People along the Te Araroa trail who have seen dbBrad

MaiHi and Mona-Jane Brown.  A wonderful Brother and Sister who invited me to their home.  I declined, regrettably,  as I had commitments for kayaking the next day in PaiHia.  I've since tried to look them up with no success.  Sticking with plans is a good thing, but knowing when to deviate is a good thing too and I cant help but think I should have deviated this time.

At the trails near the Stone Store in KeriKeri where the treaty of Waitangi was signed, these young woman happy to pose for me after hearing about my hiking adventure!

No name guitar player in KeriKeri

Karolyn and Floyd, a wonderful German couple are running this pizza business while the owners travel for a month and they're doing a great job of it. It's small privately owned businesses like this, run by proprietors like these, where the future of our towns and cities lies, at least according to dbBrad.

Mom and son at a house near the end of Waikare road in Russell forest.

Madelin and Phlip, two female hikers also attempting the entirety of the Te Araroa trail, New Zealand, 2011

dbBrad, Paul and Jordan, end of Waikare Road.

Hanging out in Whananaki, I met Barb and Tony. Tony has a brother who is an architect building eco-friendly living solutions similar to myself on Coromandel Peninsula who I intend to visit when I get to Auckland.

Any surfer, Sandy Bay, New Zealand.

Not just any surfer, Sandy Bay. This kid, cool and confident, is only 13 and has been surfing for 8 years. Last year he took the national championship for u-13 surfing competition.

Will and I hung out under his hatchback in the rain, cooked dinner and camped on Sandy beach. Waking up to sunshine and coffee, we soon donned wet suits and he gave me a surfing lesson before heading into work.

Kaz takes shit from no one. This surfing school van took up 3 parking spots on his beach, including his spot. Kaz has been surfing this beach for over 20 years and took some time to explain the social pecking order of the beach before posing for this picture. He hopes to open a club some day and I suggested he name it Kaz Bar, as in Rocking the...!