March 17

The Walk - Day 1. Waipiata to Hyde

An interesting start to the day (or night). I switched off the bedroom light to go to bed, there was a "phut" and the glass bit of the bulb detached itself from the ceiling and floated gently to earth. Luckily, I had a torch.

I slept reasonably well, had a light breakfast, collected my sandwiches and left the pub. My first task was to scrape the ice off the windscreen. There was cold mist in all directions, reducing visibility to about 50 metres, and it did not look promising. I was convinced that it would burn off later and this proved to be correct.

Not much visibility in Middlemarch	A busy road near Hyde

I drove out to Hyde, about 28 kilometres away, where it was sunny. En route, I encountered a large flock of sheep in transit. They glared at me but funnelled past on either side.

I organised myself, smeared sun screen everywhere that I could reach, and waited for the shuttle bus to appear. It arrived and drove straight on up the road. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. In the end, I decided to walk back to Middlemarch and hope someone at the pub would drive me back to collect my car at the end of the day.

I had just decided on this course of action when a second shuttle bus appeared and stopped to collect me. The other one, it transpired, had been sent to collect some baggage and not a geriatric POM. I joined a couple who were on their way to a 90th Birthday celebration in Cromwell, and we sailed up and into the mist. I was dropped off next to the Waipiata war memorial and the adventure began.

The cloud and mist were vanishing rapidly, although there was still some hanging around in the valleys. I crossed the first bridge, passed the first toilet and made good progress.

It was 45 minutes before I saw anyone else, a group of cyclists heading my way. I saw very few more until lunchtime, when the Trail became busy.

One of the red gangers' huts	Lots of cuttings
I wasn't alone	Curious locals

Some of the local fauna stared at me as if they hadn't seen anything as strange before. They must think that all people have two wheels.

The fields varied from brown to bright green and there was a fair amount of water in evidence. There were lots of rocky cuttings.

Every few kilometres was one of the old gangers' huts, now used as information points and shelters.

Kokonga Station, ten kilometres along the Trail, had a few signs of its old railway history. I noticed at this stage that my distances disagreed with the Trail's signposts. They said that I had walked ten kilometres whilst my pedometer said that I had only walked nine. This continued to the end of the day, my distances seeming to agree with the official kilometre marks by the side of the tracks.

At this point, the Trail turned South, running alongside the main road for a bit. Eventually, we crossed the road at Daisybank and I decided that it was time for lunch. The pub's sandwiches were large and one of them was more than enough to be going on with. It would have been nice to have had a shelter under which to eat but you can’t have everything.

Not many facilities for my lunch	I staggered off after it
Alongside the gorge	Into a fenced cutting

The Trail was now running alongside the deep gorge containing the Taieri River. I passed another cutting, this one with heavy duty fencing to protect against rock falls. Not an encouraging sight.

I reached Tiroiti about three hours after starting and consumed another sandwich. and some water. A party of cyclists, three couples from Taranaki, were also lunching there. They were having a good time on their bikes, moaning about everything, the hills in particular. I suspect that their evenings might be well lubricated. I will probably encounter them again tomorrow.

Tiroiti Station in the distance	A couple of ...
... bridges ...	... and a tunnel
It became hotter and hotter	Across the valley to the Hyde Hotel

Another couple of bridges and a 150 metre tunnel provided some variety and I continued to make good time. I was helped throughout by the quality of the walking surface. Extensive use over the years had compacted it so that my feet were protected from the sharp aggregate that I encountered ten years before, on my first assault on the Trail.

By now, it was definitely warming up. There were no clouds to be seen and my water stops were becoming increasingly frequent.

The Trail entered the valley and Hyde appeared in the distance. My plan had been to complete the walk in six hours and I was going to beat that without any major effort.

After five and three quarter hours, I reached the car and immediately crossed the road to the hotel for a cold drink. There were several parties of cyclists being rounded up by their keepers and put into vans.

This included the party from Taranaki. Inside, things seemed a little chaotic and there was some uncertainty over the correct price for my drink. I proffered what I thought to be a fair price and it was grudgingly accepted by what I assumed to be the landlady. It transpired that the pub was full, with a large coach party.

I returned to the car and drove gently back to the pub, where I had a cold beer followed by a shower. I then settled into the bar to eat my remaining sandwich, write my diary and have another beer. Speights have launched a mid strength - 2.5% - beer. This was no less drinkable than their normal product and much better for my health, so I drank lots.

After a suitable period of resting and writing, I ventured outside again and decided to walk to the far end of the street, where the Trail came to an end, a distance of a few hundred metres, just in case I wasn't in a fit state to examine it properly tomorrow. This took me past lots of goods and passenger rolling stock, presumably stored here for use on the Taieri Gorge train at some time in the future. Some clever rock arches had been constructed alongside the track.

Arches and carriages	The Trail ends here

The start/finish of the Trail is marked by a set of white gates and a stone plinth commemorating the opening of this section.

Sue and Wayne had mentioned a really good restaurant just along the road from the pub. I walked the short distance and sat down. The menu was brief and had chips with almost everything. I ordered the blue cod, which was OK but could have been any white fish, The batter was too thick and slightly underdone. Since my friends' visit, the place had closed for a while and it seems to have re-opened at a lower level of cuisine.
	The Middlemarch symbol
Didn't taste like Blue Cod	Quench - not what it used to be

I did have a decent glass of Sauvignon blanc from Kopiko Bay. Later research revealed that this comes from the Wither Hills stable. In retrospect, the pub was probably better but if you don't try, you don't find out. I returned to the pub, paid my bill and had yet another mid strength beer.