Coastwalk Opua-Okiato-Russel

Today Lena, Sabrina, Cynthia and I started in Paihia and took the Coastwalk to Opua (about 2 hours hiking). The weather was fantastic (21 degrees and sunny - felt like 25 degrees). From there, we took the ferry to Okatio for $1 and then decided to hitchhike to Russel after another half an hour of hiking. Cynthia and I started... It took a bit longer than last time, but after about 10-15 minutes, a woman in her 50s with her elderly mother picked us up. 10 minutes later, we finally arrived in Russel and marched to the iSite (tourist information center). We walked along the coast and got a large fries with ketchup for $4💪

While we were eating, Lena and Sabrina arrived too and we decided to hike towards a beach together.

On the way back, we hitchhiked again. Cynthia and I rode with a woman in her mid-30s who dropped us off at the next gas station just 2 minutes later. From there, we rode with Ben - a New Zealander, and 2 French people who are currently working on his farm (doing wwoofing) and also doing work & travel in New Zealand. He gave us a ride and dropped us off right in front of the hostel 😊

Back in Paihia, we took a shower first and cooked dinner afterwards. Then, we sat in the hostel's chill out area with two Australians until 2 o'clock in the morning and talked about the differences in languages, cultures, and what we do, etc. It was really funny and interesting - unfortunately, the two of them left today (doing things spontaneously/without a plan: just winging it) 😄