With a short day ahead we left rather late and headed to Russell. Lucky for us there is a small trail which meant we didn’t have to be on the road. Along the road two bikers gave us a toot, we recognised them straight away as the bikers at the farm and waved back. Once we got into Russell we saw them at the wharf and had a chat. There was an op shop we had a sniff around in too while we waited for the next ferry.

The ferry comes every 30min which makes it a very fast wait.

Once in Paihia we went to get some lunch at a rib shack place. Food was good but not great. A couple of beers later and a chat to our waiter we found that the local backpackers owner was in having lunch too. He said we could make our way over and stay the night in the campground bit. So we slowly walked there, mostly because I have a brand new blister on my sole. Finally we get there and the place is pretty grotty and it felt dodge as. We decide to go back to our original plan and stay at the Waitangi campground, so we head back the way we came. Finally at the campground we bump into our first Te Araroa hiker. Dirk the German is heading south. We chat and swap notes about where and where not to go. Heading for a rest day tomorrow, can’t wait!