A Dangerous Business

Ngā mihi o te tau hou! Happy New Year!

January 1st, 2022

Bluff to Invercargill.

Distance: 34 km

Steps: 55,000

We started the year with our tradition of finding someplace to watch the sun rise. Less than spectacular this year because of the cloud cover, but still a lovely way to welcome the new year:

We then caught a shuttle to Bluff, so we could officially start walking Te Araroa - The Long Path. The southern end of the trail is this iconic signpost. If you zoom in, you can see the marker for Cape Reinga, which is our destination, a mere 1403km in a straight line, but just over 3000km to walk it.

Much of today was walking alongside the road (a massive thanks for the shared cycle/walking path actually separate from the road), so our thoughts and conversation were interrupted occasionally by the cars and trucks speeding by. This was an added bonus for starting on New Year's Day - not much traffic! Also , we walked with a tail wind for much of the day, which was clutch.

Before we got to the road, though, the trail took us around some absolute loveliness. If you zoom in carefully, you may be able to see the shadows of Rakiura (Stewart Island) in the distance.

Getting to this sign was all on proper (non-road) trail, including a bit amongst some tall grass where we briefly lost our way once or twice. Very briefly. Barely added to the distance travelled.

Lunch today was crackers, salami and cheese. I forgot to take a photo until we were down to the last one, and I'd even nibbled on that a bit - but here it is, served up on our fine dining ware (aka my knee).

Highlights of the day:

We passed 5 people going southbound, all on their last day of the trail!  All of them had started at the top of the south island, and taken more or less 2 months to complete their journey.

We also also passed one runner, who completed the South Island in just over one month!

Karen, who we mentioned yesterday, walked quite some ways with us today. Turns out she's more or less an expert tramper, having even run kids' programmes for tramping.

The nerves are pretty much gone now! Thank you so much to everyone who sent words of encouragement, they really did help! 😊 However, our bodies are pretty sore from 9 hours on our feet, and hard asphalt and concrete under them. Tomorrow is another 34 km, but hopefully a little kinder to us.

Today's title comes from:

"He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep and every path was its tributary. 'It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.'"

Frodo Baggins

J.R.R. Tolkien, Three Is Company, The Fellowship of the Ring