Day 14 - more road

Sheryl’s Place, Waikare —-> The Farm, Whangaruru 22km

I knew when I started TA that there were going to be days like today. Boring, hot, full of road. Days that weren’t about what you see on the way, nor really about the destination, but about getting your head down and just walking.

We made our way along the road from Sheryl’s place back to the trail where we left one gravel road for another.

Steph and Milton were not feeling the roads at all, so at the first opportunity they could, they flagged down a car and very kindly the driver let them jump in the back. Josh’s knee was again giving him some grief so he jumped in too. I’d given myself a rule that I’d only hitch if a) it was dangerous or b) if I was injured/in so much pain I couldn’t walk. I was neither of those so I waved them off and watched the car whizz away. It was the first time I’d been alone in two weeks. I trudged along, seeing nothing more interesting than the junk & cars people had discarded along the way.

Before I knew it I was 12km down and had arrived at our campsite, The Farm, in time for a late lunch.

It was delightful, if not a little odd to have a full afternoon to entertain ourselves. We read, napped, I smashed Josh at table tennis (he will say he let me win) and tried to work out how we were going to spend NYE…