Day 44 Frankton to Cromwell with a gap

Walked today by Mike & Rapid 43.4km 60546 steps Walked by Ella 13km.

What a difference a rest day makes. Today I was able to walk well and made up more than a third of the deficit from Tuesday.

It was much warmer today - even early in the morning. I never wore a parka and the jersey came off early afternoon. In the afternoon it clouded over but there was no wind in the Kawerau Gorge. There were a few spits but it never actually rained.

Robert Taylor, Paul's brother walked with me from Frankton Roundabout to Shotover Bridge. Ted had to do escort duty on 3 bridges today - Shotover, Kawerau and Victoria.

The scenery was stunning all day. Always there were mountains around and for much of the day the wild river.

Starting at 6:30am I made it to Kate's place to say goodbye to her and get mobbed by her dogs for the first rest break. Ngaire and Ted got delayed so I didn't get my food till just after I started walking again. However the scone was good so it was worth waiting for. At 10:10am I was at Gibbston and was able to start on today's walking. Ngaire walked with me 3 times today - at Lake Hayes, through Gibbston and the last 2.8km of the day in Kawerau Gorge.

The second rest break was at Gibbston where I had a very nice chicken and brie pie. Ngaire and I use the Gibbston Walkway for a few kilometres. Rapid enjoyed a long break off lead.

The one bleak point on the scenery was the rubbish tip at Victoria Flats shortly before the Kawerau Gorge. I got about 1km into the gorge by 12:55 when it was time to drive to Cromwell. The dogs and I had lunch while Ted was driving. The place I had written down as a landmark to start the walk into Cromwell had changed name so we missed it. I then had to wait 15 minutes at the second landmark before walking into Cromwell with both dogs. Sarah from the ODT did a quick interview and took a few photos.

Cromwell branch has 3 staff but only 2 work at once so they weren't able to come out and walk with me. Brenda is full time. Rebecca works mornings and Vikki works afternoons. After a pleasant cup of tea and conversations with a few customers, one of home was a toddler whose talk I couldn't understand it was time to hit the road again.

When Ted picked me up I thought the spot lacked any distinguishing features so I tied a poo bag to one of the road side reflectors. Without that we would not have found the spot again. I walked with just Rapid to Roaring Meg Creek and then another 2.8km towards Cromwell with both dogs, ending at the finish of the passing lane.

We are staying tonight at the Top 10 Holiday Camp, for no charge, organised by Cromwell Branch. There is a big sign at the gate No Dogs so I think I better keep them in the van in the camp. The cottage is very nice but we are all sharing one bedroom. I hope we can all ignore each others snoring.