Paihia is a beautiful place to wake up to.
A cruise ship had pulled into the bay. It made other boats look like toys. Once we had tickets we boarded the Bay Balle vessel and headed across to Russell.
This quaint historic settlement was once the capital of NZ. It was also labelled at one point as the ‘Hell hole of the Pacific’. Hard to believe now!
Once on the road out of Russell we encountered a boardwalk over a mangrove bay. We then headed along a forestry road with native trees in abundance. It was lush and stunning. Nikau palms were lining the roadside in patches. They reminded me of Venetian blinds with their swordlike leaf structure.
A slight navigational miscalculation on my part and we had to work a total of 34 km for the day.
The reward was to camp beside a tranquil river with mature totara trees shielding our tent from high above. Flowering hydrangeas grew alongside the riverbank.
Tammy was our host. A long, but rewarding day in the end.
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