Waikouaiti to Palmerston (12.81 miles/19 kms)

Today was a short day. Not necessarily by choice but somewhat dictated by the weather.

I woke this morning again to sound of heavy rain on the roof of the trailer and canopy. I was glad I made the decision to take the trailer or I would be waiting out the rain in the tent or packing up in the rain, which I don’t really want to do.

Last night it started raining as I went to sleep and the winds had also picked up and was blowing so hard it rocked the trailer all night long. I really would have felt the wind in my tent as the motorcamp tent area isn’t really well sheltered from the wind.

I have to say that I actually end up liking the little trailer as it was pretty cozy in the rain. I could hear the loud sound of the waves breaking too. However, I didn’t sleep well because the wind rocking the trailer kept waking me up. A couple of times I found that I had slid down to the point that I could not straighten out my legs because the trailer was so off kilter. It didn’t help that I had laid down the nylon tent footprint over the cushions, which made my sleeping bag slid easier. It was like a slip and slid!

It was 53 degrees in the trailer in the morning and I was cozy in my bag, so I waited out the rain. It finally stopped raining about 8:30 and I headed out by 9:00. It looked fairly clear, but I put the cover on the Wheelie just to be safe. The cover fits over the Wheelie only. I then cover the backpack and Wheelie with the poncho.

I had not gone a quarter of a mile when dark black clouds came rolling in rather fast. Like in one of those Steven Spielberg movies! I stop and put the poncho over the Wheelie and hurried up and put on my rain gear. No sooner had I done this and it started to pour!

As I mentioned, I don’t mind walking in the rain if the temperature if prefect. Since I’ve been on my trek here I’ve set my cruise control at 2.5 to 3 mph, the temperature at 66 degrees, and the humidity at 35-40%. Has any of my setting worked? Absolutely not!

One of the things you have to get use to, which in all honesty I haven’t, and that is getting sweaty. When it’s warm you sweat. When it’s cold you dress warmly, and you sweat. When it rains, whether it’s cold or hot, even with the best breathable Gore-Tex rain gear, you sweat! So my point is today it was cold, in the forties, pouring rain, and blowing wind, and I was sweating! The forecast called for gusts up to forty mph, and luckily most of the wind was to my back. Wasn’t I complaining about the oppressive heat a few days ago?

Fortunately there was a little cafe in town and I stopped and had breakfast and ordered some scones to take for lunch. Funny, when I got there it looked like I had been walking miles when it was just a little over a mile and a half. I took my jacket off and my clothes were soaked and my hair wet from sweat. Thankfully they had of all things, clothe hand towels in the bathroom. I thought of taking a shower using the sink, but why, I’ll just be sweaty in five minutes when I walk again!

After breakfast I walked in pouring rain until about 11:00, and then it rained off and on most of the day. I am glad that it didn’t keep raining quite as hard because when those big trucks drove by there was a usually a huge cloud of water spray. Water spray and probably highway oil!

I don’t think it got much over 50 degrees and the wind got worse as I got closer to Palmerston.

The road had a fairly wide shoulder, except at bridge crossing. Surprisingly there usually isn’t any shoulder at any of the bridge crossings! It’s like that in the States too. Too bad because it says something about what’s happened to our society because walking is no longer taken in consideration anymore. Laws were passed last year in California that requires drivers to be a minimum of three feet away from a bicyclist, but there is no such law for pedestrians. Ok, off my pedestal.

Oh yes, the warning flag pole I have been using seems to work a lot better than the flashing red light I had been using. There is a noticeable reaction that I see in many more cars being courteous and moving further away from the white shoulder line. However, I still don’t understand why these people are driving on the left side of the road anyway!

When I got to Palmerston around 3:30 I felt done for the day. It was still raining on and off and I didn’t want to look for a tent site. I was cold and tired and I wanted a hot shower. There are only two motels in town and I picked the Waihemo Lodge because it has a restaurant bar. I want to lay in a bed and relax, and then walk only twenty feet to get dinner. It’s like me at home after I walk miles and miles, and then drive around the parking lot for hours looking for a parking space close to the place I am going so I don’t have to walk so far.

Tomorrow I hope to trek to Hampden, where I have a tentative cabin for the night. I spoke in length with the Swiss owner and he said he wanted me to stay there and he’d take care of me. We will see what that means?

Hampden is on the Moeraki Beach, which is know for its large round boulders. It will be a good place to stop and see the sights that bring a lot of people there for those boulders.

I am off to dinner and then hopefully have some time to read my book.

Best wishes to all,

Ted

Please excuse the typos, spelling, grammar, etc., as I am typing this on my phone, and I am probably pretty tired.