Milford to browns bay

In the lingo, I am a SOBO Throughwalker but today, just to be contrary, I was a NOBO Sectionwalker. It means I was north bound, and aimed simply to walk a section. The tide was high so I could only do parts of the route from Milford, where I am staying, to Browns Bay north of here, on the beach. Sometimes I was up on the cliffs, and the photo shows how vulnerable a hiker might be if the tide came right in here - the stairs are munted. That's Rangitoto Island, I worked there last year. 

Without Deuter (my loved and hated pack) I sped along, past gazillion dollar yachts at Castor Bay, and the futuristic old gun emplacements from 1942. In the day, I read, they were camouflaged as baches.

At the Murray's Bay wharf, fishers used monofilament lines lightly weighted to send two baited hooks down but, new to me, each line had a vertical float looking like a bright pencil so a catch could be observed. Works really well, this man was hauling up pipers (grill with olive oil, serve on bruchetta?) and I plan to copy the setup for yellow eyed mullet at Foxton one day.

Town walking is really entertaining. I met Sticks & Stones Dogwalkers en route, love those Boston Terriers.

My round-the-bays perambulation even finished in a forest of a sort. Then a bus back to the beginning, just as the rain began.

I estimate that I skipped 28km of the Trail by not walking between Orewa and Brown's Bay. I did not want to attempt the "chest high at low tide at the third white marker" crossing of Okura River at Dacre's Point and when I saw Stillwater from one of yesterday's buses, I knew my time was too valuable for the mash-up of traffic and mangroves it involved.

Also in the lingo... hike your own hike!