Day 88: Davies Bay Campsite to Havelock (1765-1787)

Saturday, February 25

I woke up a few times last night to animals rummaging around. Luckily in New Zealand there aren't really any big animals to worry about so I went back to sleep. When we both woke up, Sara told me she had seen a really really bright light last night.

We packed up and realized the campground was much larger than we thought. We had camped in a grassy field by the camp shelter, but there were also flat grassy areas by the water. It seemed like people could dock their boats there and camp.

It was a quick and easy walk the last few kilometers to the end of the Queen Charlotte Track. Once we were out the trail switched between a road walk and a gravel path next to the road.

Like the previous days, the sun was blazing and hot, so when we passed a gas station and store at Linkwater I got some popsicles and Sara got some popsicles and L&P.

Parts of the road were really windy and steep. I think they're close to getting a trail most of the way, but it didn't seem to be quite open the entire way yet. Where there was a gravel trail instead of the road shoulder, it was great!

About 4 kilometers from Havelock we stopped at a highway pull off and saw a guy that had gotten off the water taxi to start the Queen Charlotte Track the same day as we did. He was getting a ride from someone to town.

We could look down on Havelock from the pull off and it didn't seem too far, so we walked the last few kilometers into town.

Eventually we made it to Havelock, the green mussel capital of the world. Sara checked into the hostel she had a reservation at, and I went down to the holiday park to set up my tent. The owner was really nice and lets TA hikers stay there for $15.

Sara and I got some amazing ice cream, did our laundry and got 8 days of food for the Richmond Ranges. The Four Square was so well stocked with good hiking food! We went our separate ways before dinner to pack our food, and I downloaded some movies and tv shows to watch on the next leg of the hike.

We got dinner at a wonderful restaurant called the Mussel Pot. We each got a sampler so I got to try all kinds of different mussels: smoked, steamed, fried, baked, and marinated. It was delicious!

After dinner we went back to pack our bags and go to bed. I downloaded lots of episodes of the West Wing. There's a podcast that discusses episodes so I think it will be fun to watch the episodes before bed and listen to the podcast as I hike.

Once my external battery was charged, I stopped downloading things and watched an episode or two of the West Wing before bed.