TA Day 36

TA Day 36: Thursday 23 January 2025

Harper River / North of Cockayne Creek - Mingha River / Edwards River

It was hard to stop hugging and get going this morning. But finally we got up, and left a few minutes before Jan. We didn't go far until Kim managed to slip on a stone, trying to pass a small creek, and hurt her right shoulder and tail bone. Didn't feel too bad until she tried to push with her legs, then her tail bone hurt again...

We stopped by West Harper Hut, a hut that a lot of people think is spooky and scary for some reason! But it was quite cute and charming, there are plenty of worse huts on Te Araroa...

Outside the hut we had some breakfast, and Jan caught up to us. During the few minutes he had been alone, packing the last things, he had a close encounter with a kea! He showed us a video of it, so cool! We have yet to see a kea. We think we might have, but only circling high in the sky and yelling out, and we are not entirely sure it's been keas... So we were a bit envious.

The trail was good beside some wind fell. Today was a bit slower than what precious days have been, and when it is like this, it triggers irritation for both of us, especially towards each other. Today we managed to stay happy most of the time with just some irritation here and there.

Once we were getting closer to the road, Lukas and Jan wouldn't stop talking about food and burgers! They were really excited, and after a loooong downhill and road walk we finally arrived there and Lukas had a burger and Kim had two starters (that were bigger than Lukas meal, lol... And similar in price). We also had a dessert afterwards.

It's so funny eating with Jan though - he had a main meal for "starter", a burger with fries as "main meal" and then a small dessert after 😂

The hardest part was to get out and continue walking... Kim kind of wanted to stay there at the Bealey Hotel...

But we kept going. The road was fast and easy, but soon we were down on the riverbed and it was so slow-going! Kim was very tired and felt like she could just walk to the tent spot that Lukas had found and started pitching the tent on. Laying down felt SO good.

Today's:

Distance: 29.79 km

Ascent: 883 m

Descent: 976 m

Tent nights: 26/36

Weather: Sunny morning, then cloudy, some winds and some drizzles