Day 61 Waianakarua to Hildethorpe

Walked by Mike & Rapid 41km 53509 steps Walked by Ella approx 18km
Total distance walked 2080km funds raised $18,744.58 (over $19,000 with what is in the bucket)

The weather forecast was again misleading. The prediction was for a maximum of 12 degrees and a norwester. There was very little wind and a warm day. Even at 6:30pm it is still warm at Glenavy.

I refused to set an alarm for earlier than 6am so as I expected I was 15 minutes late starting walking at Waianakarua. Poor Ella's sight is failing. There were about a dozen rabbits about 50 metres from her and she couldn't see them. Instead she concentrated on following the smell of where they had been earlier.

The road down to the coast was very quiet - there was no traffic at all during the 5.5km from SH1. Ngaire was wanting to walk with me along Te Hakapureirei Beach but it took a while to find somewhere she was confident to come down the cliff with only 1 hand. Ella and Rapid had a ball on the beach which we used for over 3km. By that time Ella had walked 9km and I though she should have a rest. I had to put her on a lead to make her stay behind and she howled when put in the crate. As it turned out she was correct to be upset as I decided to walk along the beach from All Day Bay to Kakanui Point - another 2 or 3km.

I got a little lost in Kakanui but Ngaire's phone wasn't working - it turned out the SIM card had slipped out of place a little. Eventually they found me and by looking at the map I was able to confirm I had gone in the correct direction but probably not the shortest way.

Ngaire and Ted went to the toilets at Kakanui while I was walking to the bridge. While Ted was in the toilet Ngaire slipped on the van seat and with only 1 hand was unable to stop herself falling out of the van. When the got to Seaview Cafe they sat down and had a cup of coffee so Ngaire could recover. Ted ordered me a hot chocolate to go and I got some lemon meringue pie to take away for my lunch. Diane from National Bank in Oamaru and a friend where in the cafe having brunch. They had walked the 10km from Oamaru in an hour and a half which is really good going.

The tide conditions on the beach between Kakanui and Awamoa Creek meant the beach couldn't be used so Ella missed out on a beach walk. I could have used the beach after Awamoa Creek but I was half an hour behind schedule so I stuck to the road. However as a compromise I took the dogs down to the beach for a brief play just before going inland where we had a lunch stop.

Oamaru was very quite so I didn't manage to collect very much walking through town even though the dogs were on their best behaviour and being really charming. Ngaire, Ted and Ella tried collecting outside New World but only managed to collect $8.

The traffic north of Oamaru was much heavier than I had experienced for quiet a while. Rapid was happy though because there was a good collection of garbage along the verge for him to eat. The last stop for the day was at the 45th parallel where everyone had photographs (including Pat, the Daffodil Day bear) and Ragitty the elephant.

I was 45 minutes late at Hildethorpe but it was only a few minutes to Glenavy where we are staying in Ivan Pali's bach. The dogs are having a good sleep. Ted & I are going into Oamaru tonight to watch the rugby, rattle the can and publish this blog. Ngaire and the dogs will stay home.

An update on the feet. While they are still a little sore all the blisters are heeling. So fingers crossed by the time I reach Christchurch they may be OK. As I feared wearing shoes that aren't waterproof has resulted in Rapid's rear feet softening up so he will need to wear shoes for the rest of the walk.