Day 35 Kimbell to Tekapo

Distance walked by Mike & Rapid 50km Distance walked by Ella 18.9km - plus hunting distance. 64929 steps

A day of milestones
- completed half the distance to walk early this morining at Mt Dobson Ski Field access road.
- completed 1200km late afternoon
- walked the longest distance yet in a single day
- fundraising passed 50% of the target.
- I now have a 3rd generation blister on my left heel. The right heel however looks to be improving.

A bit slow getting organised this morning and so late getting to the start of the walk at Kimbell. I got passed by a road sweeper truck on the road between Fairlie and Albury. In my mind those things crawl along so I felt a little indignent being passed by one.

The big wide verges continued out of Kimbell for a few km. Since I had Ella with me that meant I had to walk on the grass to get her to stay there off lead. That slowed me down a little as the surface was uneven.

At Mt Dobson turnoff I flagged down a builders van and asked them to take photos of Fiona,the dogs & I at the halfway point. Fiona then went back into Fairlie where she found a vet that stocked the padding I am using on my blisters and a bakery that does splendid food - that's 2 days in a row. I may not let her go home. Meanwhile I carried on towards Burkes Pass with the remains of the yummies from Geraldine for morning tea. Ella went for ride with Fiona as she needed to rest up for a big walk in the afternoon.

I stopped for my first rest about 2km from Burkes Pass township. Fiona returned from Fairlie just after I had started walking. The creek just before the township is called Paddys Market Creek. One of the locals was working in their yard as I went by but he couldn't explain how it gots its name.

As I walked through Burkes Pass township, Julie who runs Three Creeks Arts & Crafts, and a coffee cart called me across. She gave me a free hot chocolate and a tour of the shop. Julie moved to Burkes Pass from Christchurch after the February earthquake. Right now her business is struggling so if you are passing through Burkes Pass do stop in - she is a really delightful person and I would like to see her shop flourish. She has a great range of possum and merino knitwear. Most is bought in but some she knits herself.

There was a cold wind blowing all day - I think it changed direction from southwest to west as the day went on - but in any case it was coming off the mountains. As I crossed onto the west (Tekapo) side of Burkes Pass there was a very small amount of hail. I was getting hit by about 10 small hailstones every minute. The hail continued for about 10 minutes. It then cleared up with blue sky but the cloud returned early afternoon and stayed. I saw several rain showers in areas around me but never got wet.

The 2nd rest break was at Dog Kennel Corner, just on the Tekapo side of Burkes Pass. I now chnage my socks and put Arnica on my feet at the second break. The first day I did the Arnica first and then ate lunch. My hands smelt of Arnica something awful and while it didn't taint the food getting a whiff with each mouthful was a bit much. So now I eat first and then put on the Arnica. This means I can't start walking while still eating so the break takes 20 or 25 minutes. The good thing is the Arnica is working - the soles of my feet don't feel as sore from the bruising.

The third stop of the day was at Lake Tekapo Scenic Reserve. I don't know what is Scenic about this reserve. It is just a bit of tussocky farm land with rather run down fences. There are splendid views of the mountains - maybe that is the view they are preserving.

I had been debating with Fiona all day about whether to us the walkway from Tekapo or the Tekapo Canal Rd. If I used the walkway I had to go right through to 50km as the walkway is on the other side of the canal from the road. The advantae of the walkway is that the dogs could be off lead and I knew it had a good population of rabbits that Ella would enjoy exercising - she still tries hunting but she frequently follows the trails in the wrong directions - and is far slower than the rabbits.

In the finish I chose the walkway but I should have chosen the road. About 3km along the walkway wondering why I had seen no traffic on the road I noticed the speed limit sign had been replaced by a road closed sign. They close the road whenever the wind gets high because if a camper van blows over it would finish up in the canal.
I finally arrived at State Highway 8 at 6pm - 10hr and 45 minutes so not to far off the planned time of 10 hours.

Fioan was rather tired abd it was getting late so we ate in the pub. The bacon and eggs will have to wait for another day. Anyway it was a chance to wave the bucket around.