A Dangerous Business

Date: 31st October 2023

Start: Maunganui Bluff Campsite (km 40.2)

End: Hukatere Lodge (km 69.6)

Distance Walked: 29.4 km

Total Distance Completed: 56.2 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: Zion by Kings Kaleidoscope (I’m not crying, you are)

Right Side of Body: soaked to the bone

Left Side of Body: drier than the Sahara

I was told today would be dry. So why did I wake up to rain smacking into the side of my tent? To be fair, it didn’t last long, although the wind that had been smacking me in the face all of yesterday was still there.

I’m a bit fussy when it comes to breakfast. Many hikers like to start their day with a bowl of oatmeal, or as I like to call it, slop. No, that wouldn’t do for me. Instead, I had a nut bar and a coffee. Not a great deal, I know, but it got me going, although perhaps not as quickly as I would’ve liked, because I only set off from camp at 9. Soon enough, I could hear that all familiar sound of rain hitting the side of my rainjacket’s hood. Except it wasn’t rain, because only the right side of my jacket was getting wet; the left side was bone dry. Plus, there was a westerly wind blowing in from the ocean. I wasn’t getting rained on, I was getting sprayed on by the sea.

Although I was getting rather wet, I didn’t mind all that much. It was far lighter than the rain I got yesterday and the wind wasn’t blowing as hard. With my full rain gear on, it wasn’t all that bad. I just put my earphones in, put on a podcast, and off I went. As with the GOW, I mentally split the walk into two stints. For the first stint, I would stop either when reaching halfway (km 55) or at 12:30, whichever came last. I felt good for the whole of this stint. I never felt that I was rushing, but I was still walking at a brisk pace of around 5 km/h. With that said, I did begin to tire when it came time to stop, so I found a sheltered spot in the dunes and rested for half an hour.

I saw Mirjam and Vadem pass me as I packed up, yet by the time I stepped foot onto the beach they were mere specks on the horizon. Speaking of getting going again, I started feeling really stiff. Much like what I dealt with on my warm up hikes, starting to walk was a very painful process, but once I built up a rhythm I was fine. The same happened here, but I could also feel some blisters forming. The smart thing to do would’ve been to stop and treat it before it becomes a bigger issue. But when have I ever done the smart thing?

So I pressed on, passing Vadem as he took a nap and catching up to Mirjam after an hour’s walk. The stiffness and blisters had now been joined by a multitude of aches and pains in my shoulders, hips, back, and neck. Carrying on with my first stint pace was out the window, so I slowed down and walked with Mirjam for 1.5 agonising hours.

There weren’t really any highlights from this section. Like how it’s been for most of the last couple days, it was just an expansive, dead straight beach with no end in sight. Each jarring step on the hard sand made me more and more frustrated and impatient as I longed for the relief of Hukatere Lodge. When we finally reached the finishing point at the 70 km mark, I found out that the lodge is a few hundred metres inland along a gravel road. I could barely move at this point, but somehow I dragged myself up to reception and without hesitation booked a proper cabin. The weather was perfectly fine, I just wanted to sleep in a real bed.

An hour later, Vadem arrived in about the same condition as Mirjam and I, hobbling through the door of the kitchen. Marlon was another hour behind him, although he seemed more relaxed. Who would’ve thought walking slower means less strain on your body? He also wanted a cabin, so we ended up sharing one, saving us a bit of money as an added bonus. The lodge also had something all hikers froth over: hot showers. It. Was. Glorious. I felt amazing afterwards, my feet notwithstanding. They weren’t in such good shape. I almost didn’t want to take my socks off for fear of what I would see. Lo and behold, a very unappealing sight greeted me (I recommend scrolling past quickly if you’re squeamish)

So yeah, there wasn’t much I could do apart from eating and then going to bed. Walking was awful, both from my stiff legs and the numerous blisters now adorning my feet. I went to bed early, although I admittedly spent more time than I should’ve on my phone doomscrolling away.

And I’m supposed to do this all again tomorrow.