Day 10

Today would be 25km to Kerikeri and another 8-ish km to stay and the brother of the Kiwi brothers. I was really excited to eat. So I hurried today.

Again a group got up at 5! And unfortunately not very quietly. So I just did the same. I was down to 5 oatmeal bars and mashed potato. So I eat breakfast while walking. I also made some phone calls.

The trail was much more beautiful than I remembered and I think it was rerouted for the better! An unexpected waterfall and not getting lost in paddocks.

The distance depends on where you divert from the trail and head to the city center. At that stage, I walked together with Max and Jorn. Nice to meet a fellow Dutchie and he spent years abroad. So he had impressive stories, especially about the pilgrim’s hike he walked in Japan.

Max was feeling less happy than Jorn and I. The obvious cause was a too heavy backpack. Which he fully knew. As he just wanted to be done, we took the first possible exit. I was glad to get a large burger! After that, we split up. They would look for accommodation and take a rest day tomorrow. I resupplied and bought a rubber ring for my water filter and an extra water bladder. with a second blader, I can create my own gravity filter and I HATE spending time on filtering water. So this is perfect for me!

After that, I walked back to the trail. I was a bit tempted to go back to where I left off. But that would mean an extra 3km and I wanted to finish and relax. So I skipped a little bit of trail.

The rest was mainly road. Only the beginning was a bit of trail.

I reached Maurice’s house (brother of the Kiwi brothers) at 5 pm. To make it more complicated his wife’s sister lives there as well. So we had a group of 9 for a delicious dinner and wine. Aah, absolutely heaven. A shower, a bed, and great company. Even a game was played!!! Couldn’t wish for more!