Legs and Borders

Jet boating from Bridge to Nowhere to Pipiriki commenced and it made me regret opting out of canoeing the river. In the morning I walked the remaining ten miles to the Mangapurua Landing without any issues, stopping for a while by one of the landmarks of the Wanganui National Park called Bridge to Nowhere. It was a big concrete and steel structure government decided to build here with the idea of running the road into the Wanganui park. They wanted to do that because after WWI soldiers who returned to New Zealand were gifted plots of land here and many went into the wilderness to work it. Unfortunately the area was to remote and difficult to farm and access points were often buried by the landslides. Within 20 years most of the soldiers and their families abandoned their farms and moved back into civilisation. The bridge remained unused and disconnected, leading to nowhere. A statement to the failed human ambition, standing now forgotten in the middle of the forrest. I found it quite p...

"This hamish coleslaw can last a month" Chef at the Blue Duck Cafe Today since I diverted from the main path at Whakahoro I haven't seen another human being. I left Couper's Crossing Farm as planned at 6am, few other hikers were also awake but it looked like they were waiting for breakfast at 8am. I followed the road towards Whakahoro 15 miles south where the river section was starting. Several vans full of tourists with attached canoe trailers drove past me. By the time I've reached the village, they were all floating on the Wanganui river and the place was empty. I went for breakfast to Blue Duck Cafe, they were using convincing slogan: "Last coffee for the next four days". I've asked if kitchen was opened for food, chef said they were so I've ordered ham and cheese toastie and a latte, it was 20$ in total. Toastie arrived ten minutes later with a special coleslaw that apparently lasted for a month, and it mu...