We awoke early in the crowded Opunake Beach camp ground. Why not, I drifted off at about 9:30 so getting up at 6:30 means I got 9 hours sleep. The camp ground went from all sleeping to lots of movement in an instant. Melodee said lets get going and we did only after walking down to the deserted beach and having our morning coffee. A solitary surer was working the waves, for the longest time we had one of the best beaches in the world to ourselves. As we frequently do, we moved for breakfast. We've found that in the US and Canada, the day use areas make the best day camps. Rather than eating where we've slept we move to the spot with the great view for breakfast. Today that was on the bluff overlooking Opunake beach. The solitary surfer was still out there and we had a million dollar view along with our bacon and eggs.
It was a short drive to Stratford, a small city near the east entrance to Egmont National Park. We checked in at the holiday park and headed for the national park. It is a beautiful place, but far less used than any US park. There were a half dozen hikes taking off from the visitor center; we opted for the Wilke pools loop, a 2.5km walk up to some pools in an old lava flow. My legs were still stiff from the Tongariro crossing hike. It was good to get this walk in.
We have been off the tourist trail since we left Tongariro. In fact we were possibly the only non Kiwis at Opunake and New Plymouth. At Stratford we once again were among tourists, mostly europeans. We talked a bit with a younger couple from Barcelona. They were diving instructors most recently in Thailand and now were traveling for the 6 month offseason.
We woke early again and walked a portion of one of Statford tracks. It continues amaze me how quickly you can move from developed area to the bush. We walked thru a gate down 4 steps and were instantly in the bush walking along the river. Very nice.
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