Day 62 Hildethorpe to Waimate to Hook

Walked by Mike and Rapid 40.2km 54175 steps Walked by Ella 16km

Total distance walked 2121 km Funds raised $19,144.58

No rain but a cool day. I was still wearing gloves at the end of the day. It was OK while walking but for rest breaks I had tgo get out of the wind to keep warm.

I got away about 10 minutes early today. My calves were a bit tight for the first 5 minutes but once I loosened up I was off at a good pace. The first milestone of the day was the Waitaki River Bridge. This is the first of several long bridges I have to cross to get back to Christchurch. The traffic was fairly low and it does have a ledge. It is possible Rapid & I could have crossed it without an escort. Having Ted escort us across meant that Ella could walk across the bridge and I was much more relaxed.

At the first break I pulled out the computer and published yesterdays blog and checked the weather. I have now found the corner of Ivan's bach at Glenavy I can get an internet connection from. It is a bit dodgy but it mostly works. After that I was 5 minutes late. I made that up by the time I turned off the main road to Waimate.

Without the kilometre markers I slowed down and was 5 minutes late reaching the branch. However that was half an hour earlier than the branch staff were expecting us. They were very friendly so Ted and I took out time and finished up spending over an hour in Waimate. Helen, the branch manager came across to the tea rooms with us while we had lunch. We left Ella and Rapid in the back yard of the bank which has a bit of grass. The gate latch wasn't working properly, I suspect because the hinges had sagged, and the dogs were back inside the branch when we had finished lunch.

Joanna has sent a parcel of dressing material which was waiting for me at Waimate. There are Allevyn patches and some clear tape that looks good for my little toes.

It was only 8km from Waimate to the end of the days walk (the corner of SH1 and SH58) at Hook. I let Ella walk all the way which she enjoyed. I arrived at 4:20 pm - 45 minutes late so I made up 5 minutes over the last section.

There are now no blisters on my feet but there are still lots of places on my feet with former blisters that have yet to fully heal. If my feet continue to improve I'm hoping my feet will be fully healed in time for the agility competitions at Labour Weekend.

I rang Fiona today and asked her to make Rapid 4 more shoes which should get him from Timaru to Christchurch.