Te Araroa (day 75) - Colac Bay to Beach Road Holiday Park / mile 1856

"Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He'd been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a post-graduate student at the University of What Some Bloke In The Pub Told Me." Terry Pratchett

Penultimate day on Te Araroa, it was a long beach walk in the rain and wind but I managed to find a Paua shell in return!

Morning looked quite grim, I could hear the rain drumming on the roof of the cabin. I set off as soon as it got quiet. I decided to walk the section to Riverton on the road, the tide was high and the beach shallow and stony. I've arrived in Riverton at 9am, had a good (but not hiker sized) breakfast at the Jacob's Bakehouse Cafe and did a small resupply at the Supervalue.

It was a long sandy beach walk from here. Right at the start of it I picked up a Paua shell, it was quite surprising I even though they might be quite common here so I kept on looking but didn't manage to find another, even broken one. Looks like I got quite lucky, it was on my "to find" list since the North Island!
Weather got worse from here, it was windy, rain started to make every item I was wearing wet. I was hoping the forecast was right and it would stop around midday. It didn't. Only after I reached the campsite at 4pm the sun poked it's head from behind the clouds, at least it gave me an opportunity to dry everything. I went to the restaurant next door and had a delicious beef burger which made me feel guilty of spending too much money on food.
No one else from the Longwood Forest crew arrived at the campsite, they must have pushed all the way to Invercargill few miles ahead. It was only me and a Nobo hiker Gabriela from Canada staying here tonight. I had a shower and carried on reading Pratchett's "Jingo", I completely forgot just how funny and witty his writing was, an absolute joy to read.

Weather for next week was looking awful and so my plan to visit Stuart Island before going home was fading away. I would revisit this subject on Sunday after finishing the hike and adjust it if necessary. 

Friday, 2nd of February 2024. The Long Pathway was coming to an end.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 77) - Hikers Welcome Hostel to Eliza Brook Campsite / mile 1816

Image
"After hiking in White Mountain's everything else seems easy" Sue First day in the White's, I can confirm now that terrain here is unlike anything we faced on the AT so far. In the morning I had a coffee and a breakfast muffin at the hostel, surprisingly despite the early hour Tum Tum, Iceman, Yukon and Gutsy were up as well. Weather was supposed to be a mixed bag but we were all determined to climb Mt Moosilauke today. I headed out and started the 4000 feet climb first, it was a long, steady uphill going through well maintained terrain, problems only started at the top. Day was quite windy, combined with the rain and exposed, alpine environment, it became a recipe for a very wet, cold and uncomfortable time. At the top wind was pushing me left and right and rain was cutting across with great speed, I was completely drenched in just few moments. Luckily exposed section didn't last too long and the AT dived into the pine forest soon after. ...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 12) - Icewater Sorin Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter / mile 231

Image
Today could be described in one word - windy. And it was not your refreshing summer breeze, it was the kind of wind that chills your bones and the moment you feel it you want to turn around and go back home, except there's no home and you can't turn around. The food I hanged last night was completely frozen, it was funny to crunch on a solid snickers and granola bars for breakfast. At least it was sunny, I've put all my layers on and started hiking. Trail looked really good, I could see small patches of snow and icicles probably formed last night hanging from the bushes. Later during the day you could see the damage last years hurricane has done, fallen trees, layers of uncovered rock showing that there was not much trees could hang on to beneath, trail was trying to manoeuvre around the blow downs and disturbed earth. I haven't met many people today but I hiked alongside Blazer, a friendly, older American guy. He also hiked PCT, so w...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 76) - Lambert Ridge to Hikers Welcome Hostel / mile 1799

Image
Hot, humid, stormy day. My goal was to place myself withing the short distance before the climb to Mount Moosilauke. AT in New Hampshire definitely prooved from the very begining that it means business. The first and second climb of the day:  Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube were steep and rocky, the path was muddy, overgrown and not very well marked, combined with the hot and humid weather I was moving at a snail's pace. Views were quite rewarding though and after the initial struggle trail got easier for the rest of the day. I've seen yet another two bear cubs, no mother in sight this time around which got me a bit spooked. Cubs climbed so high up the tree I could hardly see them from the trail, they were so incredibly agile! I've taken a blurry video of the couple as I thought it was fairly safe to do so, that's 10 black bears I've seen so far on Appalachian Trail.  At one point I took a break  by the road and tried to dry my feet a...
Read more