Today 32km Utea Park – Ahipara Holiday park

Total walked – 101km

Today was epic! Finished the beach. Massive day though. Sarah was keen to hit the last section as a pair and I was keen to do a bit of team tramping to keep the spirits high. Cant remember the last time I tramped 3 x 30km days on the trot. Thank you body for keeping on going.

The beach is funny. I am so glad that I am used to carrying the weight on my shoulders and that I have been meticulous with my feet, as that has really set the stage to a pretty pain – free start to a gruelling adventure.

Sand sucks though. Just keeping it real. Nothing worse that trying to put sunblock on your face, but your hands and sandy, so you wipe them with your slightly sandy buff/bandana, only to then realise your face already has loads of sand on it from the last 10km in wind. Great. Also, have eaten a whole bunch of sand recently Haha

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We were looking forward to getting off the beach. Also, I mentioned the idea of fish and chips way too early in the day, and that consumed our thoughts for a good 20km.

Highlight of the day was Pauly D, one of the hosts at Utea park rolling down the beach in his vehicle holding a bag of lollies out the window – ” grab a handful guys”. What a legend. We sailed the next few km.

I’ve been stoked with all the friendly, welcoming people we have met so far. And I’ve really clicked with Sarah, an awesome chick from California who I’ve been walking with.

The last chooch into Ahipara was hard, your feet always know when you are close.

Yay we did it!

We got a tent site at the beautiful Ahipara holiday park, scurried off to find fish and chips and then enjoyed a chill evening with some fellow hikers.

I’m also stoked that I took careful consideration about my gear. Although of course my body is adjusting to carrying gear, I am carrying sometimes half the weight of those around me but feel very prepared for all conditions.

Looking forward to the next section!