Oamaru to north of Glenavy (20.57 miles/33.12 kms)

Woke up this morning to a clear sky, with a forecast for warmer weather and no rain. Great! Not having to break down and pack the tent saves me a lot of time, and I was out the door by 8:00.

The first mile I walked this morning was back to the subway where I was yesterday before coming back to the motorcamp. They were open early and I got my sandwich for tonight because there isn’t another town with a store or a place to eat until Timaru, which is 53 miles and three days walking. I stopped at a bakery got cheese and date scones for lunch and breakfast for the next three days. I also have apples, pears, radishes, and carrots to give me something fresh. I should have enough to eat as I still have my freeze dried meals. The fluids are my biggest concern.

I was surprised how long it took me to walk through Oamaru. It only has a population of about 13,000 people, yet it was over an hour and four miles to the edge of town. The business district makes up about half of that distance and the rest is basically residential housing along the main road.

The road was busy in the morning but once out of town there was a lot less traffic. The shoulders were fairly wide, except the dreaded bridges. And today I had the king of bridges, the Waitaki Bridge, which is 3/4 of a mile long!

There I stood at the start of the bridge and no real shoulder. There is a narrow raised sidewalk, but even for someone just walking it by themselves it would be tough, let alone me and the Wheelie. The sidewalk was definitely too narrow for the width of the Wheelie. I was not sure what to do and stood there contemplating my options. Call a cab? No! An Uber? No! Hitch hike? Maybe? Run it? Of course not! Walk it? Maybe?

Just then there was lull in traffic coming in my direction, at least that I could see. It was pretty far to actually the other side, but that just gave me a false sense of confidence. Off I went, and only after pulling the warning flag off of the Wheelie. It was like those dreams where you are running and not getting anywhere, because I was walking pretty darn quick and that end of the bridge never seemed to get any closer. Then it happened, cars coming in my direction, and I am not even a quarter of the way!

I moved as close to the curb as possible and then began waving the warning flag left to right across my body. The first group of cars slowed down and moved to their right (they way they would be driving back home). Then another group of cars, lead by a motorhome. Is he going to move over? But what if there are cars coming in the opposite direction? And there were! The driver came to an almost complete stop, which was great because there were 6-7 cars behind him. Phew, got by that, but I am still only half way across!

One or two more groups of cars came towards me, and all slowed to 10-15 mph or moved over. Almost there, and then I saw it! A big truck barreling down at me, and he didn’t look like he was slowing down! Mama!

I was waving that flag like I was that brave soldier going into battle, but I wasn’t really feeling brave. Lucky I had just gone to the bathroom! Just before he got to me he slowed down, but he couldn’t move over because there was traffic coming the other way. Instead of stopping he rolled by me and I thought I heard the scrapping of our wheels, but I think it was my imagination. But there wasn’t more than two feet between us, and there was a string of cars behind him.

Once he passed I picked up my pace. On no, one more cluster of cars! But the slowed down and moved over because I looked like I was going to hit them if they didn’t. I had that angry loom on my face after the darn truck. I finally made it to the other side. I unhooked the Wheelie, dropped to the ground and kissed it. Ok, I didn’t do that but I sure felt like it!

Other than that bit of excitement the day was uneventful. The road had been fairly flat and I got into my rhythm and made really good time. The weather was great. I had set my cruise control at 2-3 mph, and the temperature at 66, with little to no humidity. I actually averaged about 2.5 mph today. The temperature hit 69, so my temperature control was a bit off, by still great for trekking. I never feel like I am in a hurry, but on a day like this I felt like I could go on forever.

Once I crossed the bridge I came to the Glenavy Waitaki River Motorcamp. I considered stopping since I had gone about 16 miles, so I went in. All the cabins were full and there were no trailers here. There was tent camping, but it was only 3:00. My common sense said stay. But my overconfidence said, as I mentioned, I felt like I could go on forever, so off I went.

Well, as I should have known, that over confident feeling of, I could go on forever, went away after only about a mile. Hey, I think I am tired. I should have listened to my common sense.

After that mile the terrain changed too. Before I had seen numerous wonderful secluded places I could have pitched my tent. Now it was just like the first four days out of Invercargill where there was nothing but flat ground, and farm after farm, with no open spaces anywhere. I ended up walking to almost 5:00 when I saw this spot, which is on the corner of a side road. There is also a small cemetery on the other corner and I had actually decided to camp there when I first stopped. Heck, it’s a quiet place and I have no fear of cemeteries. It was a few acres and only a few large grave stones. The grass was recently mowed and there were lots of trees. Perfect! Unfortunately, as I was looking for my spot I noticed there was a house close by, and if they had relatives buried there they probably wouldn’t be happy with me. So back across the street to the spot I have now. Not bad, and I am grateful and thankful I found it.

Overall the day was really good. It was the biggest day so far at almost 21 miles. Tomorrow there aren’t any real towns, so I’ll be looking to camp out again. This time I’ll listen to my common sense if I find something early.

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.