Day 3 | Hukatere Campground
16 October 2022 | 17° | 30km
It’s great to wake up with the sound of the ocean, or more precisely the Tasman sea. Though it is only 6:45 AM, I am very awake, however my body feels veeery tired still.
Walking by the beach might sound great but today it’s actually terribly boring. With the sea to the right and the dunes to the left and no real landmarks, one does not have the feeling of actually moving. I try to entertain myself by watching the seagulls. With low tide they are cracking mussels open. Easy breakfast. Suddenly, somebody is coming running from behind me. It is Tim a trail/ultra runner who started this morning at Twilight camp. We walk together for a while, and I learn that he is aiming to complete the trail by Christmas and that there is beer and chips at the next campsite.
I feel I am superslow after him speeding up again . I decide to break for lunch in the dunes. My cheese is a bit crunchy, it’s hard to keep the sand complete off my food despite being wind protected in the dunes. Refreshed I continue after the break. At one point, I spot a big stone in the distance. Can’t be of course. As I get closer I realize it’s a dead seal. I kneel down to take a closer look. Huh! Suddenly it opens one eye. I am a bit shocked. Poor creature, how did it get here? It looks like it has problems with one eye. Will it move back into the sea once high tide comes? I feel helpless and don’t know what to do.
A truck passes by and the driver shouts something that I don’t understand. Finally, I decide to move on and shortly after reach the campsite around 5pm. It’s a lovely place run by a lovely German lady who speaks Maori fluently and has been living here for 25 years as she tells me.
