Surprise! A quick post from me.
Another surprise: after the recent bad weather, it was a lovely sunny day today!
After locking myself out of my YHA room (I eventually found the key in the kitchen rubbish bin), and FaceTiming with Paul, I was off at 7:30am. The route today follows the Fisher Track steadily downhill - starting as a gravel road, then an easy-going walking track, with some great views along the way.
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| A TA sign! The first for a long time |
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| Meeting up with Chris and Lynne along the track |
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| Some beautiful views up the valley |
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| Looking back towards Ruapehu - finally a clear view! |
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| The path follows the valley steadily down. That mist might be the Whanganui River ahead |
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| Finally, a pic of me that’s not a selfie. |
It was a lovely scenic track, for about 12km, and I really enjoyed it. But all good things must end - it finally popped back out onto a gravel road. The rest of the day would be road walking, through farmland and past forests.
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| 10am pic: Just emerged from the Fisher Track |
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| Time for a snack - finishing off the last of my Taumarunui salami |
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| More road walking ahead - another 12km apparently |
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| These gravel roads are destroying my socks! |
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| Another break (and switching socks) in the shade of a farm shed |
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| Getting hot now! And my achilles are starting to hurt. Still 6km to go. |
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| The war monument in Kaitieke - I’m almost there! |
Tonight I’m staying in the tiny settlement of Kaitieke, with a trail angel Sharon - the only place to stay between National Park and the Whanganui River. She has beds set up for TA hikers in her garage, coffee, hot bread, a shower, and even toast and cereal in the morning. And, while no cellphone coverage, there is wifi! (hence this post - I wasn’t expecting to be able to add to my blog until after I reach Whanganui).
I arrived just after 2pm, jumped into a shower, made myself a cup of tea, and put my feet up. By evening there were 7 TA hikers here, all of us booked to start our river kayak the day after tomorrow (Jan 11). However because of the looming cyclone, and bad weather starting to hit maybe as early as tonight, we can’t head down the last 25km to the river tomorrow until we hear from Karen at Taumarunui Canoes to say that the river is safe and the trip is on. So we are all crossing our fingers. We’ll find out in the morning.
If the trip is delayed we may have to stay here for several days until the river reopens. I guess if that happens, I’ll be able to update my blog to let everyone know. On the other hand, if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, that means I’ve headed on to the river, and the trip is happening as planned!
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| Spending the afternoon in Sharon’s garage. Sure beats camping! |
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| Today’s route |
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