All in all it didn't make for a great night's sleep, so perhaps I can be forgiven for having a slow start this morning. I went and had a shower in an attempt to wake myself up, and came out to find John putting on a clothes wash. What the hell...at the rate I was going by the time I'd had breakfast and packed up the wash would be done and probably half the dryer cycle as well, so I took up John's offer and chucked my walking clothes in on top. The two of us then ducked over the road to McDonalds for breakfast. Reaching there however we discovered a much nicer cafe alternative was open next door and so opted for that. John ordered the 'big breakfast' while I went with eggs benedict, and then we both sat on the couches closest to a power outlet and set our phones charging. I downed an orange juice and then sipped hot chocolate in a stupor; I have absolutely no idea what we talked about. The only thing I clearly remember in my semi-conscious state was the look of food envy on John's face when my delicious looking eggs benedict came out (english muffins topped with spinach and two neat poached eggs with a generous dollop of hollandaise sauce in each) alongside his rather lack-luster and (I would say) undercooked assortment of baked beans, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash brown and toast. Feeling the best thing to say was nothing at all I dug in.
At some point John saw Sophia set off. I missed her, as I would most things today. We hung around in the cafe waiting for the washing to dry before returning to the motel to pack up our gear. Sandra arrived with a car full of supplies and I helped her carry them inside on the way to top up out water bottles behind the bar. I was astonished to find I was ready to go before John was, but since waiting for him involved sitting down doing nothing--which was exactly what I wanted to do--I told him to take his time. We finally set off just before 11.
On the way up to the overbridge across the highway we passed a fully laden loquat tree. I introduced John to the fruit; he did the thru-hiker thing of eating a handful right there and then (you get to eat it without carrying the extra--though arguably minimal--weight), but it was too soon after breakfast for me so I picked four and stuffed them into my trouser pocket. I just had to remember not to bang into anything on that side and squash them!
John and I both made the mistake if thinking today's walk would be an easy wander along the river bank. Not so. The first 2.5km is an up-down-up-down route through farmland, scrub and swamp which I can only guess from the description in the notes is meant to give hikers an idea what the area was like before Europeans concerned almost everything to pasture. Neither my tired legs or my blisters were happy about the terrain.
Shortly after passing Whangamarino Redoubt the track crosses the highway and becomes the promised river-bank walk...skirting paddocks and following the narrow strip of land between fence and water that is highly overgrown with long grass. I sought consolation in the fact that at least the odd patches of tall yellow irises were pretty.
The Waikato is an impressively large, deep and gently broiling river that reminds me of the Clutha back home. It's well known to have a serious pollution problem thanks to the extensive dairy farming along its banks, but I hadn't realised it is also home to a healthy population of large koi carp. At one point where our dude of the river had a broad shallow shoulder there were about a dozen of them, slowly moving about and then snapping at the surface with a splash whenever something tasty caught their eye. Things don't look good for any native fish in the Waikato!
And so the riverside walk continued throughout the rest of the day. John, a thru-hiking veteran used to laying down 30+ miles a day was astonished a mere 26km took us so long. I felt bad at one point near the end when I was having a turn leading and followed the trodden grass track right into a bog, only to spot the boardwalk across it just a few meters away. Unfortunately John had followed close behind and soaked his trail runners and freshly-changed socks before I could alert him to the slight diversion from the proper trail. Our only consolation was that from the tracks in the grass we'd followed it seemed that no one had managed to find the overgrown start of the boardwalk and all ended up walking through the ankle deep mud of the swamp before scrambling up and out onto the boardwalk.
Finally, with night coming on we reached the final road walk into Rangiriri. The area between the town and the river is currently a huge construction site as the highway and on-ramps to the bridge are reconfigured. We made it out to the highway only to find we had to walk along it to find a road into Rangiriri township then zig zag back to reach the hotel--our destination for the night. We reached it just on dusk at around 8pm. Sophia was sitting in the bar having just ordered a meal. We said hello before sussinf out our own accommodation. Camping us apparently any option across the road, but the ladies behind the bar weren't sure of the costs and entitlements (like, are we allowed to use the shower?). All the single rooms at the hotel were booked so John and I settled for an overpriced shared twin room ($45 each, when a single room to yourself is only $50!). We ordered dinner while we were at it, then went to settle in. The rooms are upstairs above the bar. The building was obviously once quite grand in it day (epically tall ceilings!) but is now old, dated and minimalistically maintained. The floor slopes in idd directions as you walking down the corridor to your room, and once inside the lady showing us where to go tried to close a blind and it broke...which meant we had the bright street light outside glaring in at us all night. The only upside to the room apart from the fact that it did in fact have a bed each with pillow and sheets, was that the beds had electric blankets. (I only discovered this later when John went to bed and almost fried himself alive on his blanket, which had been left on high. I would turn mine on low and let the heat gently soothe my tired muscles). In the meantime I dumped my stuff and headed for the showers. Trip's fastest shower later I was dressed and down in the bar, waiting for dinner. John soon appeared and happily he and Sophia were able to maintain conversation as it was a bit beyond my capabilities this evening. I contented myself with being perched on a stool and not very subtly rubbing my feet under the table. John kindly shouted me a ginger beer, and tried one himself, but don't think he liked it.
When dinner finally appeared (a surprisingly tasty crumbed chicken with Cajun sauce, salad and chips) I wolfed it down before making my excuses and disappearing off to bed. I was still awake when John came in and settled down for the night. He expressed concern that the mattress was way too soft and that he might not sleep very well, but I'll be damned if he isn't one of those lucky people who lies down to sleep and does so almost immediately. Within minutes his breathing changed depth and tempo and I knew he was out like a light. Oh how I wish I was one of those people...
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