Day 4 Hukatere Lodge to Ninety Mile Beach Holiday Camp (TA 87 km)

Only a short one today to try and keep my shin happy. It was a battle between my head which wanted to push through to Ahipara and my body which was telling me it needed some more down time. My shin was still hurting although not consistently - for a good stretch it would be fine then for no particular reason it would hurt like crazy - if you were following me it might have sounded something like this 'step, step, step, OW! Owey! Ouch! step, step, step, OUCHEY!' for kilometres.

It was a lot cooler today with a bit of rain around and very windy. Not so much of a head wind but more of a sideways one that would blow me off course for a step or two. Other than my shin, it was actually pleasant walking. The wind also bought out some new species - then kite surfer and the Blow Carter. The latter are suprisingly manoeuvrable and were able to turn at the last minute to avoid running over limping TA hiker!

Made it to the Holiday Park and dosed up on Voltaren. The guy next door, Gareth,  is also a TA walker. He limped up to me (blisters), introduced himself and we chatted about the trail so far. He has come across more hikers than me - I haven't seen any since the first day. Lots of blister stories. Beach is taking its toll.  Into Ahipara and past the 100km mark tomorrow.

Pigeon xx