Lands End

We’ve been told lots of trail walkers start out early each morning, but we‘re a bit lazy - today was one of our records at 7.35 am. Rob has a lot of trouble getting me moving in the morning, but the thought of having to cross the Waimatuku Stream before it got dodgy at high tide was motivation enough this day.

We walked along Oreti Beach towards the pink sunrise on good firm sand and an ever-changing beachscape. Seaweed, gemstones, birds, sand patterns and the sound of the breakers kept us interested for the whole seventeen kilometres, despite a smattering of rain. It was a still day and pleasant going along this almost deserted beach to our exit– here there were many people walking dogs and beach combing.

We enjoyed the 7 km walk up Dunn’s Road passing venues for every type of sport you can think of, then past flash new houses and eventually crossing an estuary where we saw beautiful spoonbills, white herons and dozens of grey herons. By this time it was raining heavily so we were glad to reach Invercargill and dry out in a backpackers.

We had a brilliant idea – we booked two nights in Invercargill so that we could do our final day to Bluff with light backpacks and hitch a ride back. We came to have some misgivings about this decision as it was a Saturday night and the place was noisy with young revellers. Even worse was the dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit of the pedestrian crossing outside our window which dit-ditted every twenty-eight seconds all night long. Also, why is it that hostels insist on having winter-weight duvets on their beds in summer? We stewed with it on and froze with it off. Sigh.

So, our last day dawned and what we saw out the window did not fill us with joy. It was raining - hard. And when we glumly set out we discovered there was a cold head wind as well. This wasn’t how it was all supposed to end.

The track around the estuary provided a bit of shelter and a sighting of fernbirds, but then it was out on to the totally exposed State Highway 1 for twenty-one kilometres of miserable cold wet walking. There was even treacherous talk of giving it away or hitching a ride – but we stuck it out, putting on gloves, balaclavas and waterproof pants to help ward off hypothermia. When we saw the entrance to the Foveaux Walkway Rob announced there was absolutely no way he was going around to the windward side of Bluff Head in a southerly on a track where people have died of exposure, but if I wanted to do it then I could go alone. Hurrumph. Sense prevailed, we continued along the road and soon arrived in bleak old Bluff with its dingy buildings. Huddling in the doorway of an abandoned shop eating our sandwiches we felt like a couple of tramps but we soon decamped to a café and warmed ourselves up with a big cup of hot chocolate before venturing forth for the last couple of kilometres – and the rain had stopped, hooray.

Suddenly, there we were at Stirling Point – great excitement – and there was the famous sign we’d been aiming for all these weeks, with a dozen tourists clustered around it taking photos. We felt we had superior rights of course, but patiently waited our turn for a photo.

It was all over. We gave each other a big hug, a tear sprang to my eye, we had conquered the beast and felt like heroes for a few moments. But now we must turn north, return home and resume normal life. We about faced and stuck out our thumbs.

Our last trail angels were an English couple, Peter and Annette, who had seen us walking in the rain to the signpost and admired our spirit. So when they saw us hitching back they kindly offered a ride all the way back to Invercargill.
And that was that. Cape Reinga to Bluff: 3156 kilometres. We’d actually done it.

Notes:

Day 70: Riverton to Invercargill YHA. 28.5 km
Day 71: Invercargill to Bluff. 29 km

Postscript.

When you get on the Bluebridge Ferry as a foot passenger you walk in on the lower vehicle deck and then have to climb about 6 flights of very steep stairs. As we approached them, a stewardess came over and asked if we needed any help with the stairs. I mumbled a polite response and we laughed all the way to the top. If only she knew!

Two jobs remain for us:  to write concluding remarks about our overall experiences and to provide a set of notes to assist other people planning to walk the Long Pathway.

Finally, thank you to all our wonderful trail angels and to those who helped behind the scenes or who took an interest in our adventure, and to our fellow trail walkers, where-ever you are.

And for those who are interested, here is a link to a selection of our photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100535446401199071668/TeAraroaTrailSouthIsland111211312#