TA Day 72

TA Day 72: Friday 28 February 2025

Burtton's Whare Site - Palmerston North (Pavilion Motel and Conference Centre)

It was a lovely morning by Burtton's Whare Site. First thing we did then was to walk in the river instead of doing some unnecessary elevation straight in the morning. The river was suuuper low, so it was a great decision. Once the trail was back by the water we followed a nice trail until we reached a gravel road. Kim was feeling great, and had been meaning to film a CV video for sometime, and now she finally had some inspiration. One take and it was done! We then continued until Motorimu Shelter before taking a longer break for lunch/dinner. Then some gravel roads before entering a short bike path that would take us past the Halfway point, which it did! Can't believe we're officially halfway!

We celebrated a bit halfheartedly, since we already felt like we were halfway, especially with all the possible shortcuts on the north island...

There was more gravel road after this, and then we passed a campsite where we took another break. From here we realised that we could save 8 km by just walking along some big roads all the way to Palmerston North. We would already arrive fairly late and have a long way to walk, so we decided to aim for the shortcut.

On our way there we had to stop to make a phone call to Jan, who was now driving around on the north island with his car and wanted to meet us before going back home. Meanwhile, 4 locals stopped to ask us if we were alright and if we knew where we were going 😂 A bit funny but also very kind! All we did was stand by the side of the road and make a phone call!

Lukas also called one of the closer motels to book a room before the reception would close. Coming to Palmerston in the evening without having anywhere to stay would just suck...

Kim was really tired, but managed to drag herself to the motel. Here we tried DoorDash for the first time, and in just a few minutes we were eating our nice dinner without having to walk anywhere, how nice is that? Lukas had some Asian food and Kim Indian food and both were really good! We definitely need to have more food like this in the future.

Then Kim went bathing - because there was a bath in the bathroom! And oops, happened to stay in there for 3 hours or so... While Lukas was sleeping.

Today's:

Distance: 31.95 km

Ascent: 666 m

Descent: 824 m

Tent nights: 42/72

Weather: Sunny