Te Araroa (day 76) - Beach Road Holiday Park to Bluff [The End] / mile 1882

Last day on the trail, it was better than expected but inevitably the realisation came to me that TA was more about the journey than the destination.

It rained all night but it was also very windy which was somewhat helpful, tent was mostly dry when I was folding it. I left the campsite at 6am and started the road walk towards Invercargill. Got there just before PacN'Save opened at 8am. I did a small resupply and ate a chicken, ham and pineapple bap with two apple danishes and a latte. Then the road walk to Bluff continued.

At midday I got overtaken by Kasia the Welsh girl, she was meeting Scott from Australia at the finish line, they were planning to stay at the Bluff Lodge, she recommended the place to me as well. Weather got better at this point, it was still windy but rain had gone away. At Greenhills I walked next to very friendly black goat who loved scratches, for some reason it was living chained to a wooden shack by the road. It took me 10 hours in total to reach the finish line, I missed the turning point in Bluff and decided to take alternative path as my feet after two days of road treatment were getting cranky.

Scott and Kasia were sitting at the finish line in Stirling Point. We took couple of pictures, few tourists asked us questions, someone clapped. Then it started to rain again and everyone suddenly left. I stayed there for few minutes looking at the sea thinking what to do next, when the tourists approached me and offered a ride back to town, they dropped me off by the 4Square. I bought more food and went to check in at the Bluff Lodge. 

Kay and Arthur the lodge owners were absolute darlings. Place itself had a vibe of an old house (it used to be a post office) than a hostel - spacious, tall rooms with beds randomly arranged, colourful mismatched sheets and pillows, one toilet and a shower for everyone and in the same room, patterned wallpapers, 5$ van parking at the back of the property and the kitchen that must have been fitted in the 70s. Kay was just taking one of the hikers who broke her leg to the doctors, Arthur was drinking beer and watching truck races on YouTube. We talked about local hikes, sharks and Stuart Island for a while. I got told that I can pay later on, it was 30$ with 5$ TA discount but signing the wall by the living room was obligatory. I managed to get a bed in a separate "family room" (for the same price) it had a 'private' toilet but anyone could come and use it. Luckily not everyone knew where it was.

I decided to keep on moving and booked a ferry to Stuart Island for the next day despite the weather forecast being quite underwhelming. I didn't have much choice with just one week left to go and couldn't really come back to this area once I got a hitch out. Ferry was leaving at 9:45am and it cost 110$, not cheap but it was the only option other than slightly more expensive flight from Invercalgill. Port was right next to the lodge which was quite convenient.

Saturday 3rd of February 2024. Te Araroa hike was over but the New Zealand adventure continued.

P.S. Two weeks ago I've written a poem about Te Araroa and been tweaking it ever since. It finally reached it's final form few days ago. Here it is:

"The Long Pathway"

smelly farts

friendly mice

bridges to nowhere

ridges of dreams

sliding on scree

and mud all over

ten days of food

zero's are good

orange triangles

hiding from rain

dealing with pain

kindness of strangers

wet feet for weeks

seashells on beach

resupply boxes

thumbs up for rides

walking the tides

rock n roll ostrich

volcanic dust

friendship and trust

jumping the fences

possums with hats

hope halfway huts

long drop adventures

ripped grimy socks

weaving tussocks

crackling of fire

rock hopping fun

sandflies are gone!?

walking the wire

nights full of stars

dodging the cars

budget is thinning

effort well spend

is it the end?

or just beginning