Got up at 5:00, stroke a tent and started at 7:00. Trail was
hard to find and in some sections walked in the river from the half way on and
on. Sometimes came across inside out silver fern leaves. Reminded Maori used
those as a trail marker in old days, and felt like walking on a Maori trail
(perhaps it actually was).
After getting out through the forest, it was a long
road walk for 14km. Worried about if I will suffer from ankle and knee pain
again, but as fine - probably because I was wearing
boots. When getting to Helena Bay, the actual ridgeline trail was different
from the one on the map. What a surprise. Must be a brand new trail.
Didn't
have much water left and was not sure if there was a river for water on the
trail. Asked a local farmer passing by, he said there are enough water on the
way. Decide to keep going on. But there was no water there on the trail, and
the trail came into a paddock when being at a total loss. Found a cattle water
tub on a way. As there was no other water source, decided to filter the water
for drinking. Felt relieved. Camped in the nearby forest. Heard lots of kiwi
calls on the way. Walked 25km today.
5:00に起き、テントを撤収して7:00に出発。相変わらず道が分かりづらく、途中からは川の中を歩く箇所が延々と続く。時々、シルバーファーンの葉が裏返しになっており、昔マオリの人々がこれを道標にしていたというのを思い出し、マオリトの道を歩いている気分になった（実際そうなのかもしれない）。
森を抜けた後は一転して14kmの長い道路歩き。また足首や膝が痛くなるのではと危惧したが、昨日からはずっと登山靴を履いているおかげもあるのか大丈夫だった。ヘレナ湾まで来た時、手元の地図とは異なる尾根歩きコースが設定されていてビックリ。最近の新コースのようだ。
持ち合わせの水の量が少なく尾根道では川がないのではと心配して、通りかかった地元の農民に尋ねると、水は豊富にあるというのでそのまま前進。しかし、行けども水は見当たらず、困り果てた時にコースが牧草地となり家畜用の水飲み場があった。普段なら見向きもしない水だが、フィルターを使い濾過して使うことにしやっと安心。暗くなってきたのでまた近くの森で野宿。遠くでキーウィが盛んに鳴いている。本日の歩行25km。
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