June 22nd 2021

Days km: 19.5km
Total km: 263.1km

I had a lazy start to the morning, as it “wasn’t even 20km” to the next shelter. Strange how concepts of distance change the longer you hike. 20km was once considered a big day, now it was an “easy” day.

It was after 9am by the time I got going. It was a frustrating walk, as it skirted close to the river but there were no views of the river due to the 8 foot high bushes that surrounded the track. It was pretty much a green tunnel the whole way. It was another dull day, so boring that I took zero pics.

My shin was given me some problems though. I started out pretty strong but after a few hours I slowed as my shin transitioned from annoying to painful. I’m really hoping ‘vitamin I’ will sort this out for me. My left shoulder is also pretty sore, which is down to my pack. I just can’t seem to get it comfortable and suspect it’s just a tad too big for me.

I was sore and grumpy when I got into camp. James got a fire going, but the wood was so wet that it produced little heat. It was the strangest thing really, the fire appeared to be roaring, but we practically had to stand on the fire to get any semblance of warmth.

A northbounder, Karyn arrived just before dark. She was not very talkative at first, but warmed up after she had had a rest. Her knee was giving her a bit of grief and she was utterly exhausted from walking in pain all day. That put my niggles in perspective, because at this stage that is all they were. Could be a lot worse.