Day 48 | Invercargill
30 November 2022 | 14° | 25km
The sun is out again! We camped by some picnic tables at “Ocean Beach” (not really a beach) just outside of Bluff a bit tucked away from the road. Good spot for a long breakfast. Not much to say about todays walk to Invercargill; it’s mainly walking on a bike track just beside the state highway. Once in a while some of the bypassing trucks start honking. Congratulations on starting the trail?
We don’t have snacks for today really due to not getting to a supermarket or dairy after getting out of the airport and mainly count on resupplying in Invercargill after 25km later today. Also I currently don’t have a water bottle. Not a big problem as there are no water sources on the way anyway. I get quite hungry though. I could cook one of my meals if only I had enough water …
At one point I pick up a water bottle that someone seems to have thrown out of a car and head to a house by the road asking the owner if he could fill it up with water from the tap. He says that the water at their old house is not very good but gives us a full bottle from the supermarket wishing us luck for the trip.
After taking a break, I hear some trekking poles clicking on the concrete … another hiker! His name is Conner (with an “e” not an “o”) and we walk and chat mostly about the typical topics such as gear, resupply, hitching until he is taking a break. Phil and myself are very keen on getting food so we leave the trail heading into Invercargill. We stop at a sports bar to have a snack and drink - the first place we see once getting into town - before heading to the supermarket.
Once we get out it’s pretty windy and I feel that I have cooled out quite a bit. I put on my puffy jacket and we head downtown to see a bit of the city center before heading back to the trail. Our plan is to warm up in a bar or cafe and then do a final push to a campsite some 6km out of town. Once we sit down we realize how tired our legs are and it’s just too tempting to stay at the hostel next door and do a bigger day tomorrow :)