Te Araroa, Day 21

I start walking at dawn again, the same time, 5:50 am. It is easy walking today: The first 1.5 km along roads—first a paved road, then a gravel road. The road ends at a beach, and I enjoy 14 km of mostly fast beach walking.
There are small river crossings already, but nothing major.

Especially the last part of the beach walk is very enjoyable. There is no road access for a while and the beach is completely empty in front of me. I only share it with the birds.

I arrive exactly 5 hours after I started at the bigger river crossing, just before Pakiri Beach Holiday Park, the camping spot for tonight.

Since it is already low tide, it is easy to cross, with water up to the knees. There are four arms to cross altogether. I feel like I could still keep on walking further since the day was still early, but an early finish makes sense, to give the body some rest.

I set up the tent, clean the sandy, water-, and saltwater-drenched clothes and shoes, and let them dry in the patches of sun that appear here and there.