in a completely different part of the region!

I was really touched that people like Hugh and Ros care so much about the hikers that they go to those sorts of efforts. My heart and stomach was full tonight as I went to bed tonight 😊