I made sure to be ready at 6:30 because the lovely woman I camped at, drove me the 2 km back to the official trail plus 1 kn further. To the house of Dee.
An absolute sweetheart who let us camp at her place last time. I say we because we were with 7 in total. I put the photos I printed out in her letterbox, the dogs started barking as if I was an intruder. To check it out Dee came out of the house. I was amazed that she remembered me and we chatted for a while.
But as I hadn’t walked a step I knew it was time to get the show on the road. I waved goodbye and headed on.
In the next village, I met again a lovely Kiwi. This time an older gentleman who offered me avocados. Can’t say no to that. I took them with me and decided on an early break so I could eat them at the beach and throw out the trash. To be fair I didn’t want more weight.
After that, the trail followed the Helena Ridge Track. A beautiful trail which I longed for after so much road.
The trail can be a bit steep in places, but eventually, it is only a bit of sweat and a little bit of effort. Can’t complain about that.
While on the track I met new hikers. They all seemed like a fun bunch and I could even practice my Swedish. The only thing that annoyed me was that another fellow hiker addressed hitchhiking the roads as cheating. To me, that is unnecessary being rude. Everyone is allowed to do the hike as they want. There is no write (right sounds like 🤣) or wrong way to do it. So I don’t like it when someone uses terms as cheating. So I told the hiker that. He kinda brushed it off with that the girl he was talking about it, didn’t mind. But as I too took a hitch yesterday, that comment applies to me too. Obviously, I get offended about it, and as my philosophy is don’t say something negative if your opinion hasn’t been asked. I felt I could explain the above.
I walked a bit of the road with Catty but needed to refill my water. So she continued.
I finished the road walk. Although I had to use an alarm technique to keep me going. 45 minutes of walking and then a break.
As soon as the trail was completed I took a hitch to cover the 1.3 km to the free campsite. Expecting the other. With only a campervan with David was here. David is retired and chatted merrily about his van and his life whilst I cooked at eat. Glad with the conversation, I drank my tea there as well.
Now off to bed!!
Zilla-in-the-wild 