Day 51 Invercargill to Edendale

Walked by Mike & Rapid 42.1km 53347 steps. Walked by Ella about 19km.

Another pain-free day. I am now taking only ibuprofen. I think it helps with the knees and hips which are starting to feel a little over used.

Rapid & Ella got to sleep in my room last night. Rapid climbed on the bed a couple of times but decided he was more comfortable on the floor.

There was quite a crowd waiting at Invercargill National Bank at 7am to walk with me. Jo Miller had brought along her doigs Flynn & Oscar. From the branch were Trudee, Tania, Kaska, Ngaire and Pam. Pam was first to leave. Her husband picked her up at Rockdale Rd. Tania made it as far as the end of Oteramika Rd before she need to go back for an appointment. Jo Miller got a similar distance before her husband arrived. Ngaire, Kaska and Trudee made it 21km to just before Woodlands before they returned. Rebecca did the driving backwards and forwards to pick people up.

I had Rapid in bare feet today and he coped really well. I carried a pair of soft shoes just in case but they weren't needed. Ella was in great form and twice decided she would do more when I wanted to put her in the van.

The weather started out overcast but going along Oteramika Rd it started to rain just enough to have to put my parka on. The rain didn't last long but the westerly came up. However the weather improved throughout the day. Shortly after Woodlands I was down to a cotton sweatshirt and shorts.

Speed started out OK. We were 5 minutes late at Rockdale Rd (1 hour) but back on time at 9km. Ella got in the van and we took the first rest break - quite a van full as the wind was cold and we needed to get inside. Dave and Kerri came down to the corner of the road to cheer us on.

The children from Rimu School came out to wish me good luck. I gave a 2 minute talk and answered there questions before carrying on.

After Rimu School the walkers spread out. Kaska maintained a good pace while Ngaire and Trudee were a little slower. I seemed to be all around the place - sometimes up with Kaska, sometimes with Ngaire and Trudee and sometimes bringing up the rear.

One of the other branch staff needed to go home sick so Rebecca came out to pick up Kaska. My directions on how to find us were clearly deficent as Rebecca took a while to find us, by then 1km from Woodlands. I walked the remainder of the day on my own.

I was 45 minutes behind schedule when I left Woodlands after the second break but really delighted as I made up 10 minutes and was only 35 minutes late at Edendale.

Ella walked from Woodlands for a while. 1.6km out of Woodlands the route turned onto a little used gravel road that runs alongside the railway line. In 6km the only thing that went past was a farmer on a tractor. The road from Morton Mains to Kamahi was just a little more used - about 6 vehicles in an hour and a half. I had the pleasure of being able to catch a lamb that had got out of a paddock and couldn't get back in and lifting it over the fence. The lamb resisted my attempts to catch it but once I had it didn't sdtruggle at all as I lifted it over the fence where it ran very happily off to its mother.

Ella walked the 4km from where I joined the main road at Edendale Cemetary to Edendale. Other than in the city neither dog was on lead today. Ella is now picking up the idea of keeping to the verge. She is rather nervous about trucks and jumps whenever one goes past.

Just after I got back to Invercargill, Diane and John's duaghter Deidre and her children Logan and Chelsea came around. They had raised $200 from running raffles. Chelsea had also drawn me a delightful card that will be going into the scrap book for the trip.

The afternoon produced a new problem. Rather than soaking off the plaster I just pulled it off as the heel pads I am sure should not get wet. Unfortunately two bits of plaster were stuck to my skin more firmly than my skin was stuck to me. There is also a very small blister on the sole of my left heel which is new.

Ngaire, Ted and I had dinner with Dave and Kerri - Roast lamb, potatoes and greens. Everything but the greens they had produced themselves. Ted I'm sure was very happy as desert was apple crumble.