Day 34: Kauri Lane to Ngaruawahia/Hamilton (765-779)
We all left Kauri Lane this morning around 8 and headed for the Hakarimata Forest. While we ate breakfast we got a hold of our friend Curly from the first few days of the trail and were excited to see him when we made it out of the forest.
On our way down Kauri Lane we really enjoyed looking at some alpacas a neighbor kept.
The Hakarimata Forest trail was steep and had some stairs as we started up to the summit. There were some viewpoints and a detour to see Kauri trees, but we didn't take the Kauri detour.
About an hour into our hike, it started raining and didn't stop. But that make us hike quickly without taking breaks. Until we got to the summit I could barely keep up with Erinn and Trevor. When we arrived at the summit a really nice lady offered to take us to her place to dry off and use her shower, but we were planning to meet Curly.
From the summit it was over 1000 steps down. I love steps and jogged down them even though it was raining. People use the steps to train, so many people were out running and walking them despite the rain. We finished the forest in about four and a half hours and walked a few minutes into Ngaruawahia to find a cafe to sit down at. We got a hold of Curly and before we knew it he picked us up. It was so good to see him and stay at his place! We all had been on the same bus from Auckland to Katia and met at Twilight Beach. It was a fun reunion!
Curly and I drove to Hamilton to get Kristen so she could stay with us and we all spent the evening in Cambridge at Curly's.
Alpacas!
A view from the Hakarimata Forest before the rain clouds rolled in
Some of the nice forest trail
Motivational saying on the stairs down that I found funny.
Erinn and a fraction of the many stairs down out of the Hakarimata Forest
Another quote I enjoyed on the stairs
Nicest bed of the trip so far!