Riverton to Bluff
Day 91: Riverton to Invercargill (about 30km, of which we walked 23km)
After breakfast we headed down the road to Riverton beach, then on to Oreti beach (23km). Beautiful beaches. Golden sand stretched for miles.
We were very lucky as Pol’s mother, Juliette, very kindly offered to drop our packs off at the backpackers in Invercargill so we were able to “slack pack” again (first time since Hawea).
The walk was made all the more interesting by the “moody” weather. It was pretty windy which made the sand float around making interesting patterns and the bushes blow in such a way that they looked like fur on a large prehistoric mammal.
Not only that but the squally rain came and went, leaving a rainbow over the sea.
All amazing!
Along the way we also saw a few stranded cars, left to decay in the sand.
Once we were off the beach, the route was going to take us on a road all the way in to Invercargill.
For us, as you probably know by now, Road = Hitch. So we did! We had barely come off the beach when one of the utes we had seen on the beach came off and gave us a lift all the way to the door of our backpackers!! Another trail magic result! There was only room for one passenger in the cab so Roger sat on the tray with the dog.
It was only about 2pm when we got there so we had a lovely chilled out afternoon before meeting the boys for a few beers and pizza downstairs.
A pretty cruisy day. I can’t believe that tomorrow we will be in Bluff!
Day 92: Invercargill to Bluff (about 36km, of which we walked 20km)
Another “slack pack” day as we had booked to stay in Invercargill again tonight.
After a good breakfast we made our way on to the pathway next to the estuary. This was flat, easy walking for about 10km or so.
Once we hit the Bluff Highway (SH99) we did our usual and hitched. It was that or walk along the SH for 16km which did not sound appealing.
Trail magic again - we had barely been there two minutes when a guy and his dog in a 1990’s motor home stopped for us and took us all the way to the big Bluff sign where our next off road trail started. Another great result!
We had our lunch just past the sign and then started on the last 7.5km to Stirling Point along the Foveaux Walkway.
It was a lovely trail with great views of Stewart Island and down the cliffs to the water. The weather was stunning and we could not have asked for a better day to finish our South Island adventure.
About 1km from the end we could see our destination - the famous signpost at Stirling Point.
It was incredibly exciting and great to “tag” the post together.
We asked someone to take some photos of us together at the post and really enjoyed this special moment.
Photos complete we then headed in to the Oyster Cafe (which overlooks the signpost) for some celebratory bubbles (and oysters for Roger) whilst we waited for the others to arrive.
No, we have not suddenly got faster than our friends in their twenties! They wanted to walk the whole way and as we had hitched we shaved off a couple of hours or so.
Anyway. I digress.
So after our bubbly and oysters (yuk) we walked back down to the sign post as Shaun and Tokes had arrived. Soon after John and Charlie came in, followed by Pol and Audrey. It was great to finish all together after having walked together off and on with some of these guys. We hugged, drank beer and got a number of group photos together. We also had a lot of fun watching the cyclists come in. They had cycled from Cape Reinga to Bluff as part of the Tour Aotearoa event. This event is held every two years and involves groups of cyclist having a staggered start over a month long period (I think). We had a brief conversation about maybe doing it one year but the general consensus was “yeah…..nah”.
Then it was time to say goodbye to Pol and Audrey as they were staying in Bluff for the night. The rest of us made our own ways back to Invercargill (guess what? We hitched) and then met an hour or so later for Mexican food (my favourite).
Emma (who had finished the day before) came and joined us for dinner and we raised a toast to having all made it to Bluff. For most of us we still have some legs to do (due to lockdown) but for Tokes this really is the finish - good on him.
Dinner finished we all went our separate ways and headed back to our respective accommodation.
I know we still have to walk from Auckland to Cape Reinga (and the Pelorus / Richmond ranges section) to complete the whole trail but I do still feel proud that we have basically walked from Auckland to Bluff! It feels good.
So what is next?
Tomorrow we are hiring a car to do a wee tiki tour around some of the small towns we passed on our way to the Takitimu Tavern about a week ago. We then fly back to Auckland Sunday and will take a week or so off to (hopefully) recover from our injuries before walking north.
Brief update - 28 April 2022
"A week or so" rest has now become a month or so! Unfortunately the fact that I kept walking once already injured has meant it will take a bit longer for me to heal and to be able to walk again.
It is possible I may be able to walk by the beginning of June but then we will be in Winter so we may wait until Spring 2022 to finish off this great adventure. This is frustrating for us both but there is no rush. The trail isn't going anywhere....and neither are we just yet!
Since returning home, Roger has added a couple more sketches of our friends and updated the one of Charlie.
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