Day 31
Did not get a great sleep. Seems like the folks in Mercer like to drive their loud and throaty cars all night. Fortunately I was exhausted from the previous day, so when I finally did fall asleep I never woke up until the alarm went off. Today would be another long day, so another early start. Everything packed up around 06:30 am and over to the McDonalds for breakfast. Always nice to have a cooked breakfast, especially when someone else is doing the cooking.
My feet continue to give me some little but annoying trouble, because of my shoes I think. There is now a little blister on the left foot to add to the invisible bruising. When I finished the day, there was also a little blister on the right foot. The blisters are on the sole of the foot near where the toes join the rest of the foot. Not a great place to put a blister plaster (aka Compeed), so I decided to leave them alone, at least for the moment.
I started along the busy State Highway No.1, but soon I could leave this for a gravel road which quickly turned into a stop bank or dyke. Like the previous day, the stop bank was a little more tricky than expected, because of the uneven terrain and overgrown grass. The heavy morning dew on the grass quickly soaked my pants and shoes, which was actually quite nice. To my left and away from the river were the polders or fertile low-lands. The valley was covered with a slight fog. Ahead of me and in the distance I could see the hill that I would need to cross, knowing that Auckland was on the other side. New Zealanders will know this geological barrier as the Bombay Hills.
I was enjoying the walking, and the kilometers quickly passed. Before I knew it, I was on top of Mt William and enjoying the 360º view. I could see Auckland in the distance. The sun was heating up the day, but I only had another 20 kms to go to the B&B where I would camp for the night. Most of these 20 kms would be on the road, so no surprises like the previous day. According to my temperature sensor, it got up to 37ºC. Seems unlikely, but it was hot.
Once at my camp for the night, I had a hot shower, made dinner and as usual, went to bed early. These long days are harder on the body than I expected and in the future I will not be doing 38 kms days. Tomorrow is only 30 kms.
