TA Day 8

TA Day 8: Thursday 26 December 2024

Birchwood - Telford Campsite

In the morning we said goodbye to the others, not knowing whether or not we would see them again. Especially not Jon whom we met yesterday, who would rest up since he had an injury.

The day started with high and wet grass, so high it was hard to see the orange poles that marked the way. Then we spent almost the entire day hiking through endless sheep and cow pastures, and here it was important to not deviate from the trail because the land owner only accepted people crossing the land through that specific path. It was a bit annoying to know that someone had misbehaved at some point a few years back, that resulted in them redrawing the route so it got longer and had more elevation. But at least it also got more interesting, with nice views and a more "wild" feeling, because here there weren't any farm animals, at least not when we walked there.

Today was also the first day we stopped to eat dinner along the trail. Previously we've just had dinner once we've arrived at our place to stay for the night.

Once we arrived at Telford Campsite, where we would pitch our tent for the first time on Te Araroa, we saw another tent there already. It belonged to Thomas! We thought we wouldn't see him again since he had planned to hike further, but today was a tough day, and for him too, it seemed.

We also noted some red and itchy spots on Kim's legs this evening. We weren't sure what it was, we thought maybe sun eczema, but it hadn't been THAT sunny. So Kim thought it might be some reaction to all the grass, since she had been walking in shorts all day. She took an antihistamine pill, and hoped it would calm down overnight.

Then we pitched our tent, and it was a very idyllic camping spot, minus the sandflies of course. We didn't mind having to camp here at all.

Today's:

Distance: 30.14 km

Ascent: 1130 m

Descent: 852 m

Tent nights: 1/8

Weather: Mostly cloudy, with some drizzle and sun at times.