Despite rats or some other large animal running around on the roof all night we managed to get some good sleep. The hike out was once again muddy, but it wasn’t raining so that made it bearable. There were slippery rocks still and at some points we gave up and just tramped through the mud and water, having it come in our shoes from the top.
We each made a list of our sore spots. For Renee it was mostly on her right side: side of foot, pinky toe blister, plantar fasciitis, side of calf, then shoulders, inner thighs and left kidney from her pack. Alison had hips, knees and a blister on every toe and her back.we were quite the pair. This is the first hiking trip where vitamin I has been my friend. I hate covering up pain, but it has helped me get through.
Eventually we came across some people coming the other direction and they told us our water taxi would be early if we want it and that our pick up point was just an hour away! We thoughts it might be another two hours, so that was the best news we heard all day! We waited just half an hour for Zach wig the water taxi and three others joined us. Two were from the UK and one from NZ. Zachary told use the black swans we had been seeing are a nuisance because there are so many and you can only shoot them with a shotgun and they don’t allow shot guns in the park. So they breed without check. The water taxi ride was wet and windy but we got back to the car, changed while shivering and proceeded to plug up the camp shower drain with the mud from our clothes as we washed them out.
We then drove to Hastings and stopped at McDonald’s to get a mates hunger buster. It was two big macs, two cheeseburgers, fries and drinks and we got a mc flurry. Our hiker hunger had come one full blast. Getting out of the car was quite a challenge as we were both quite sore. We must have been a site!
We arrived in Hastings around six and met Alison’s friend Sandra. We chatted away the evening and enjoyed Tim tams with tea. It is so nice to sleep in a real bed after two nights one he trail. I think we’ve gone soft!
Life is an Adventure 
Love your posts and all the pictures you are sharing! Sorry you’re seeing so much rain and mud. Folks are commenting on the Te Araroa Facebook page about how muddy it is. Some are even considering taking a break in their thru hike and working until things dry up. Hope your blisters and pain ease up and you continue to have a great holiday down under.