Rakiura Track Day 3: North Arm Campsite to Oban - 13.5km ↗️265m ↘️334m 🚶♀️🚶♀️
I went to sleep quite early, but in the middle of the night the deluge began and I was in and out of sleep till 6am when I decided to pull my soaking wet tent down and sit in the cooking shelter as the rain continued to pour down. Soon after, the other couple at the campsite were up and told me they'd been surrounded by Kiwi in the forest when they went on a mission in the middle of the night. What an amazing experience! A quick breakfast and a pack down of all the wet things and we set off on the track again. It was quite sheltered in the forest but after a while everything was wet from the water dripping from the canopy. The mud sections began again and they were particularly squishy due to the overnight rain. Katharina was quick on her feet once again and my whole body ached all over it was too hard to keep up with her. My shoulder (the one with the dislocations) had been particularly sore in the morning and I had to stop every once in awhile just to get the weight of the backpack off it.
The first stop was Sawdust Bay, the sea was quite calm and about a dozen oystercatchers were on the shore frolicking about. Through the forest the rain came and went and then came again, but it wasn't cold or windy so it was quite manageable. Every now again I would catch glimpses of the sea and the mist shrouding the land in the distance. As I made my way through mud patches I tried to keep an eye out for kiwi, but not to be on this trip. Before long the rain stopped and the path got wider and wider till I was out onto the carpark at Main Rd. It was here I left my faithful walking stick behind that I'd carried since finding it at Port William Hut. I was glad to see there was quite a pile of walking sticks already there. Unlike the start at Lee Bay, there aren't any sculptures or monuments - just a circular gravel car park and then a 2km walk back to Oban.
Glad to tick this one off while I was here! Three Great Walks left to complete - Lake Waikaremoana, Whanganui Journey, and the Humpridge Track!!
📷 Crossing the inlet near Kapipi Bay in the rain