Merry Christmas from the man wading across an estuary
Distance 20km
Total Distance 3369km
Merry Christmas!
Out of the 200 people I passed walking on Christmas Day (beats any other Christmas walk on the beach!) about 15 of us were celebrating with hats, tinsel, or earrings. We said Merry Christmas to one another, smiled and looked joyful. Everyone else was Bah Humbug, especially the ones with kids, and at best I got a "Hey". What ever, I still celebrated. One day of the year, now or never, blink and you'll miss it.
The challenge of the day was a stretch of water that had to be crossed between 1.5hours before to 2hours after low tide. Outside of these times you'd drown there. Low tide, 4:10pm, ergo start crossing at 2:40pm. 4hours from my start point, so there was no rush in the morning. I steadily packed up and started.
It's surprising to find that there are people living in the National Park. They were here before the park, own their land, and are just there for school holidays and the like. One needs a boat to get in and out, there are no shops or other amenities. Torrent Bay Village is the largest collection, a community of very expensive property in a very picturesque bay. Must be a great place to stay for holidays.
I eventually reached the lodge by the estuary. There were people there who I recognised from the day before and that morning, all of us going in the same direction, now all waiting together. It was 1:30pm, time for Christmas Dinner of marmite sandwiches and Jelly Babies whilst the waters receded. Probably around 30 people were there waiting, and many on the other side too.
A few from the other side tried the estuary early, getting up to their chests in water as they crossed. I waited until sensible people safely crossed. At 2:40pm the exodus started, boots off, people waded across. After a few groups had started I moved out with a large mob or hikers, my walking poles in hand, bare feet, and got up to my knees in the warm water. There were a lot of shells littering the places- a carpet at times, which I had to go round- as well as the crabs living in the sand. It wasn't kind to my feet, and the tiny blister on my foot was opened up by the sand rubbing, but was easy and novel. Once across I dried my feet, donned my boots, had a quick look at the fish in the water, then went uphill.
The last major stop before my camp was Totanui (SP), which one can drive to. It has spaces for camper vans and tents, as well as the visitor centre. I stopped for water and dinner, then carried on.
Mutton Cove has a lot of space for camping, as well as many cheeky Wekas. The Weka is as flightless bird the size of a large chicken. They love campsites, were people have food and other things to steal. No one harms them so they are nearly tame. You can't touch them (they are good runners- you aren't getting back what they steal), but they will run about amongst the tourists, occasionally bumping into people when they are fighting amongst themselves. Tent up, gear in, I fell asleep to the sound of the waves and a large group of French hikers chatting.
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