Originally we had toyed with making the last day our longest and walking the entire 66 kilometres in one go – which is doable, since the route is flat and easy.
But since our feet had been burning after a “mere” 40 kilometres these last few days, the temptation to walk 66 kilometres in a day was not quiiite so great any more.
- Days 109-110
- This section: 66 km
- Total: 2998 km
So we took it gently from Riverton at 9 in the morning. The overcast sky was not worthy of our trail finish anyway.
After 22 kilometres of beach walking and another 10 kilometres of road my feet were more than ready to knock off for the day in Invercargill. How glad I was that we had abandoned that pipe dream about our own record!
Then it dawned: day 110 – our last day on the Te Araroa!
For the final section the Te Araroa trail design team really pulled out all the stops. The trail looked like this all day:
Which is to say: 20 kilometres of highway to Bluff. The town advertises itself as the town where the highway starts.
Once in Bluff you would normally take a lovely coastal path to Stirling Point, the southern terminus of the Te Araroa. That morning, though, the CEO of the Te Araroa Trust personally warned that because of wild bulls people should please not take that path but keep following the highway. That did not come at all inconveniently, as it put the Four Square (grocery shop) on our route, where we could get something to toast the final metres with.
From here it was only 1.5 kilometres to the end of the trail. We set a worthy scene with music on the phone, first dancing and then running to Stirling Point as it came into view.
I had longed for this moment so intensely lately – and now fat tears were rolling down my cheeks. Joy at being here? Sadness that the route is over? Relief? Sheer exhaustion? Probably all of it at once. And more.
About an hour ahead of us Bibi, Jasper and Sofie had already arrived and waited for us in the sun. I am so grateful to be able to share this special moment with other hikers.
Even more remarkable is that exactly 111 days ago we sat on the bus towards Cape Reinga together with Felix, and 110 days ago walked a completely insane 40 kilometres together on our first day. And now we walked into Bluff together.
Incredibly eventful and challenging 110 days lie behind us. I will miss a lot of it: the bond with the other walkers, the boundless helpfulness of the Kiwis, having the remotest corners of New Zealand to ourselves, drinking water from mountain streams, the many cosy backcountry huts, the tiredness in every fibre of my body after a long day of walking and, above all, eating and eating and eating and still losing weight.
But I am also glad that certain things will not be part of my life for a while: slipping into muddy shoes in the morning, walking for days with wet, sodden feet, the dependence on ziplock bags, turning over on the mat a hundred times a night and waking again and again with hip pain or numb limbs, sandflies (!), mice that want my food more than I do.
I could probably go on with both lists forever.
We have now – one day after the end of the trail – travelled to the lovely city of Dunedin on New Zealand’s east coast (where there are penguins in the sea!!!). Here we are switching off for a few days and gathering our strength so we can make new plans.
Because when one adventure ends, another begins.
