Day 37: Land of the Sheep, Home of the Rain

November 16th, 2019

Kilometers: 890.9-927.4

Sam & Laura’s Campsite- Pureora Cabins

At about 4:00am it started raining last night. That lasted until just about 6. That was far from the only disturbance in the night as I learned sheep feed at all times of day. I was woken up at about 2:00am by a group that had moved to within about 100 meters of us on the other side of the river. They were quite a chatty group of sheep. 

Regardless, I woke up at about 7:20am as it seemed everyone was moving a bit slow this morning. We had a big day of road walking ahead of us. 

We all gathered in the shelter as we made breakfast like any other normal morning. With our rain flys being wet, we hung them out over the clothes line in hopes that the sun, which was occasionally breaking through the clouds, would dry them. 

At 8:45, we set off for the day. Alex and Matthew, both feeling great, shot way ahead. Charlie has been dealing with bad shin splints for the past two days and was unable to keep up with his usual pace. Peter and myself, both feeling the fatigue of 9 days and over 400km of straight walking were just ahead of Charlie. 

The weather was gray for most of the morning, which we didn’t mind as it was just cool enough to keep from sweating. 

Alex and I retraced our steps along the 3km we had walked yesterday back to where we believed the campsite was. To no ones surprise, it still didn’t exist. 

We walked just passed there and found ourselves at Mangaokewa Road. We would follow the road for 22km back to the highway. 

The walk along the road was highly uneventful. Peter and I walked together for a good bit of the morning and talked about our plans for when we got home and about our past work experiences, yes, the views were that boring. Finally, we came to what looked like a creek, which had been covered by massive boulders. We were both enthused by refreshing scenery. 

At the end of the boulder pile was a natural water slide, which gave us hope that the views for the day were about to improve!

They didn’t. 

After the waterfall, the day carried on as it had before. Sheep farm after sheep farm. Even a month into the trip, the amount of sheep we see at these farms still surprise me. 

We stopped for first lunch, as we have way too much, just after a short bridge and decided we would eat a second one once we hit the highway in about 12 kilometers. 

The next 12 kilometers progressed just as the first part of the day had. We all plugged into our music, put our heads down, and ground it out. 

I found Alex and Matthew at the State Highway 30 intersection just over two hours later. Alex was pretty surprised that I had made that good of time considering how my pace has slowed over the course of the trip. We ate second lunch there. 

With 12km left until the start of the timber trail, we got back into our routine. Music in, head down, walk. 

Peter and Charlie passed us in the car they got a hitch in about 15 minutes into our walk and informed us they scored a cabin for just $10 a person with a kitchenette and showers. We were even offered a hitch but we all declined, a decision I would regret very soon. 

After another 20 minutes, the skies got grey very quickly and opened up on us. The water kept falling by what felt like the bucket-full onto us. My rain jacket was little use as water found its way to still soak everything I was wearing. The last 8km’s were utterly miserable. 

Regardless, we eventually reached the Pureora Cabins where Peter was waiting for us. 

The cabins were among some of the nicest we have stayed in so far and we were all excited to have multiple heaters in the unit. The shower was a bit disappointing as the water only got a little warmer than room temperature. 

For dinner tonight, we had chicken and mushroom risotto with deli ham that I fried up in a skillet. 

Alex thought it was good but I absolutely loved it. We had about 7-8 full servings and I ate 3 or 4 in one sitting. I will be reheating the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow. 

Tomorrow will also mark the start of the famous Timber Trail. We will have two long days in a row to complete it but the fact that it’s a biking trail gives hope that it will be good for tramping. 

-Ethan