Today- 27.7km from Waikanae Holiday Park to Pukerua Bay

Total – 1629.9km

After a nice evening yesterday and a night full of rain, woke up to the rain clearing and got ready to roll out with Laine, Iben and Ralph, we were all planning to walk to the same area some 30km south.

Easy walking this morning, nice graded estaury path and friendly locals saying hi.

We had set our sights on a bakery for an early morning pie stop at Ben’s Buns in Paraparaumu,a cute beach town some 6km away.

After conquering the first section, the pies did not disappoint.

It was back to the beach! Did about 12km of beach today. Nice quick walking with beautiful coastline views.

We played musical raincoats for a while and the rain definately came down, replaced by the wind for a drying session that led us into Paekakariki in time for an early lunch involving great coffee.

It was a treat yourself kind of day, after long time in the ranges , and a sign of walking into a city with lots of smaller towns with dairies and cafes.

Lunch got extended into a logistics planning sesh. For the South Island there are more logistics in terms of sending yourself some food, and Wellington is also the place for replacing gear, trying to rest, overfeeding the hungry body, printing trail maps and getting your head around what’s to come.

I booked a ferry crossing to Picton giving me a few days off in Wellington with the flexibility to change the sailing if required.

I also phoned Beachcomber cruises and the friendly lady there gave me a run down on getting the water taxi from Picton to Ship Cove to start the Queen Charlotte track.

With a successful logistical lunch over, we decided to tackle this afternoons track, the Paekakariki Escarpment track.

Created to give hikers an alternative to walking the footpath along SH1, it’s an incredibly beautiful, well graded trail with switchbacks, swing ridges and awesome views out over the Kapiti Coast.

Really enjoyed the hike this arvo, there was some ups and downs , stairs and sweating involved, but so many good views. A highlight for sure.

But the day wasn’t over without one last stop in a store – this time icecream called, and then we set off to the campsite for the night.

The wind is gusting upto 90km tonight, and my tent is shaking as I write this. Hopefully all things intact tommorrow!

My aim is to finish the North Island in the next couple of days as well as having most logistics sorted to give myself a few real days off in Wellington before hitting the South Island.

I’m stoked to get to Wellington and catch up with my awesome friend Casey who has just moved there earlier in January.

Looking forward to seeing Tom tommorrow night as a nice suprise, as him and a mate are heading south for their own adventures, and I am in Wellington sooner than expected so it will time in well to catch up with him a nzd some dive friends.

All good things to come!