• Activity: Canoeing then 6km walk
• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1373km
• Official kms: 43km
• Garmin kms: 37.91km canoe & 5.96km walk
• Total time: 5:44 canoe & 1:08 walk
• Calories burned: 2131
• Body battery: 9/10 great sleep!
• Accommodation: Motel in Whanganui
• Tent nights tally: 13

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

What a great sleep last night, I didn’t wake up until the alarm went off at 7am. We made corn fritters for breakfast had showers & packed up our barrels then headed down to the Canoe.

The river has dropped close to a metre but still seems to be flowing ok. We have a 37km row down the river to do & may have to fight the incoming tide as high tide is at 2.30pm. But we will try.

The 1st 25km was easy, stopping only once about 12km in for a 5 minute break, we were going at a great pace down the river. It wasn’t until the last 10km that we felt the affects of the tide. At best with a lot of effort we could get to 5km an hour. At this point I rowed without stopping as I was determined to get to the ramp around 3pm.

We did manage to get there at 3pm & we were both glad to be done! We untied everything & repackaged all our gear.

Before carrying our stuff up to the road I contacted a taxi so Antonia could get a ride from there to our Motel, her toes are still looking infected from the road walking a week back.

I walked with my pack that only had water & a few snacks in it the 6km down the road, as it’s still part of the trail. Stopping into the local Foursquare for Savlon for Antonia & a few other supplies as it was on route.

I was at the Motel just on 5pm. It was great to get there, Antonia was showered & looking happy to be finished also.

After a quick shower & getting the washing started we walked into town to catch up with Tim & Nici for a beer & pizza. Marko turned up not long after. We also caught up with Kevin, Michael, Ayumi & Nichola up at the Japanese restaurant before heading back to the motel to finish off some life admin & get ready for a well deserved sleep.

I’m doing two zero days from tomorrow, to reorganise, resupply & rest the body. Antonia catches a bus & is heading home. The rest of the group start walking again, so I will be alone for a few days, hoping to catch up. Fingers crossed!