Thanksgiving in Matakana

Not sure what day to celebrate Thanksgiving in NZ, but its Friday here and Thanksgiving at home! I'm into. Matakana about 475km into the trail and still hiking with Alex. We stayed a night with a 'healer' two nights ago who lives on a mountain in Waipu- a 41 year old Harley riding lady who believes in the power of love to slay evil- which spelled backwards is 'live' which you can do as long as you want if you eliminate 'dis- ease' from your life. Oh boy. Anyways that was a cool half day off from walking in the rain. We also hitched a boat across a channel to Marsden Point- an industrial export center of Northland- mainly pines on giant ships bound for places like Singapore. Te Araroa is kind of like a scavenger hunt sometimes and it's nice to have Alex's Kiwi accent getting us random things like boat hitches. There have been beach walks on deserted beaches and road walks and mountain/forest tracks since my last post, and I think I've left 'northland' and am approaching Auckland within a few days.
Happy Thanksgiving !
Nick

Picture is of me atop mount Tamahunga yesterday.