Day 4: Utea Park to Ahipara (70-101 km)

Sun rise over 90 Mile Beach

I left Utea Park at midnight so most of my walk for the day would be in the dark. For the first half of the night the sky was cloudy, so there weren't stars like the night before. But the clouds eventually went away and the stars were beautiful. 

A cold wind blew in from the sea all night, so I was pretty bundled up for the walk. And my feet really started hurting and blistering so my pace slowed down a lot after the sun came up.  

An hour or two after sunrise Curly came up from behind. It was so good to see him! We talked for a bit and he went on ahead. But he heard how tired I was and how beat up my feet were.  

After I lost sight of Curly, I started seeing encouraging messages from him in the sand. It was so nice and really made those last few kilometers bearable.

Around 11 or noon I made it to Ahipara Holiday Park. I think I got there before check-in but they were so nice and got me a bed in a bunk room. I slept til 4 or 5 and walked into town to buy some aloe, sunscreen and fish and chips. After I ate, I got my food package from reception at the holiday park and went back to sleep. 

A nice note from Curly. "U can do it!!!" 

This is where I slept. It was great! They have tent sites too, but I had some blisters I wanted to pop, and I felt better about keeping them clean in a bunk room.