Start – Methven
Finish – Comyns Hut
Daily Distance – 16 km
TA Distance – 2296 km
The busiest day he had ever known. That was the surprised statement made by the Methven rural school
bus driver this morning. 16 seats in the bus, 16 seats occupied by TA hikers. More hikers than children
he’s due to pick up on the return journey! It is great that the TA continues to grow in popularity, but this
demonstrates the issues that are beginning to arise as a result of the increasing numbers of people walking
the trail. There have been a number of posts recently on the Te Araroa Facebook group from people who
have arrived in towns and can’t find any accommodation as everywhere is fully booked. The current
advice is to book ahead, which unfortunately fails to take into account the difficulty of planning ahead
owing to the vagaries of the weather and how it can effect your progress along the trail. I don’t know what
the answer is, but if hiker numbers keep rising as they have been it won’t be many years before
infrastructure issues become a real problem.
Anyway, after 1 1/4 hours of bus napping we arrived at the trail head at the still early time of 07:15.
Today’s walk has only been a leisurely half day really, but after resupply rucksacks always feel heavy. It
will also keep legs fresh(er) for the next 2 days, which will be in the region of 8-10 walking hours. After
an unusually early 5am wake up, a lazy afternoon has been most welcome. Does anyone else find that
they sleep terribly when they know it’s necessary to wake up early in the morning? Oh well, I’ll try for an
early night tonight.
