For two reasons… but firstly, an update:
After leaving the fabulous ‘kept me dry and warm’ Trail Angels called Chris and Sharon I walked up (and down) a very steep hill – with fabulous views – to Havelock. I now know that a treat lunch of pie, scone and custard square is too much in the belly for an afternoon of walking.
Pelorus Bridge DoC campground is one of the nicest I’ve encountered, mainly because it was completely flooded (twice!) in December/January so the new grass was nice and comfy to sleep on.
A shorter day yesterday walking up Maungatapu Road into Mount Richmond Forest Park. Was collected by Ken and Lynda and returned to Picton for the 60th anniversary reunion of the NZ Scout Contingent which attended the 1951 World Jamboree in Austria. That’s reason #1 why my head hurts – these chaps have been meeting every couple of years since and they’re still going strong! 60 years ago they traveled a month on a boat as 14-16 year olds and five weeks back again. Impressive!
The second reason my head hurts is dealing with logistics of the trail. I have to be in Christchurch next Saturday for the Queen’s Scout Award presenation with the Governor General and yet I have a bunch of mountain tracks in the middle of nowhere to complete before then.
Huge thanks to Nicky and Aaron for helping me modify the proposed route slightly to mean I’m not running the risk of missing that engagement, yet still moving south this week! They’ve also dropped me off to Nelson (hosted tonight by Zone Leaders Mike and Bridget) where I can connect with my end-point again tomorrow.
So we’re still moving forward, little by little it seems but when I look at the map I am making progress. That’s with plenty of thought-time given to the pending book-writing too… it’s going to be a goodie!
MyAdventurePlus 