Walked by Mike 844.5km walked by Idol 532km walked by Toby 310.8km funds raised $8633
Today was the most difficult walking of the whole trip (well Saddle Rd may turn out to be worse) - over Devil's Elbow. It went much better than I expected with no close calls although I think 1 bus driver got a fright when he came around a corner to find Idol in sit between the barrier and the white line.
The plan was to have Idol walk from Lake Tutira to the top of the Devil's Elbow and then Toby do a few kilometres before Idol did the tricky corners on the Napier side. Toby had other ideas and refused to get out of the car. Jude tricked him into getting out at White Pine Reserve and the lead was left on so he could be pulled out when he went into the corner of his crate.
The first unexpected event was on the descent to Waikoua River. I cam across a sheep stuck by its neck to a blackberry bush. I tried to pull it off but I wasn't able to manage it. I sent Jude off to the nearest house - up the gravel road - to find the owner to set it free. The first hazard was a ford with a warning that it was dangerous if water was running above the concrete crossing - it wasn't but had been recently. Next Jude came to fork and guessed correctly which way led to the house - down a narrow drive barely wider than the car. Jude came to a gate with a nice large area to turn just before the house. Alas nobody home and the gate was locked. So Jude had no choice but to back up a narrow slippery drive with a bank up on one side and a drop off the other. Proximity warning was going flat out the whole time.
There was only one place on the trip to the hairpin that I had Idol on a lead. Nowhere to go but on the road and only inches between white line and the barrier. Fortunately nothing came in the 100m like that. Idol spent a lot of time on the other side of the barrier from the road and occasionally I joined him. A pleasant surprise was getting a good sized donation from a car that stopped just before the elbow.
This sign appears just before the hairpin where the road apart from a few metres in front of the sign is quite narrow enough.
Once around the hairpin we were forced to use the left side of the road with traffic at our backs almost all the way. Fortunately the gutter on the right was dry and not at all slippery so we used it a few times. Very relieved when I got to Aropaonui Rd for a break - and the quiche I bought at New World yesterday. The descent to Kareara Stream was uneventful. It was in the twisty bit between there and Te Ngaru Stream that a bus came around the corner shortly after I had crossed the road and before I had got Idol to jump over the barrier. He responded immediately to my sit command - though it was probably safe to have left him walking.
The bridge at Te Ngaru stream looks scary but in actual fact is no worse that the road before it. The bridge is at an odd angle to the current road so that there is only about 2m where there is no shoulder.
By waiting for a gap in the traffic I was across with no issues. Idol then got a rest and Toby took over the walking. There is a ditch on the right side of the road so we had to walk most of the time on the left with traffic coming from behind me which always makes me a little nervous. Toby wasn't happy about the trucks but otherwise walked along happily. Three people stopped and gave donations between Te Ngaru stream and the beach. The second break was taken at Pakurathi Valley Rd. The lead was left on Toby while in the car. After the break it was a short walk down to the beach. Idol joined Toby and both dogs got to run free along the beach - which was much harder work for me as soft sand takes a lot more effort than the road.
Once off the beach Idol went back in the car and Toby and I continued on to Esk River bridge with no issues and a pleasant piece of slow traffic through road works. Could I please have a gang running 1km ahead of me and 1km behind with 30kph signs for the rest of the trip? Jude drove behind me across the 2 bridges. Quite a queue built up including a police car and it was noticeable that nobody was trying to get past early - it would have been incredibly dangerous anyway as the rail bridge is curved and north bound traffic was consistent. What was interesting was noticing how much they oncoming traffic slowed - some not an iota others down to about 50kph. Commercial vehicles were almost all in the later category. While it was appreciated I felt it unnecessary as Toby and I were well to the left of the southbound lane.
Finish was 35minutes late. Although I started the walk 3 minutes early I was 3 minutes behind schedule after Devil's Elbow whereas I normally gain 10 minutes in the first hour. Another 20 minutes where lost for breaks. A was about 5 minutes slower than timetabled along the beach but made up 3 minutes of that on the flat run through Whirinaki.
After I took Jude home I dropped into Taradale branch where Derrol, the Regional Manager, was coming for a visit. A had a couple of long conversations with customers in the queue. There were 2 delightful preschool boys who I gave teddies to.
Gavin and Nicky Webb made me most welcome and the dogs even got to come in for while after dinner.
Today was the most difficult walking of the whole trip (well Saddle Rd may turn out to be worse) - over Devil's Elbow. It went much better than I expected with no close calls although I think 1 bus driver got a fright when he came around a corner to find Idol in sit between the barrier and the white line.
The plan was to have Idol walk from Lake Tutira to the top of the Devil's Elbow and then Toby do a few kilometres before Idol did the tricky corners on the Napier side. Toby had other ideas and refused to get out of the car. Jude tricked him into getting out at White Pine Reserve and the lead was left on so he could be pulled out when he went into the corner of his crate.
The first unexpected event was on the descent to Waikoua River. I cam across a sheep stuck by its neck to a blackberry bush. I tried to pull it off but I wasn't able to manage it. I sent Jude off to the nearest house - up the gravel road - to find the owner to set it free. The first hazard was a ford with a warning that it was dangerous if water was running above the concrete crossing - it wasn't but had been recently. Next Jude came to fork and guessed correctly which way led to the house - down a narrow drive barely wider than the car. Jude came to a gate with a nice large area to turn just before the house. Alas nobody home and the gate was locked. So Jude had no choice but to back up a narrow slippery drive with a bank up on one side and a drop off the other. Proximity warning was going flat out the whole time.
There was only one place on the trip to the hairpin that I had Idol on a lead. Nowhere to go but on the road and only inches between white line and the barrier. Fortunately nothing came in the 100m like that. Idol spent a lot of time on the other side of the barrier from the road and occasionally I joined him. A pleasant surprise was getting a good sized donation from a car that stopped just before the elbow.
 |
| The road goes up that hill |
Once around the hairpin we were forced to use the left side of the road with traffic at our backs almost all the way. Fortunately the gutter on the right was dry and not at all slippery so we used it a few times. Very relieved when I got to Aropaonui Rd for a break - and the quiche I bought at New World yesterday. The descent to Kareara Stream was uneventful. It was in the twisty bit between there and Te Ngaru Stream that a bus came around the corner shortly after I had crossed the road and before I had got Idol to jump over the barrier. He responded immediately to my sit command - though it was probably safe to have left him walking.
The bridge at Te Ngaru stream looks scary but in actual fact is no worse that the road before it. The bridge is at an odd angle to the current road so that there is only about 2m where there is no shoulder.
By waiting for a gap in the traffic I was across with no issues. Idol then got a rest and Toby took over the walking. There is a ditch on the right side of the road so we had to walk most of the time on the left with traffic coming from behind me which always makes me a little nervous. Toby wasn't happy about the trucks but otherwise walked along happily. Three people stopped and gave donations between Te Ngaru stream and the beach. The second break was taken at Pakurathi Valley Rd. The lead was left on Toby while in the car. After the break it was a short walk down to the beach. Idol joined Toby and both dogs got to run free along the beach - which was much harder work for me as soft sand takes a lot more effort than the road.
Finish was 35minutes late. Although I started the walk 3 minutes early I was 3 minutes behind schedule after Devil's Elbow whereas I normally gain 10 minutes in the first hour. Another 20 minutes where lost for breaks. A was about 5 minutes slower than timetabled along the beach but made up 3 minutes of that on the flat run through Whirinaki.
After I took Jude home I dropped into Taradale branch where Derrol, the Regional Manager, was coming for a visit. A had a couple of long conversations with customers in the queue. There were 2 delightful preschool boys who I gave teddies to.
Gavin and Nicky Webb made me most welcome and the dogs even got to come in for while after dinner.
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