I set off just after 9am on the short 3km to Anakiwa. I was soon passed by a mountain biker who stopped to chat. His name was Redge, a retired accountant from Whangamata who, after several minutes of walking, pronounced that he liked wailing better than mountain biking as you got to see more. I chuckled. I like walking for that reason too...plus it's easier...and you can go more places on foot than with a bike...and it hurts less when you fall...usually...
We chatted all the way to Anakiwa and the end if the track, having to stop and step aside every now and then as around a dozen runners came through behind us who were obviously running some kind of race. At the jetty we heard the hollers of another race taking place as the Spirit of New Zealand students raced each other in groups to the shore, furiously paddling rubber dinghys. One group had their paddles well coordinated and were streets ahead of the rest.
Redge said farewell as he rode off to check out of his backpackers by the 10am deadline. I hope it was flexible as it was nigh on 10 already.
From the end of the QCT TA follows the waterfront through Anakiwa and joins the Link Walkway--an intermittent footpath which when completed will link Picton and Anakiwa with Havelock. I stopped on a bench to apply sunscreen, before setting off along the path that follows the road but happily gives you an equally easy to traverse alternative to walking along it.
From the turnoff to Linkwater you have to walk the road shoulder. I stopped for a break in a Totalspan "Undercover Kids" bus shelter before setting off again. I passed two guys painting the roof of a house. They called out to see if I wanted a job. After first hollering back that I'm not good with heights I decided I could spare an hour if they needed help so went to offer. They laughed at my having called their bluff and said they'd be right so I continued on.
Not far down the road a laden cyclist stopped to chat to me. Her name was Kay and she was one of 230 cyclists who set out from Cape Reinga over three days who aim to do the cycling equivalent of TA over the course of a month. My mind boggled at the thought of covering that distance in that amount of time...but then I'm no cyclist. We wished each other well and she cycled on. I continued at a rather slower pace, managing to spook some cattle who refused to walk through the underpass beneath the road until I'd walked all the way across it. Further on I passed a school and a civil defence hall. The school had a small peach tree in the carpark straining under the weight of numerous peaches, with several more falling into the gutter...so I relieved it of a couple of its burdens (trail magic!). There's also a public loo at the civil defence hall, although rather unfortunately there's also a sign saying "no camping". Happily for me it was only late morning and I pushed on to the Linkwater service station to have lunch.
While I pondered the age of the sausage roll I was buying a guy at the counter appeared to be trying to sell a handful of dream catchers to the lady for her to put I her shop of touristy nick-knacks. She served me mid-negotiation, and there were two dream-catchers remaining on the counter when I went in a second time to buy a ice cream for desert. The salesman had driven off in a box-laden can while I slurped a coke outside at a picnic table, leaving me pondering the unknown life of a travelling dream catcher salesman.
After lunch I set off again, following the road down to Pelorus Sound. The sun was shining and it was a very pretty sight, looking out over the estuary-like arm of the sound toward the larger sound and hills beyond. I stopped to don sunscreen and hat.
As I came into a more populated area my immediate problem became water. TA hikes up and over a 400m high hill to get to Havelock (rather than going round the headland), and in the hot sunny weather I didn't have enough water to manage it. I eyed houses as I passed them...one in particular looked empty AND had a hose tap in plain view, just a scant few metres across a lawn from the road. But I couldn't quite bring myself to trespass and hoped a better option would present itself before the climb.
It didn't, so at the last house before the climb I stopped to ask for water. No one was home and I could find a hose so I tried the neighbours. The builder said it would be alright for me to fill up from the hose, but as I did so the owner appeared and kindly offered to fill my bottle from his newly installed UV filtered kitchen water. His tone indicated that this was where his generosity would end but I was supremely grateful all the same--the tap water had smelt strangely sulphurous!
Laden with wonderfully cool, fresh water once again I set off up the track over the hill. I soon got distracted by a nice, well benched track leading off to one side. The TA notes say nothing about this track so I followed it for a bit, but it soon became apparent that it was heading around the headland rather than over it. With no guarantee that it would go all the way to Havelock it was more kilometres than I was willing to risk so I doubled back and followed the TA-prescribed route up and over the headland via a steep and eroded transmission line service track. It was hot and hard work and I stopped twice on the way up to sit in the scant shade cast by overgrown gorse bushes. There was the odd view on the way up but nothing from the top (maybe if you climb all the way up but I wasn't in the mood). Havelock comes into view on the way down the other side but here the track is steep, eroded AND overgrown with gorse in places so my attention became fairly fixed on just getting down. I stopped at the bottom to massage my feet back to life, curious to know whether the signposted link pathway I discovered there connected up with the side track I'd first explored. Send TA that way next year if it does guys! The up and over route is not fun.
From the base of the hill it was a short 2km walk to Havelock (past another peach tree whose fruits were going to waste...minus two), and another 1km to the steps of the community hall where I was to meet Uncle Stewart at 5. It was only 4:30 so I had intended to make a B-line for a bakery or cafe, but the bakery was shut and across the road the cafe was closed permanently due to fire damage. Not quite believing it (surely someone on the TA grapevine would have mentioned there's no cafe in Havelock? In fact I was sure I'd been told there was one!) I flicked on my phone and sure enough, it turns out the cafe only burnt down last week. Poor buggers. I ceased feeling miffed that I had not heard about the closure of the Havelock Cafe. (And for those of you whose minds work that way, yes there was a pub but I didn't fancy it).
I killed time reading about the achievements of Lord Rutherford in a small park adjacent to the hall. Although he wasn't born in Havelock he did spend a large part of his youth here and is consequently a treasured son of the district.
Shortly before 5 I returned to the steps to wait and not long after a 4WD pulled up and out popped a dark-haired woman I vaguely recognised. "Jenny?" she asked.
When I replied "that's me" she responded "Gosh you look like Averyl!". Yep, that's definitely me. The woman was Judith, Stewart's daughter and my cousin, whom I haven't seen since her wedding when I was about 12. It turns out Uncle Stewart is a bit under the weather today so asked if Jude could pick me up. Thanks guys!
In the car we caught up on about fifteen years of various family news and I told her all about the trail. Before too long we pulled up outside Stewart and Hazel's house. Jude said farewell, with the assurance she'd be back with her family for dinner the following night to hear more.
Stewart and Hazel bravely hugged me the smelly hiker before I was ushered inside and shown to the spare room, two of them actually--one for me to sleep in and another for my gear if I needed it! Then Hazel showed me to that little piece of heaven that is a shower and I disappeared into it, emerging from the bathroom twenty minutes later (probably more) back to my old clean and slightly knackered self once again.
We had a brief catch up over dinner (Mmm...devilled sausages and vege--fresh vege!) before Stewart and their son Craig headed off to band practice. I busied myself with washing and putting my tent up to more thoroughly dry. We had a time keeping it upright in the light wind in the yard, and eventually Hazel told me to move it into Stewart's study where it was warm and dry, and not windy. Lucky it's a small tent!
It wasn't long before Stewart came home and we all had a cup of tea and a chat. I've given up trying to befriend their shy boxer dog, who runs and hides under the dining room table every time she sees me (apparently I'm not to take this personally as she does it with everyone). I'm determined however, and will change tactics to the "I'm indifferent to you. You're barely even there" approach and see if I can't win her over that way. Not a good approach with people generally, but it can be just the ticket with shy dogs.
It's rapidly become clear that Hazel thinks I'm nuts doing the trail, but like most other people who think so she isn't going to try and talk me out of it. Now that I think about it no one has tried to do that. Curious...you'd almost expect someone would. Maybe I just know lots of cool people who are happy to support all my crazy schemes. Yay people! Or they all know I'm stubborn and don't want to waist their energy. Wise people!
It wasn't long before I crashed into bed, with grateful thanks to Stewart and Hazel for having me and the assurance that I would be better company tomorrow. I'm going to have a day off. Not sure what we'll do yet but we'll just take it as it comes :)
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