45 km total 2973km
11 hours
The weather today is as bad as yesterday. We decided to go on and keep walking. There is this lockdown coming in two days but other than two slightly panicked TA walkers we didn’t knew much about it. And my phone was definitely dead so I didn’t know what it really meant for me at the time. We walked along the beach and then the three of us decided to walk on the road to get away from the roaring storm going down on the beach. It was a wise decision. In Riverton we bought some food and had a coffee break before attacking the thirty five kilometers of road walk to Invercargill. It was very very long and hard on the mental. But we were so close to the end so it gave us all motivation to keep walking. At some time there was a bridge to cross with absolutely no road shoulder. We tried to cross the river but it wasn’t an option because of the current. Only option was to walk on the bridge then. After waiting a bit for a space without cars we ran on the bridge. Soon enough a car stopped in front of us and we were blocking the whole bridge. Good memory anyway. The rain was still on and off and I made really good use of my rain pants. Two hours before Invercargill a lady stopped her car and offered marshmallow chocolates and asked if we had a place to sleep. The kindness of the kiwis amazes me each time a little bit more.
Finally we arrived into Invercargill or more precisely its suburbs. It was already late in the evening and everything was already closed. Even the backpacker was closed. So we camped under some pinetrees right outside the city and under the protection of the heavy wind. Tomorrow will be an early start for the last stretch of this trail.