Greta Valley to Cheviot (22.31 miles/35.92 kms)

It’s tough enough getting up many mornings when it’s cold or raining, especially in my tent, but it can be just as hard when you stay at a nice place like I had last night. That queen size bed with the wool mattress pad, the big fluffy cover, the completely dark room, and the absolute quiet, all made it real hard to crawl out of bed this morning to start my day.

I did force myself to get up around 6:30, and I even went into my kitchen (ok, not mine) to make oatmeal for my breakfast. The restaurant doesn’t open until afternoon, and the other cafe down the street didn’t open until 9:00. Last night the gracious owner had offered to give me some eggs and bacon so I could cook this morning but I thankfully told her I had food.

It was cold and cloudy when I started out around 8:00, and unlike yesterday, I wore my shorts. As it turned out, I should have worn my long pants as it never got warmer than 66 degrees and stayed in the sixties most of the day.

It was almost eerie this morning because there were no cars coming in my direction, and I only counted about ten in the first hour. Traffic was minimal until after 11:00 and then it was still not as bad. I found out that the road work and closure starts just north of Cheviot and doesn’t open until 7:00 am, so that is one of the reasons it was so quiet.

The clouds were so low that they cover the surrounding hills, and with no traffic it almost seemed magical. As I was walking I heard strange noises which at first I thought were cows, but it was kind of an eerie sound. Then I heard a strange rattling or scraping noise. Strange way to start a morning I though. Then I saw it! A big elk bull running through a clump of trees. Then I saw another bull up on the hill with several females (hinds) in his group. I remember being in Yellow Stone Park and seeing this with the big elk herds during the rutting season. This is the season for both elk and deer to be in the rut, where they are very territorial and protective of the females. The sounds I heard were the bulging of the bull because it’s their mating season. The scraping was probably the bull rubbing the trees with his antlers. Both the deer and elk are non-native and are farmed here. It was an interesting start to my day.

The day never warmed up and I had to put on an extra shirt to stay warm even though I had pulled on the hood of my wool hoodie. I usually overheat with it on, but I it was so cold I left it on all day.

The cold was perfect trekking weather because it was not an easy day. After leaving Greta Valley the road was a roller coaster as it ran through mountainous terrain all day. There were very few level areas and the road was fairly windy.

I was surprised when I came to the bridge crossing at the Hurunui River as it too was a one lane bridge. I crossed many of them on the back roads, but to find one on the main highway was interesting. But, I’d much rather cross a one lane bridge than the narrow two lane bridge with no shoulder.

Today was really another uneventful day as I made it a point to make Cheviot fairly early so I could have time there. I got here about 4:00, which meant that I had a good rhythm at almost three miles an hour (4.83 kph). I try not to hurry, but getting somewhere early allows me time to shower, wash my clothes, get dinner, possibly shop, and of course, have some time to relax.

I checked in to the Chevoit Motel and Holiday Park and got a nice cabin. It was fairly reasonable for $70 NZ ($48 US) since it was a nice quality cabin with nice linen, fridge, microwave, and tv. It is an attached cabin and I met my neighbor next door, Susan Macks, from Wellington.

I had stop at the store to get drinks for tomorrow, but didn’t see the restaurant or I would have gotten something to eat. I had mentioned to Susan that I was too tired to walk back into town, and she offered to drive us to the restaurant. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was eat one of my freeze dried meals, so I took her up on it. It was a funny feeling because it’s the first time I’ve been in a car in 37 days.

We went to the local pub/restaurant and had a nice dinner and had a very nice chat. And, she offered to by me a drink, and I said yes to a beer!

Susan sells oak wine barrels to wineries, even some local ones. She’s on a months vacation and is planning to do some hiking in various places through the South Island. It’s always good to meet another person on an adventure.

Tomorrow might be a challenging day as I’ll be going through the construction area and the road is suppose to be very windy. I hope to leave early enough that the traffic will still be backlogged and light due to the closure.

This motor camp, and cabin, is a very clean and comfortable place, which as always, will make it hard to leave in the morning. But, something interesting always comes up and I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

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.