Start – Boyle Village
Finish – Hanmer Springs
Daily Distance – 7 km
TA Distance – 2095 km
A thoroughly relaxing day made possible by the kindness of strangers. Today was a slightly earlier than
usual 05:30 start and having skipped breakfast I was ready to start the short walk towards civilization by
06:00. The reason for my haste? It can only be the chance for a shower and a slap up meal (well, more
like 3 really, but who’s counting).
Arriving into Boyle village at 07:30, I had a stop for 1st breakfast and to make myself look slightly more
presentable, before hitting the highway. It seems that the God of hitching is smiling on me today. In a
practically unheard of occurrence, the first car I brandished my thumb at stopped for me! So it was that I
spent 50km keeping Mike, a recently retired dairy farmer, company as he made the long drive towards
Christchurch. Given that it would take me most of 2 days to walk this distance, we reached my turn in
seemingly no time at all. Saying a final heartfelt thankyou we parted ways and I set about tackling the
final 10km to Hanmer Springs. Deciding to chance my luck again, I tried to avail myself of another ride
to save several hours of road walking time. 10km wouldn’t usually be an issue, but with 2nd breakfast
beckoning I figured my time could be spent more profitably consuming coffee and scones. For the second
time in less than an hour I barely had to wait any time at all. Laura, a freelance accountant, picked me up
as she was heading to work in Hanmer, the only imposition to her being that she had to excavate her
passenger seat from under a mound of miscellaneous car junk. In short order we arrived in Hanmer
Springs and I was left to reflect on the good fortune that brought me to town by 09:00, far earlier than I
had dared hope. While reflecting, I reflected that reflection is really best accompanied by coffee and
baked goods, so went in search of the (not so) long awaited 2nd breakfast.
A significant portion of the remaining time today has been spent buying, measuring into portions and
reorganising food for the next 12 days on trail. Fortunately, while that was time consuming, I did manage
to find time to scoff down plenty of food in the present. Chief among the day’s culinary pleasures being a
nicely rare 17.5oz steak with heaps of mash in a local country music bar. Good music, lovely food, and
all for the bargain price of £10. In another display of confusing pricing, my hearty meal was £10, but my
pint of cider was £6. I have heard several Kiwis say that it is almost cheaper to eat out than to eat at home
and I’m starting to see what they mean. The cider was delicious though and for brief moments succeeded
in insulating me from the blazing heat outside.
As tempted as I am to stay for another day, I will try to rejoin the trail tomorrow. Too much time spent
living it up in town only makes it harder to begin again. A leisurely breakfast is definitely on the cards
mind…
