Distance walked by Mike 249.1 km Walked by Idol 197km walked by Toby 89.3km
A cold day today. It was 0 degrees celsius at 6am and by 10:30 when I arrived in Putaruru it was still only 3 degrees. Reached a high of 11 in the afternoon.
Found bacon & egg slab in Tirau and a bacon & cheese scone so full marks in the food department today. I started out with both dogs for the first 1.8 km and then alternated throughout the day, The streets of Tirau were just about deserted so very little added to the bucket there. Then at the top of the hill saw a sign at Loose Goose cafe that said "we love dogs". And they mean. Dogs inside the cafe. I scored a good donation and a free cappuchino.
The railway underpass turned out to be no trouble at all. A truck came up just behind Cynthia as I started under and the oncoming traffic all slowed down. Toby is now used to trucks going past and no longer jumps whenever one does. He walks beautifully on the lead - more than I can say for Idol.
First stop in Putaruru was the giant wheelbarrow.
The branch at Putaruru was very quiet but I managed to convince a few of the customers who came in during the time I was there to put some money in the bucket. A nice cup of tea provided by the staff to go with my scone. Then back through Putaruru and a second crossing of Oraka Stream and the north end of town. That is a short but narrow bridge. I met a truck on the first crossing but nothing at all on the second.
Good bye to State Highway 1. I won't join it again until Levin in the last week.
Just a little way up SH28 Aki from Tokyo caught up with me when Toby was eating rubbish. We walked together to the start of the Te Waihou Walkway. Coming back to Putaruru in the afternoon we came across Aki walking back to his hotel and gave him a ride.
I'm not sure how but somehow I finished up half an hour late but finishing in the middle of nowhere it didn't matter. Once past the Blue Springs entrance to Te Waihou Walkway there was very little traffic - mostly logging trucks, but quite a steep climb. Cynthia and I had a good disagreement about where we were. Cynthia was using per Navman that said we were at 600 Leslie Rd with 3.6km to go. I was using my notes and time since the last point in the notes and reckoned it was less than 1km. I won.
A really sad thing is the mess being left behind by milling in the forests. I have no idea what is planned but the area that was milled when I came through in February has still not been replanted and more forest mass been felled. Soil erosion is a major problem. I do hope it is replanted soon and not converted to pasture.
Having got to the finish point it was back down the hill to town, to deposit the bucket contents, have a coffee and then off to Graeme Jeffries place. A bit of a meander as I had the wrong address but mobile phones make sorting that out easy. I got to meet Pearl's puppies and cuddled one for a few minutes before it had to go off for a feed.
Just to end the day Cynthia and I dialed into a vestry meeting in Wellington.
Where was God for me today - in the piece and quiet once away from highways.
Where do I need God to be - with the people at St Peter's Willis St.
A cold day today. It was 0 degrees celsius at 6am and by 10:30 when I arrived in Putaruru it was still only 3 degrees. Reached a high of 11 in the afternoon.
Found bacon & egg slab in Tirau and a bacon & cheese scone so full marks in the food department today. I started out with both dogs for the first 1.8 km and then alternated throughout the day, The streets of Tirau were just about deserted so very little added to the bucket there. Then at the top of the hill saw a sign at Loose Goose cafe that said "we love dogs". And they mean. Dogs inside the cafe. I scored a good donation and a free cappuchino.
The railway underpass turned out to be no trouble at all. A truck came up just behind Cynthia as I started under and the oncoming traffic all slowed down. Toby is now used to trucks going past and no longer jumps whenever one does. He walks beautifully on the lead - more than I can say for Idol.
First stop in Putaruru was the giant wheelbarrow.
The branch at Putaruru was very quiet but I managed to convince a few of the customers who came in during the time I was there to put some money in the bucket. A nice cup of tea provided by the staff to go with my scone. Then back through Putaruru and a second crossing of Oraka Stream and the north end of town. That is a short but narrow bridge. I met a truck on the first crossing but nothing at all on the second.
Good bye to State Highway 1. I won't join it again until Levin in the last week.
Just a little way up SH28 Aki from Tokyo caught up with me when Toby was eating rubbish. We walked together to the start of the Te Waihou Walkway. Coming back to Putaruru in the afternoon we came across Aki walking back to his hotel and gave him a ride.
I'm not sure how but somehow I finished up half an hour late but finishing in the middle of nowhere it didn't matter. Once past the Blue Springs entrance to Te Waihou Walkway there was very little traffic - mostly logging trucks, but quite a steep climb. Cynthia and I had a good disagreement about where we were. Cynthia was using per Navman that said we were at 600 Leslie Rd with 3.6km to go. I was using my notes and time since the last point in the notes and reckoned it was less than 1km. I won.
A really sad thing is the mess being left behind by milling in the forests. I have no idea what is planned but the area that was milled when I came through in February has still not been replanted and more forest mass been felled. Soil erosion is a major problem. I do hope it is replanted soon and not converted to pasture.
Having got to the finish point it was back down the hill to town, to deposit the bucket contents, have a coffee and then off to Graeme Jeffries place. A bit of a meander as I had the wrong address but mobile phones make sorting that out easy. I got to meet Pearl's puppies and cuddled one for a few minutes before it had to go off for a feed.
Just to end the day Cynthia and I dialed into a vestry meeting in Wellington.
Where was God for me today - in the piece and quiet once away from highways.
Where do I need God to be - with the people at St Peter's Willis St.
Thank you so much for leading me to Te Waihou Walkway and giving me a ride back to hotel. I really appreciate your kindness and it was also a great opportunity to know this kind of fund raising campaig for cancer is going on. Hope you and Toby will have safe trip to Wellington. It will be great if we could accidently meet again some where and have a little walk together!
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