Start – State Highway 1 (TA km 156)
Finish – Apple Dam Camp (Puketi Forest)
Daily Distance – 18km
TA Distance – 174km
A short day today as there are only 2 designated camping sites in the Puketi forest. One was pretty close,
but the other will be a long day of walking tomorrow to reach.
After a relatively leisurely 8am departure the long awaited dairy was reached in short order and second
breakfast commenced. Second breakfast was infinitely better than my usual breakfast of muesli with
water. It consisted of a chocolate/shortbread slice; a heaped double scoop iced cream with the structural
integrity of an advanced jenga game and a litre of milk, which I have been craving for days. It was here
that I was fortunate enough to meet Paul, who has been living in NZ these past 20 years having
emmigrated from England. Having the luxury of living in NZ and the burden of a job he is hiking the TA
in 10 day sections around work. After a lengthy and pleasant chat he kindly gave me the details of several
contacts, should I decide to try and make this move permanent and seek work in NZ. I have no idea if that
will come to pass, but it was a lovely gesture and another example of the diverse nature of folk you find
on the trail. I never expected to begin the day eating breakfast with an engineer turned investment banker
with a keen interest in hunting, but it’s a funny old world.
Highlight of the day – My first cup of tea for a week. Kindly brewed by Paul who was also at Apple Dam
campsite the evening.
