Te Araroa Trail – Day 64
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Distance/ Total: 39.5 km / 24.5 mi
Despite our efforts to sleep in this morning Claudio and I were both awake by 6:30 am. We packed up and hit the trail about 7:30.
The trail out of Bull was a road walk on the highway. The trail turned off the highway just after crossing a bridge over the river and onto a rural farm road. Still a paved road but with considerable less traffic.
We stopped for a mid morning break at a school that was out of session for summer recess. Back on the trail it was mostly roadwalk to Feildings. We walked into the center of town and ate lunch at a local cafe. It was a nice break from my regular lunch of peanut butter tortilla wraps.
After eating we started out of town and noticed the skies had grown really dark in the direction we were heading. A cold wind came up and we knew rain was inevitable. As we reached a bikeway along the railroad tracks the rain started coming down. I put on my rain jacket and skirt and continued on in the rain.
It was a pretty heavy rain for about 30 minutes then started easing up. It continued to sprinkle for another couple of hours.
By the time we reached Bunnythorpe the rain had stopped and we took off our rain gear and made plans for the evening. Claudio was wanting to push on farther than I did. I wanted to go into Palmerston North for a little pampering in a nice motel room. We decided to part ways knowing we would probably meet each other again farther down the trail.
Leaving Bunnythorpe the trail went through a few farm fields along the railroad line leading into Palmerston North. It passed through an industrial park where we were able to pick up a sidewalk the rest of the way into town.
The official trail crossed Main Street and I took a right turn and headed into the center of town where I had reserved a motel room. I checked in, showered, and headed out to dinner. I went to the Navajo steakhouse and had a great steak dinner and a nice cold beer. After dinner I stopped by the grocery store and picked up my resupply for the next few days into Levin.
Returning to the motel, I washed my clothes, packaged up my food and took some time to pamper myself in my in-room spa tub. The warm water felt great and helped relieve the tightness in my muscles. I nearly fell asleep in the tub, but got out and crawled into bed for the night.
