Hundalee to Goose Bay (13.5 miles/21.73 kms)

Today, what can I say other that it was challenging and a little scary, but it ended very well.

I woke up this morning about 5:45, and happily the tent and everything inside was dry. It is still dark until after 7:00 and I started packing by the dome light. So you can see how much more work it is if everything is wet.

I only have one of my fortified oatmeal meals left and I am tired of them, so I just had cheese and peanut butter on some multi grain crackers for breakfast. I am out of food other than two freeze dried meals and that was why I thought I’d have to push to get to Kaikoura, but it was 22 miles away.

I started out about 8:00 and the weather was overcast and a good cool 65 degrees. I was thankful for that because the road started steeply uphill immediately and continued for approximately 2.5 miles. Needless to say I was drenched within the first ten minutes and I wondered why I even bother to take a bath last night. When I can, I try not to stop going up a hill as it’s harder to get a start again, but it was so long that I had to stop every few hundred feet for a few seconds. It actually only took me an hour to reach the top. I knew I had to get this one over with without any issues since there would be more.

Once at the top it started a steep downhill, but steep downhills just mean it will climb back uphill, so I don’t celebrate reaching tops.

Traffic was fairly light but I am very, very, cautious no matter how much traffic there is, but today was a hair raiser. I wasn’t going to post this in my blog as I’ve kindly heard from several well meaning people tell me how dangerous trekking on the road is, and I am always aware of it, and as mentioned, always use extreme caution. Not to use an analogy that is way beyond a comparison to what I do, but someone that is climbing a mountain peak like Everest, knows there is danger and uses caution and probably every safety item available to him, and they are aware of the risks, but are still going to climb it because that’s there passion and goal.

As I go downhill on a steep grade, I usually feel safer because the vehicles going uphill are generally going slower, especially the trucks. On blind curves I may move to the other side if there is a wide enough shoulder. One the first steep downhill I came to was a blind curve but the shoulder on my side was fairly wide at 4-5 feet, plus there was a concert curb and then a gravel shoulder another 4-5 feet wide. I not only look ahead, but listen very intently to the sound of vehicles coming. I heard vehicles coming and I moved over and stepped onto the curb and on the gravel to get out of the way as much as possible. This is something I almost always do. However, the Wheelie was turned on an angle and was still partially on the asphalt shoulder. A string of cars came around the corner and moved over towards the center, then a big truck did the same. But then a horse transport carrier cut the corner 3-4 feet onto the shoulder and hit the horizontal warning flag, and then the Wheelie! It scared the # out of me! And of course he kept going.

At first I thought that the Wheelie was damaged because I could feel and hear the impact. The side of the left tire actually is white from the paint transfer, and the rubber cap that’s on the bottom foot was knocked off and ten feet down the road.

It’s interesting that the vehicle that did this was a horse transport because for the last several days I’ve noticed them. I have noticed them because they seemed to be my new logging truck. The ones I’ve encountered never seemed to move over even when they could. At first I thought they were a large motor home with a group of bad uncourteous drivers. I was told today that there was a horse show in Auckland and they are all coming back. Also, because they have multiple expensive horses inside they try not to swerve or move the vehicle because it throws the horses off balance. I guess it’s better to keep their horses safe rather than someone on the road, be it me or another car!

After that incident I came upon several more sections of road under construction and without delineation lines because of new pavement. Many sections of the road also had no or minimal shoulders, and after what happened it made me even more cautious. Almost to much.

The road had two other steep climbs until I finally reached that last one after noon. I was fairly tired and wasn’t sure I’d have enough time or energy to get to Kaikoura. I was getting hungry and stopped and had my last two carrots and wished I could find a store. No more than ten minutes later a car stopped on the other side of the street and a woman named Jenny came over to me. First thing she said was, “my daughter and I saw you and thought you looked hungry, so we wanted to give you this, but it is all we’ve got.” Karma? She had some homemade bars/baked goods that were delicious!

She said she had seen me earlier and was on her way home to make lunch for her husband. She told me to stop by her house and she would make me lunch. So very kind again to offer, and I thanked her, but declined because she lived several kilometers off of the road. A little hug and thank you for two caring and kind people again!

The bats gave me a little energy but I was still dragging. Fortunately the road ran parallel to the ocean and was mainly flat. If I could walk along like this on flat level roads all the way to Cape Reinga I’d be there in two weeks.

The scenery and the smell of the ocean were great. I saw several seals on the rocky shore, which are common here. I stopped to look at a river flowing out into the ocean when I saw a sigh for a campground, and cabins! Cabins! Yes, cabins! But I’ve got no food!

I crossed the street and went to the office of the Kaikoura Coastal Campground and met the 3 month new 3 manager, Ann. She had a sign out front stating it was a store with a list of items, but there were only a few drinks and ice cream bars, and no other food. I told her I’d love to stay but I had to trek until I got to a store or restaurant. To that she said she could grill me a sandwich. Really? Yes, cheese and onions, or whatever you’d like on it? By then I’d grabbed the only chocolate milk out of the fridge and drank it. I was hungry and thirsty.

And if you’d like, I can cook you something for dinner. Really? Yes, I am cooking teriyaki chicken and rice for my aunt and I, so I can bring you some too. Really? Yes, I’ll bring it to you about 6:30, if you’d like? Well this was my chance to say yes again, and I did!

Ann had me sit down in a chair, and god did it feel good to sit down while she made my sandwich. About fifteen minutes later she brought out two, yes two, whole wheat grilled cheese sandwiches all wrapped up for me to take to my cabin.

That will be $40, $30 for the cabin and $10 for dinner ($27 US). But what about the sandwiches and chocolate milk? It’s included. Both motor camps in Kaikoura are $90.

I walked to my cabin which was a way from the office. I had to cross a small stream and found my Cabin #2, which was clean and comfortable. Ten minutes later Ana brought me linens, comforter, and two towels, one a beach towel. Dang it, making me want to stay at another place again.

I took my shower and washed my clothes and was relaxing when Ana showed up with a huge steaming plate of rice and teriyaki chicken, almost too hot to eat ten minutes later.

I gave her ten dollars and told her she didn’t charge me for the chocolate milk or sandwiches, and she turned it down and said it’s was enough. I thanked her, and of course, gave her a hug. She said you’ll need that food for your walk. I think I am going to throw away and wallet and credit card while I am in this country.

I am undecided about tomorrow as once I pass Kaikoura there aren’t any place to stay or stores for days. I don’t want to find myself in the same situation as today, without food. I’ll think about it in the morning and whatever I decide will be the right choice.

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.