Day 52: New Kicks

December 1, 2019

Kilometers: 1354.8-1361.5 

Whanganui Holiday Park to YHA Whanganui 

I woke up at 6am to listen to the Michigan football game on the radio, should’ve just slept in instead. When the others woke we started packing up our stuff and headed over to the kitchen area. We made eggs and ate the leftovers from the night before, potatoes, a little bit of steak and salad. 

After breakfast, Peter, Charlie and I all threw out our first pairs of shoes that had gotten us from cape reinga to this point. I put on my new pair of shoes that have been in my bounce box this whole time.

We made a reservation at a different hostel that was actually in the town of Whanganui instead of 6kms outside of town. Moving down the trail these six kms would allow for an easier day tomorrow, in which we already have to do a small resupply and resend bounce boxes from the post office. The walk was all on the same road, running alongside the river, and didn’t take us long at all. 

We stopped to waste an hour at a cafe before being able to drop our bags off. Once we ditched our bags at the hostel we headed downtown to buy some things and have lunch. 

When we returned to the hostel the owners had put up the American flag out front for us. Apparently they do that for their guests of all nationalities but they said the Belgium flag was still in the mail.

Once back at the room we played cards and watched movies on our phones for a few hours. Ethan and I walked to dominoes to grab dinner and a pizza for the next morning as well. We all went to bed early, ready to finally get back to hiking tomorrow. 

-Alex