Te Araroa, Day 24

I start at 8:15 today, first on a country road and then along the highway. There’s a 5 km coastal walk to Orewa, but it’s only accessible at low tide, so I continue walking along a busy road, which is tricky in parts with almost no shoulder. I reach Orewa Beach around 10:30 am. After a kilometer of beach walk, I spot a McDonald’s to my right. I grab some fries and half a kilo of yogurt from the supermarket. Quickly, I return to the beach. Orewa is like a suburb of Auckland, extremely busy and overwhelming for me.

After my meal, there’s only another kilometer on the beach, followed by a walkway along an inlet and then busy roads. I feel very uncomfortable—it’s too noisy and bustling for my taste. The last road is a 7 km stretch to Stillwater, extremely dangerous with lots of curves, limited visibility, and no shoulders. I have to be very careful.

The campground is quite “ancient.” We get assigned some space between two caravans since there’s supposed to be a lot of wind tonight.

I talk to a woman from Christchurch whom I had seen before at Nikau Bay. She mentions that she hurt her back and can hardly walk anymore. She plans to go to Auckland and then fly back home to Christchurch, unfortunately marking the end of her walk.

Road walking:

Some views from the side of the road:

2 km beach walk in Orewa and the McDonald's that appeared when my head turnt to the right for a moment:

Tents safely pitched between some mobile homes: