Day 52 Edendale to Old Coach Rd 12km from Clinton

Walked by Mike and Rapid 45.2km. 55621 steps Walked by Ella about 16km

It was very foggy this morning in Southland. We were just a little late leaving and the fog made for a slow trip to Edendale. I managed to publish yesterdays blog while the van was passing through Invercargill. It was 20 minutes late starting walking. Ngaire walked with me the first 3km and for the forst couple of kilometres I had the dogs on lead because of the fog. Once it lifted so I could see over 100m I le the dogs offlead and they stayed that way all day.

The bad news is that I have a new blister. The good news is that it is nearly as bad as the one that stopped me last week but the Allevyn Heels I was able to walk with only mild pain - I continued with just ibuprofen today.

After Mataura the sun came out and it was soon very warm. Expecting a warm day I had ditched the merino shirts and went with a cotton one.

I didn't get a huge number of donations on the road today but they were all quite big in amount so I expect when I count the contents of the bucket tomorrow I will be pleased.

I made good time as far as the edge of Mataura - even with a break I had made up 5 minutes of the time I was late starting. The people in Mataura seem to be very tslkativ4 and I lost another 15 minutes going through Mataura which I never made up. In fact by the end of the day I was 50 minutes late.

The verges on SH93 (Mataura to Clinton) and not only narrower than on SH1, they are also stonier. I put a pair of Fions's boots on him about 2km out of Mataura. He hasn't worn them out but it was close.

The first 19km of SH93 climb out of the Mataura River catchment and into the Waipahi River catchment. The third rest break today was taken on the top of the rise between the 2 catchments. We spent a while trying to identify the hill that had Marama Farm on it before Ted worked out there was another ridge in between.

The trip back to Gore where I am staying tonight was via Clinton - which was the nearest toilet to the end of the days walk. After a visit to the supermarket I dropped Ngaire and Ted off at there motel and came around to Lynley's place where I am staying.

After dinner I did a trip to the pub where once again the Southlanders where generous.