Day 38 (875 to 891 kms)
After a good night sleep at the Holiday Park I headed across the road to order a latte and find the two other walkers that camped at a hut 3 kms North. We had breakfast together and I found out where they got lost the previous day. Even with all of our technology, it is easy to miss a turn and walk in the wrong direction before realising your mistake.
They set off and I returned to pack up my tent and follow them. It is only 15 kms to Te Kūiti, so it would be a relaxed day and just what I was hoping for after the monster previous day. Unfortunately I calculated the distance wrong and it was closer to 20 kms with most of it over rolling farmland along boundary fences. This is harder than it might seem. Typically farmers want you to follow the fence line, but the fence line is usually established completely independently from the contours of the land. So instead of going around a hill, the trail might go straight up the hill and then down the other side, only to repeat this 100 meters later. Tracks in the bush or roads typically follow the contours of the land making them much more enjoyable.
The 20 kms ultimately took a whopping 7 hours to compete. This did include a stop in town to buy a new pair of sunglasses, as I forgot mine 6 days earlier when I left home.
The countryside was nice, but the highlight of the day was the Trail Angel where we stayed. Simone and Daniel were our hosts for the night. They are new to being Trail Angels and we among the first to camp in their lovely garden. They have built an amazing common area in their garage and added a shower for us. We sat outside, enjoyed the evening sun and just relaxed.
Te Kuiti is also a good place to resupply. The next supermarket is 162 kms further along the trail, so stocked up on enough food for 5 days.
