Blenheim to Picton (17.60 miles/28.34 kms)

This was going to be the last leg of my trek of the South Island from Invercargill to Picton, and after 41 days of trekking, I finally completed it!

The last few days, I assumed would be fairly easy, but they turned out to be some of the more challenging. Today was no different. Those mythical weather gods, maybe fatigue, and terrain, all had something to do with it, but primarily it was the weather.

Today I woke undecided whether to trek or stay another day as the weather forecast called for heavy rain and high winds. As I looked out the window I could see some patchy cloudiness and it almost looked like it might clear up, a positive sign, and I decided to trek.

As a precaution I put the cover on the Wheelie and kept the backpack poncho cover and my rain gear easily accessible. As I strapped on the waist band and started out it started to sprinkle. Back I went under the cover of the cabin and put on the poncho and my rain gear. After that the rain never stopped.

I started out on a bike path across the bridge from the motor camp and it was nice since traffic was fairly heavy. Unfortunately the bike path ended after about a half mile and I moved back onto the road.

About three miles outside of town I came to the Heritage Cage Bakery and decided to get something to eat. As I crossed the road a car pulled over in front of me and Annie approached me. It turns out she is the ex-wife of the gentleman that stopped and gave me the fruit bar and peaches, and had offered to put me up for the night. Annie is the one that made fruit rolls for Trader Joe’s back in the States.

Annie was very excited to see me as she is an avid walker herself and had just walked the Camino Francis in Spain last September. Apparently Glen had told her about my walk here and also that I had walked three Caminos. I think there is always a connection with people who have walked the Camino. As we talked she pointed out the large vineyard next to the cafe and said that it was part of Glen’s property. He had hoped I would have stayed there because he had an open house. Too bad, it might have been nicer than the motor camp. We chatted for a little while but she had to leave.

I went into the cafe and got a pastry, cappuccino, and ordered a chicken pie to go that was still in the oven. Annie walked in and said she would join me after ordering her food. She introduced me to a few people there and told all of them what I was doing. I felt a little embarrassed getting the attention. Apparently she is well known in the area.

When the waitress brought me my pie she also handed me a bag with some other baked goods, and said it was a present from Annie. She said that Annie had also paid my tab. What can I say, other than thank you again!

Annie has sold the business making fruit rolls, but still owns and leases the property, and the company still uses her name. She also owns and leases the property to the cafe. It was nice to meet her as she was such a friendly, positive, and outgoing person, it gave me a little extra boost this morning.

By the time I got back on the road it was after 9:00 and that light rain had turned to a hard steady rain. An hour later it started pouring and that didn’t let up until well past 1:00. Even then it still rained, but not as hard. Fortunately the wind was never an issue, but the rain made it a challenge with the traffic. It wasn’t the cars so much, but the trucks. When it was pouring, the spray from the passing trucks would make a huge cloud of water that I couldn’t escape. I made it a point to move over as much as possible and just tucked my head down to avoid some of the spray. Given a choice now, I might have picked the wind over the rain.

My rain gear kept me dry, from the rain anyway, but my Hoka boots failed to be waterproof within the first few hours. It was like walking with socks on only through a puddle of water. I knew this was a shortcoming for the boot and I had sprayed it several times with waterproofing in hopes that it would help. I have yet to find a light boot that really is waterproof, even though they claim to be. I wore these type Hokas on two Caminos and they failed to keep me dry then. For me it’s been the most comfortable boot that suits my needs 90% of the time, until of course, when it rains. I had the same issue with Merrill boots. My first pair failed and Merrill sent me a Gore-Tex version for free. By the time I had made it to Canada they too had failed. Merrill asked me to send the boots back for testing. Later I was told that after 300-350 miles of use the waterproof membrane brakes down and no longer maintains its ability to keep water out. That surely isn’t good over anyone hiking more than 300 miles. They did send me another free pair of boots.

A leather or heavier boot may be more waterproof, but for me, those are too heavy, not as comfortable, and tend to get hot.

Even though my Gore-Tex rain gear keeps the water out, I sweat so much that it’s impossible for the sweat to be wicked out through the material fast enough to keep me dry from my own sweat. That is why I always wear various wool tops. If I am drenched from sweat the wool still insulates and keeps me warm. Anything cotton would be horrible.

Thankfully most of the road was fairly wide, but not completely. There were those blind curves where I moved over to the other side, especially during the heavy downpours. With the spray from the vehicles it was hard to see and I definitely didn’t want to take any chances.

The scenery, well, I didn’t really pay much attention as I was concentrating on the road, and it might have been nice?

Most of the way, thankfully, was fairly level until the last stretch before dropping down into Picton. It wasn’t a long uphill and it felt good to know it was the last hill on the South Island.

Picton isn’t a very large town and once there I came to the Picton Campervan Park. It’s a small motor camp with only four cabins, but much nicer and cleaner than the motor camp in Blenheim. I had planned to stay closer to the ferry but everything is within one mile of the ferry.

Interesting that the owner of the motor camp was from Indonesia. When I mentioned having eaten Indonesian food in Blenheim, she said, oh it must have been from Rodger and his food trailer. Apparently Indonesians around here know each other since there are so few here.

Once checked in, I unpacked all my stuff, spread it out in the room and turned up the heater to dry everything. My clothes under the rain gear were completely drenched from sweat. I could literally ring out a puddle of water from my socks. My boots were completely wet, inside and out. Great e-vent waterproofing material! It was one of those times I was glade I wasn’t in a tent because that long hot shower felt great.

After my usual routine at the end of the day, I across the street to the pub and had dinner. Laying in bed it still hasn’t sunk in that am finished on the South Island.

I’ve accomplished my goal of trekking the South Island from the bottom, at Invercargill, to the top here at Picton. It has taken me 41 days, and 660 miles (1,062 kms), averaging about 16 miles (25.92 kms) per day, to get here. It was a bigger challenge than I thought as I underestimated the roads and traffic thinking it was still the same as 29 years ago. The roads are still much the same, but not the volume of traffic.

Weather had a hand in it too, but that’s something that I expected to vary, but maybe not so drastically and so often. The intensity of the sun, however, was a surprise.

I knew the people here to be friendly, as I had remembered, but the kindness that I encountered was more than I expected or could have hoped for. It was a highlight of the South Island and helped make my trek!

I thought of staying here another night but taking the ferry to Wellington will be like a zero day as it’s a three and a half hour trip and I’ll be relaxing the whole time. Once in Wellington I plan to visit with Irwin Monroe, who is my friends Brian and Shirley’s son. It’s been over twenty years since I last saw him when he came to visit us in the States.

I plan to sit down and consider my options to trek the North Island. Because I underestimate some of the conditions, and taking alternate routes, it has cut into my time here and I may not have enough time to finish by April 24. Also, the highways and traffic have, in all honesty, unnerved me a little, and the thought of trekking the North Island with four million of the five million people in New Zealand is something that I have to weigh. The challenges of climbing hills and fluctuating weather can be very challenging, but it’s all part of what I expect to face, no matter how extreme. However, when the road conditions and traffic make it too dangerous, it is something that I really have to contemplate. Taking the most direct route on the main highway would be the most time efficient, but the busiest. There are no other real direct routes, and taking some of the short side routes just to get off the main highway would add much more time and greatly increase the distance. It is all the things I’ll have to consider the next few days.

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.

Blenheim to Picton