Day 32 Mayfield to Geraldine

Walked bu Mike & Rapid 41.4km 58485 steps Walked by Ella 13.3km

Last night I went to Methven and visited the 2 pubs during the World Cup Opening Ceremony and the early stages of the New Zealnd v Tonga game. The Brown Pub had a moderate crowd, the Blue Pub was packed. I collected about $300.

I made it on time to Geraldine today - beacuse I started 45minutes early. The first 13.4km were a single straight. Rather boring for me. That was followed by a straight of 4.4km that bought me to half way through the walk to Geraldine with just one corner.

Ella had sore paws again today - I think this is a result of her hunting expedition on Wednesday. She was pretty happy to be in the van today and even declined to walk at one stage when it was offered. Fiona says she regretted it after I was gone.

Rapid really enjoyed his trip to Geraldine as about 25km of it was off lead. It is interesting how his road sense has developed over this trip. He used to be less reliable than Ella but now he has much more. On bridges he clings so close to the rails you can here his vest rubbing on them. One day this week he jumped over a low barrier as a truck was approaching. Unfortunately he still tries to bite the tyres of cars when they are moving slowly so I have to be very careful when people stop to give donations.

I had 2 cyclists accompany today. Dave who passed me while riding to Methven yesterday rode with me for about a kilometre on his way back to Winchester. Mary rode out to meet me at Orari Bridge and walked back to town with her cycle.

There was a good group waiting in Geraldine to greet me, including Rhonda who is the local Cancer Society co-ordinator and Julie the ANZ branch manager. Julie bought me a beer and Fiona was given a large parcel of food.

As I have set a ridiculous target for tomorrow I started walking some of it today. I walked 7.4km and would have gone on for another couple of km but Fiona was getting tired.

We are staying free of charge in a little cottage at The Farmyard motor camp outside Geraldine. We have truckloads of washing to get done because we thought we didn't need to do any at Arthur's Pass.