Day 46: No Cats Allowed
November 25, 2019
Kilometers: 1161.0-1203.0
Fisher Track Campsite to Whakahoro Hut
As my tent was set up a few hundred meters from everyone else I waited inside it until I heard from the others. Ethan came up to tell me he was leaving camp soon so I got moving and was ready to go by 7:45. Matthew had already taken off by then.
The first five kms of the day were on same track as the afternoon before. The views from the edge of the trail were still great as the sun rose through the valley. The very end of the track had super long grass that soaked our shoes from the dew, just as if we had crossed a river.
The track met up with a gravel road. The road ran for the next 37km to the town of Whakahoro and the Whanganui River, where we will be starting our canoe trip.
The morning on the gravel road was pretty boring as everyone walked at their own pace. I listened to some more of “Sapiens” and read through the trail notes for the upcoming weeks as I walked. Around 11am I got to a World War I memorial where Matthew had stopped for a break. Soon the others met us there and we all ate lunch while drying our tents in the sun. With 25km still left we were somewhat quick back onto the trail.
Charlie, Peter and I started the afternoon walk with a discussion on the power rankings of hiking surfaces we have encountered through the first 46 days. The general consensus was the following:
Alpine/mountain
Forest
Beach
River/Estuary
Farmland
Wetlands/swamp
Gravel road
Paved road
As this conversation wrapped up the gravel road turned into a paved road, of course. The afternoon walk was hot with the sun beating down on us and the blacktop reflecting the heat back onto us. The walk did give us a few good views of the river below but was not super exciting other than that.
Yesterday my cheap sunglasses that I’d bought in Hawaii en route to New Zealand broke. The gas station at National Park only had absolutely ridiculous choices so I leaned into it a little bit. These are my new shades.
Around 4pm we walked into the town of Whakahoro, the welcome sign informing us there is a population of 8 people. For a town of 8 people it was hopping. There was a cafe next to the campsite that didn’t close until 5 so we all got ham and cheese toasties (paninis) and a chocolate bar. We saw at least 20 people while eating so we think there sign may be a tad out of date. After eating we headed over to the campsite across the street.
We had booked the hut at the campsite and found we had it all to ourselves. However, there were three huge groups of kids on school trips. So our hut was surrounded by about 100 thirteen year old boys.
Charlie, Peter and I headed down to the river for a bath while Ethan elected for a liter shower. After that Ethan and I made dinner. We had couscous with cut up chorizo and a sausage curry sauce. It was definitely one of our worst dinners yet. We messed up the conversion of how much water we needed in the couscous, the chorizo wasn’t real chorizo and didn’t have much taste and the sauce was bland. Luckily we had some leftover lunch food to supplement it.
After dinner we sat on the porch of the hut watching all the kids play various games. One group was playing rugby, another was playing football and a third was playing cricket. Later in the night the Māori school did some traditional Maori dances and sang some songs, which was really interesting to watch.
Before bed I snagged this pic at the campsite informing everyone that cats are not allowed at the campsite, just for those wondering.
Around 2am I woke up to go to the bathroom. When I stepped outside I was struck by how incredible the stars were. I’ve never seen so many stars or such bright stars. I know nothing about the night sky but could quite easily see huge constellations popping out at me. When I regain service I’ll have to download an app to better know what i’m looking at.
-Alex