REALLY REALLY LONG DAY

Bruce dropped us off at Sandy Bay around 8 am. We began our journey into the hills and instantly we were almost killed by a stampede of cattle. We jumped off the trail just in time to let all the girls pass and meet the kiwi driving them. He was a nice enough man riding a four-wheeler. He thanked us for getting out of the way and introduced us to his dog Maz, (Mazarati on a good day Mazda on a bad day), we told him our story and we parted ways. Shortly there after Donnie busted his ass on the narrow cattle trail and lost his camera. While helping him look for it I bust my ass twice and barely escaped with my life. Around noon we finally got to our first big landmark, the Whanaki footbridge. We were eyeballed by a Maroi in a rundown car then questioned by school kids who were interested in our packs and where we were going as well as where we had been. We grabbed a quick snack at the only store in town and set off down rockels road..... the worst road ever. After our trek up rockels rd, and to emphasize it was UP the road, we met a woman leaving her house who asked if we were lost. She was nice enough and told us that we needed to hop over the no trespassing fence and then run to the beach. The theory behind this is that Maori's can only charge you money on their land if you are not on the beach. Once you reach the beach, your safe. We hopped the fence and "ran" (it is rather difficult to run with a 50lb pack on) and made it to the beach were we cooked creamed corn and beans. Two young girls passed by and gave us directions to get where we were going. We took our shoes off and headed down the beach towards mimiwhangada (mimi-fan-ga-da). After around 45 minutes we finished the remainder of our water off and had a re-assessment (first of many) of our lives. We decided we would not be able to make it to helena bay and that we should get water at the house down the road. Upon closer inspection we instantly realized that we were about to crash a honeymoon. We asked Katie if we could have some water and she told us she would get water but that we would have to go down the road to camp. We had some water and after talking to Andy and Katie for about 20 minutes they offered us a shower, a bed, and FOOD! We declined at first, but we have found out early on that Kiwi's will not let you say no. After a LONG hot shower Andy started cooking and we started drinking.......... 9 bottles of champagne later I was ready for bed.