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23km Day :  270km Total
The forecast today was for rain in the evening.  So I got off to an early start (6:20) to be sure of finishing the walk of Papakauri Stream before the rain started.  The morning started with a 4km walk along the bay to Opua just in time to watch the ferry leave that I was hoping to catch.  Which turned out well enough, because it gave me about 15min to stop at the general store for a coffee an something to eat. I caught the 7:30 ferry across the bay to Okiato at the cost of $1. 
The rest of the morning was spent walking the roads around the East side of the bay to arrive at Waikare at 12:30.  (Notice the official day mileage was 23km, my actual distance walked was 35km.  This is because the official distance is based on taking the water taxi (11km) instead of walking the roads (23km)).
Then it was additional gravel roads and well developed trails mostly along the Papakauri Stream.  The final 4 km of the walk was in the stream bed itself.  A beautiful walk and not difficult except for a 200m section with large smooth rocks that were slippery.

 I arrived at Papakauri Hut around 5pm.  It is not a hut in the sense of 4 walls and a roof.  It is a covered shelter, just enough to get out of the rain with seats and a raised table.  There is an old drop pit toilet up the hill behind the hut.  But the floor boards are decaying, so you need to be careful how you distribute your weight or you may fall through.
After setting up camp and making supper I was joined at the camp by Sharon and Joerg. An American and a German also hiking the trail.