Day 10. Mangamuka.

I woke up to the rain still pounding on my tent, and the thought of getting out of my warm sleeping bag to pack up camp in the cold rain did not appeal to me. As I slowly started gathering myself the morning rays burst through the horizon and the rain subsided. I quickly started packing up camp before the next shower hit and I was fortunate enough to avoid it. I put my wet weather gear on, and prepared for a wet day. As I made my way towards the road I was greeted by 4 horses. I sure have had some great experiences with horses on the trail.

It was another 2 hours of road walking before I made it to Mangamuka cafe. I ordered a bacon and egg hamburger with a bottle of milk. The women who took my order said "you're not walking the trail? Are you!?" She told me I was mad for doing it in the winter, but also said there were two others who came through yesterday heading south. That means that they were most likely camped at Apple Dam, another 15km or so into the Omahuta forest. I signed a trail book she had and wrote of my experiences in Herokino and Raetea. I checked the weather forecast and it looked like there was some heavy rain inbound. This was bad news. The Omahuta forest has a 5km river section that is subject to flash floods in heavy rain. It's recommended to take the wet weather bypass walking on highway 1 for about 40-50km to Kerikeri.

As I approached the fork in the road I decided to play it safe and continue on highway 1. The hard road surface was proving extremely difficult for my left foot, which has yet to recover from Ninety Mile Beach. After around 10km of highway walking I decided to hitch the rest to town. A Mauri man named Papa picked me up and we discussed the medicinal benefits of plants in the forests I passed through.

When I made it to Kerikeri I limped onwards to Hone Heke lodge. I was put in a dorm room by myself - which saved everyone else from my stench -  and took a well needed hot shower.