Te Araroa 13/10/25

Day 18, Mangawhai to Pakiri beach (493km)

A dry start to the day but it got increasingly damp around mid-day, nice walking temperature though.

Dusty gravel road 

It was a pity it wasn't a bit damper earlier as the first section of gravel road had a lot of traffic which made it very dusty.

Along the beach

Onto the beach then for more sand and surf. At the next headland I met a chap and his girlfriend who were living in an old Toyota van and surfing their way around the country, he offered me a cup of freshly made coffee and we had an interesting chat about vans, surfing and their impending move to Denmark, where she was from.

A welcome cup of coffee 

After the headland another lovely beach but I was here at the wrong time as the tide was high and river crossings difficult or impossible so a certain amount waiting and chatting with other walkers passed the time.

The headland

I had a bit of a wetting on the first river crossing when I put my pole in some soft sand and tipped over face first into the water, luckily recovering with just my front getting wet because it was over two feet deep at that point.

I didn't get a picture of the river I fell in so more beach will have to do

The 'main' river crossing at Pakiri was actually the easiest of all and after being told that it was only possible to cross ninety minutes either side of low water it was easily crossed at half tide.

Pakiri river

Another good campsite, although the sites are becoming more like chalet sites nearer to Auckland.

Pakiri Campsite