By Ruth

Distance: 21 km

Today we left the magical seaside town of Mangawhai. We couldn’t leave too early though because at the end of today’s walk was a tidal river crossing, which should be done around low tide. Low tide today was around 3:15 pm. We didn’t want to arrive at the river too early and have to sit around waiting for the tide to go out. So we got a leisurely start walking around 9:45.

The first hour or so of walking was not great. We were on a mostly gravel road, which at least is better than paved, but this one had lots of traffic and was not very scenic. And to top it off there was some kind of chainsaw noise that we could hear for a long time. The best part of the road was this sign, whose meaning is a mystery but at least it was unique.

Luckily that was the shortest segment of the day. After that we arrived at the beach, whose dunes are the nesting ground for the endangered New Zealand fairy tern (a type of bird). We did not see any of these, but plenty of seagulls, oyster catchers, and sand pipers.

The beach lasted the whole rest of the day. It was pretty but a bit long and repetitive by the end, as beach walks tend to be. We arrived at the tidal river right on time, around 3:30. We got to our holiday park for the night a little bit after that, and I had a hard time finding a place to hang my socks up to dry (they had gotten a bit damp on the beach). Luckily Elliot suggested this little nook.

Tomorrow we leave the coast for a few days and head into the forest. I’m looking forward to the change of scenery!