Taking a walk to Opua

Our last day in Paihia! We need to catch the bus back to Auckland at 4 pm.

We needed to check out at 10am, so we ate breakfast and packed up our bags. Fortunately, we could leave our luggage at the reception of the hostel, so we were free to go wherever today!

We decided to follow the recommendations of our guide books, and go for a walk from Paihia to Opua, a little village further South. The walkway follows the coast line, and it takes about 2 hours one way.

Due to the floods and storms a few weeks ago, the trails were still very muddy (you should have seen my pants!!), but we did make it to Opua in one piece :)

However, when we got to Opua, we realized that there was no way back to Paihia (other than walking, of course).
By that time we were sick of muddy trails, so we contemplated walking back on the road.
Fortunately, we met a nice woman in a little store that offered to give us a ride back. She lives in Paihia, but works in the store every day during the week in Opua.

Back in Paihia, we got lunch and coffee, walked around the waterfront some more, and grabbed an ice cream cone.
Then it was time to get back to the Saltwater Lodge to pick up our luggage.
We left Paihia at 4:30, with a full bus and got back to Auckland at 8pm.