Day 15 Kerikeri- Paihia

Today we woke up in kerikeri well rested, well fed and CLEAN! We all throroughly enjoyed our showers and clean clothes. We headed out fairly early, and the group split up in the rain as John and Kaspar went a different direction to get to the stone store than Manja Nick and I. When we got there, we went up on the track and got turned around up on top of the Pa because of bad track notes. We looked around for about a half an hour to find the continuation of the trail, and right as we found it John and Kaspar caught up with us! We continued on through a nice little trail over the kerikeri river and out towards Paihia. The day turned nicer and the rain we had in the morning went away in the afternoon. We enjoyed walking through the forests after a bit of a road section, and were granted a gorgeous view of Paihia from the top of a mountain with a monument. We sat there for quite a long time enjoying a bit of rest and then began walking down the road towards Paihia singing and loving life. We were greeted on the road by a man who told us that the route we were on was leading us to a terrible highway section and we were missing a beautiful river walk. We thought we knew better and completely ignored him without checking the maps. Only to realize 4k later that he was completely right. We were walking the wrong way, and the only way into town was via the highway. We Got to see some cool falls that we would have otherwise missed, but after that we walked on the main highway into Paihia for about 4k.

 It was dangerous, smelled like gasoline and the side of the road was covered in broken glass. Then it started to rain. We continued to walk with damp spirits and damp backs. We finally reached Paihia and Kaspar led us all the way through town to the Pickled Parrot which was on the exact opposite end of town from where we started. All the road walking had given me wicked shin splints, and I was incredibly grateful to have finally arrived at the parrot, it has been a while since my last rest day. we got into the Parrot and met some fantastic companions in the Hostel who we shared some nice Port wine and a few beers with before getting to bed nice and early. Forecast for tomorrow tons of rain and a 0 day! Today was one of the first times that we dismissed the idea of a local and didn't stop and enjoy their company chat with them and take their ideas. And boy did it bite us in the ass. I hope that as we and I continue I continue to say yes and listen to the people around me. Remember that everyone has something to teach me, and I'm just a guy walking in their country!