Day 19
Day started with a water taxi ride across the water to Marsden Point. Blair was our Captain for the short journey. Everyone wanted to be in the first boat, but the second boat left only 15 minutes after the first. So really, no difference. Funny how the type of people who like walking these long distance pathways are the type of people who want to be in the first boat. The greater plan was to get to the estuary around low tide, allowing us to cross safely. This planning all fell apart when we took an early crossing and made good time along the beach. We would have had to wait several hours before the tide was low enough. So we ended up taking the high tide or by-pass route, which was about 3 kms of road walking. The bright sun made this 3 kms feel like 5 kms. It was a day of beach, road, beach and more road.
I was walking with Diana again. We skipped the first bakery and set our sights on The Bach, a cafe in town. This turned out to be a wise move. We were joined by Marije, Ruth and Elliot. We also met Robyn, a NOBO (NOrth BOund) walker. We invited her to our table and exchanged a few stories. Robyn is hiking the full Te Araroa, but in sections like me.
At the start of the day, it was not 100% clear where I would camp for the night. The choice was either a longer day today and make it to Waipu Cove, this would make tomorrow easier, or a shorter day today and longer tomorrow. I even had this idea to have dinner in Waipu and walk the last 7kms to Waipu Cove after dinner. Over lunch I made the decision to walk to Waipu Cove, and cook dinner for myself. Given this decision, we did not want to hang around the cafe too long, as we had many more kilometers to walk. The day ended up being 32.8 Kms.
Once back on the beach I went for a swim while Diana took care of her blisters while battling the blazing sun. The water was amazingly refreshing and certainly recharged my batteries for the next 15 kms or so. Re-supply would be in Waipu, which has a 4-Square. The re-supply was a bit of a dud, as the next town has much better re-supply option, with a full-blown supermarket. So, we just brought food for the night.
Waipu Cove Holiday Park is very organized and very near the beach. As the sun was about to fade, Marije encouraged me for a second swim of the day. The swim was nice, as was the hot shower afterwards.
