Tuesday 28 March 2017

Invercargill - Bluff (Our Finale)

1st March 2017 - The day we finished our Te Araroa.

We were in bed the night before by 9.30pm, sure that we'd be ready and roaring to go early for that last day to the end, but we didn't wake until 8am. We went for coffee, we lingered around the shops, met Renee, and slowly made our way to the bridge to meet the rest of the group. We were late so they had gone ahead but we could see them not far in front along the estuary walk way. The three of us were excited. We had come full circle, as our group of three- eager to make it to the end of another day. To pitch our tents, wash in a river or under a water tank if we were lucky, stuff our faces with high calorie meals and treats, and get to bed early ready for the day that followed. But today felt different. We didn't really want to make it to the end. We wanted to stretch every minute out as long as we could and push the big finish as far away as possible, because for the first time in 131 days, we didn't know where or which direction we were going tomorrow.

When we eventually caught up with the others (it didn't take long - most had already had two beers and walking had turned to lolloping) the excitement really hit. Everyone was laughing and telling stories from the trail. To anybody passing, we must have looked like the absolute pits. Those drinking beer built beer staff style walking poles as they went while Renee and I decided to settle for gin and tonic in plastic cups. I only had three throughout the day - I wanted to remember every second of that last day.

Unfortunately, that last day is only about 13km on board walk and the final 17km or so is all on highway 1. Since my experience of road walking in the past hasn't been the most joyous, I was grateful to have so many people around. We sang musicals, of course, and chatted nonsensically all the way, but mostly, Luke, Josh, Ben and I waited for everyone else to catch up! We had wanted to stretch this day out as much as possible, but the closer we got to the finish, the more we wanted to be there and each time the beer staff got longer, the group got slower.

We four were the first to the Bluff sign. Its a big sign that spells 'Bluff' about 4km before the end. 4km or not, it felt liberating to see it. We ran to it and jumped up onto the letters while we waited for everyone to catch up. We probably spent about an hour there taking pictures and waving at the cars that cheered us as they drove past - but eventually, the novelty wore off and everyone just wanted to see that last sign post - the one at the very end.

Again, we got nearly to the sign before everyone else. We decided to wait so we could all finish that last bit together but we sat there for a good half an hour with no sign of the group. We tried calling and texting but nothing. So Ben walked back to suss that situation and eventually returned with the rabble trailing behind him - they'd been in the liquor store buying cheep champagne!

So we finally rejoined and I led an eleven person conga line to the sign post. It felt so good to see the sea! Someone else who had finished earlier that day handed out beer to everyone, we popped the champagne open and all ran around hugging each other like lunatics. Each of us had our own story and our experiences of the trail, but each of us had done it. We all understood what it was like to have spent the last four months depending so desperately on the most basic of things and putting ourselves through hell just to get to this point - something none of us were sure other people would understand.

Once we had spent over an hour taking pictures and celebrating, we went for fish and chips. It had taken us nine hours to walk this last track when it should have only been six but it had been the easiest days walking on the whole trail but we were tired nonetheless.

We went to the Bluff Lodge (which isn't a lodge at all - its a backpackers) and checked into our 14 bed dorm which was like something from Annie. The beds all faced eachother with just a small walkway down the middle. The bedding was all different as though it had been carefully selected from second hand shops - most of it salmon pink with frills on the edges and padded throws.

We sat on the edges of our beds drinking wine from the bottle like teenagers and decided not to let the fact that we're no longer hiking get in the way of our bad manners and hiker-trash habits.

And then, to top everything off in true hiker style, Kilt Brian ceremoniously lit his Kilt on fire with the last of his meth spirits which was great in every way aside for the fact it left him with nothing besides his pants to wear until he managed to hitch back up to Invercargill.

It was so bizarre that for the first time in so long, it didn't really matter what time we woke up in the morning. We didn't need to know the exact time the sun rose and set again, or where our next water source or camping spot would be. We just needed to shower, eat some real vegetables, and, as much as we might not want to, face real life again. So we all eventually fell asleep in our Annie beds pondering our next move - where next?



1 comment:

  1. I finally found you;-) I read your relation with Te Araroa but there are missing pictures from New Zealand.

    Here is my blog address: http://wgorachinietylko.blogspot.com/

    There are hundreds of photos from Te Araroa;-)

    Greetings from Poland!

    Pawel

    ReplyDelete