Day 50 - Koitiata

Up in the morning we did laundry for the first time in weeks and the laundry machine barely did anything. Not I just had slightly wet still stinky clothes. Fritz met us soon after laundry and we drove down to Whanganui. This stroke of luck of getting and early ride meant that we still have a half day to hike. So after a small resupply I started down the road,  hoping to reach a camp some 32km away. 

This next section is another notorious road section. 110km to the city of Palmerson North, and 90km of it are some sort of road. Ugh. The good news is that this is the last bad road section. The bad news is that good weather has ended and rain is back in the forecast. 

Mt. Ruapehu still visible. The scale of the mountain on the landscape is impressive 

At one point a car pulled over and offered me a lift. The woman knew I was hiking the TA and where I was headed already. Very kind of her to stop but I turned her down. I want to get kilometres on my feet. As she pulled away and left me on the side of the road in the rain I questioned my sanity. What am I doing lol. 

Thankfully there is a beach section and I get to walk on some beautiful sand again. My camp is on the beach just after a river crossing. Two weeks ago this river was in flood and impassable. Now, near high tide, it’s only at my knees. At camp I had dinner at a picnic table with 3 other Canadians! We shared high fives for our commonality. 2 walkers and one bike packer. 

A sperm whale vertebrae