Thursday 1 January 2015

Day 55. Palmerston North zero day.

Today 0 km.

I had a good sleep in then had breakfast in bed and read for a while.  At 1130 I headed out with the first priority being my resupply parcel from the Post Office.  I then headed to Bivouac to pick up my walking pole section to replace the one that I bent. I sent an email to the shop before the river trip and when I got to Wanganui they emailed me to let me know it had arrived.  I also swapped my Icebreaker socks for free again thanks to the lifetime warranty.  The staff were really friendly and interested in the trail.  The manager took photos of my Solomon Shoes to show the manufacturer where they were consistently blowing out for every TA tramper who has them.  I was not impressed with the durability of these shoes.  Day 3 the inner soles became unwearable and the mesh started ripping at 300 km with open holes in them by 500 km.

Unfortunately Bivouac didn't have anything else I liked so I went to several shops to try trail runners but they either didn't fit or were too flimsy.  I took a break for lunch and saw Romain (from river trip) with another TA hiker I hadn't met before called Jack. Then Joey and Julien turned up so we did a catchup. The guys had hired a car in Wanganui,  driven up to Tongariro and done the crossing in good weather,  driven back to Wanganui and then walked the trail to Bulls. From there the 3 hitched to Palmerston North to get essential things done while Geoff walked the rest of the way.
After lunch I went back to my shoe quest without luck so I decided to go back to Bivouac and get the Inov8 shoes I started with. I figure there is not as much road walking now so I should be good in them again.


I then hung out in a cafe filling up with smoothie and coffee before heading back to the Backpacker, stopping at Subway for a sandwich for diner.  I struggled with the Internet so gave up updating my blog and just relaxed.  Fabian turned up so we caught up with what we had been up to. I then read,  packed up and went to sleep.
Night 54, 55



2 comments:

  1. Awesome accomplishment on reaching 1500km as well as a great photo documenting your achievement! We greatly appreciate your generosity in openly sharing your TAT experience with us and the world as we understand how it takes extra time to compose the blog posts when you could otherwise be walking or sleeping. Many thank yous from two aspiring TAT thru-hikers for next season.

    If in your future, you find yourself preparing for or tramping along the PCT in the U.S. you are most welcome to look us up for any questions or assistance you might need. (We live very close to the PCT in northern Washington state and thru-hiked the trail in 2012.)

    Awesome job! Keep on having fun! Wishing you continued success and enjoyment in your adventure!

    Justin (trail name 'The Proctologist') and Soren
    La Conner, WA, U.S.A
    justnwill@yahoo.com
    360-420-8556

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    1. Thanks Justin. It is nice to receive feedback. I do intend to do PCT sometime in the future but it will probably be afew years away. My work is generous in giving me this time but I will need to give them a couple of years before asking again. I will keep a note though of your offer. Any questions you have for your preparation just ask.

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