Lake Ferry and the last paddle
Waka and Waewae Journey Day 60: deflating the raft on the shores of Ōnoke marked the completion of the final North Island waka paddle
Thursday was another crazy day from yours truly, as I powered us nearer to the bottom of the North Island.
Without the meanders, Martinborough to Lake Ferry would be about 38km. With them, it comes out at more than 52km. Bloody meanders; I hate meanders.
The raft has a leak around the valve, so I faffed on the banks of the Ruamahanga for ages before launch, trying to slow that down.
It worked, kind of. I had to stop after 3.84km to add more air; then again at 6.02km; plus a heap more times. It's all my fault. I should've remembered to collect the Aquaseal kit I bought on click 'n' collect from Rebel Sport Palmy. D'oh! I did somehow manage to better stem the leak with a few slices of Patch 'n' Go and a strategically placed piece of Hell Pizza napkin, however.
The ridiculously strong southerly gusts that refused to die down meant there were times when I started to doubt I could make it to Ferry in one day. My GPS speed was barely clipping 5km/h. I began thinking I would have to camp on the riverbank. Once that turned to sea mud, I realised I HAD NO CHOICE but to go all the way! (Laughing maniacally!)
Loads more stuff happened, mainly involving the water flowing, paddling the boat and water birds protecting their young from me: the vegan careering towards them in a plastic boat. Oh how they quacked and flapped!
The final 5km was exciting. In a nothing-happens-fast-in-a-raft kinda way. It was good to land by the river/lake outlet to the sea, the waves sending Cook Strait spray high into the cool and calm, evening sky.
I was also very cold, but had had plenty of time across the long day to plan for this eventuality: I swiftly changed into my warm dries on the beach, then dashed to the camp and sat in the kitchen with my kettle, full of hot water, on my lap. I would have had a hot shower, but these require $1 coins and it's been a while since I any road walk sections, so I haven't picked any up lately.
I won't miss this day, it was really challenging, but seeing the Remutaka Range again from the east side was a nice throwback to The Big Loop.
That's all the North Island paddles finished. Now we hike on to Cape Palliser for motu completion!
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