Ongarue Campsite to Taumarunui – 26km (1031km total)
It was back to road walking today. Thankfully, it was on back roads, but it is still not all that fun. It was only 26km into town. The plan was to try and walk it before lunch so that we could have the rest of the day off.

The plan worked, although I was dying for a break. I had one 10 minute break at the 15km mark. Another for 5 minutes at the 20km point (I literally laid down on a side junction to the railway line that we had been following all morning and put my feet up on the fence. Any passing cars may have thought I had died. Then at the 24km point, I stumbled into a dairy to get a coke to power me through the last 2km. It worked. I arrived into town at 12.30pm.

When I arrived in town A and S were already there. A I was expecting as she was in front of me but S had not passed me all day. Turns out the road walk was so boring he hitched into town 😂.
I am now at the holiday park enjoying my first shower in 5 days (with a real towel again, luxury) and fresh food. While I catch up on the blog, instagram and generally do anything other than walk.
Today I am thankful for holiday parks who provide small luxuries for hikers.