Friday 17.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1968.5km
• Official kms: 25.5km
• Garmin kms: 25.84km
• Total time: 5:38
• Calories burned: 2407
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Aunty Briars.
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 18

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

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Today I’m finishing off the last section to St Arnaud. My uncle Mike is down at the moment & is coming for a ride to drop me off. We are taking two cars one to leave at St Arnaud & the other one for Aunty Briar & Mike to get back after dropping me at the start point.

After car shuffling I started walking at just after 10am. Today I have just under 26 kilometres to go & about 600 metres of elevation gain. I think this should take around 6 hours including a lunch break.

It was all tar seal again today, the stuff that make the feet sore at the end of the day. I pumped out just over 15 kilometres before stopping for my 1st break, where I sat under a tree beside the road in the shade & had a couple of pre-made wraps of lettuce, ham & cheese. After about 20 minutes I started off again to get the last 10 kilometres completed.

It didn’t take too long to reach St Arnaud & the last 1 kilometre was on a nice track in the bush before reaching the lake where the car was parked. I got here at 3:50pm jumped in the car & drove up to the local store to get a well deserved cold drink & an ice cream.

After treating myself it was a 1 hour drive back to Nelson. Arriving just after 5pm. I’m taking the weekend off the Trail & blogging allowing for some down time.

Restarting the trail on Monday with lack of reception so my next blog will probably be a week away. Until then…..