TA Days 23 and 24: Rest and relaxation in Mangawhai

*Note: I wrote most of this during my day off on October 19th.

A cordial greeting from Mangawhai, where we will take a zero day for travelers’ rest. So far, 470.5 kilometers (294 miles) of the 3,050 kilometers (1,906 miles) TA have been completed.

Yesterday was a short day, with 18 kilometers (11 miles) of official TA track. In addition to trails and walking paths, the trail also passes through some private farmland.

Wasting time after accidentally taking a scenic detour.

My actual mileage was a little higher after accidentally detouring through an extra gate and unknowingly changing the farm road for a path through the hills and a posh neighborhood. I didn’t realize I had gone off the trail until the trail ended. Oops

At least the views were good and I saw some colorful sheep. I typically wear pants to minimize my sun exposure and need for sunscreen. However, the heat and additional climbs led me to convert my pants to shorts for the rest of my hike.

After a steep climb out of farmland I returned to a forestry track and headed up the Mangawhai Cliff trail.

Under a clear blue sky, it was beautiful to walk on the cliffs overlooking the coast. I could see that the tide was low, which made me want to go down to the beach to look at the rocks. I love making tide pools, but when I got to the beach there wasn’t much time to explore.

From there I left Mangawhai Heads beach and continued along the footpaths to Mangawhai for the night. Along the way, I caught up with Distance Frog and we had paninis for lunch, before doing some shopping on our walk.

After several days of traveling, it is always a pleasure to stay in a real bed for once. Two nights were especially pleasant.

About to repackage my food after restocking!

Often on rest days I feel anxious about exploring a new area and walking more than resting. However, this time I had a decent balance between rest and relaxation.

It was nice to have a quiet morning and even a second breakfast which included some free samples and a pistachio croissant from Bennetts Chocolate Shop, just across the street from where we were staying.

After a snack, Weather Guru and I headed across town to the supermarket. Instead of just walking along the road, we drove through Kainui St. Reserve, got to see some beautiful flowers along the Mike Keating Memorial Trail, and then took the estuary trail past the mangroves.

Dancin’ Dana (me) with Weather Guru (on the right) enjoying a little walk on our day off.

Besides the scenery, the highlight of the rest day was the great conversations with our amazing hosts Alan and Lisa. They had a lot of great travel stories and had done a lot of environmental activism. Travel and environmentalism are two of my main passions, so we really clicked.

After being on the road, I always crave fresh fruits and vegetables. So for dinner, Weather Guru, Distance Frog and I made some toast with fresh rosemary and sourdough of olives, avocado, hummus and vegetables.

Distance Frog, Weather Guru and I with our hosts Alan and Lisa.

The next morning, I woke up early and ran into my good friend Greta while she was packing. Then, before long, it was time to embark on the next leg of our journey.

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