Day 5 - Davis Camp to Havelock

A few hours after I put myself to sleep i awoke to the sound of a large crowd of people coming in to set up camp. They shined their lights into my tent and payed no consideration to their noise. It was past midnight by this point so and so bad to the point that I had to get up to ask them to quiet down. I eventually fell back asleep.

Around 2am I fizzled out of a hazy dream to the sound of loud crunching plastic. Crunch. Crunch, crunch. I quickly sat up and saw a Weka trying to peck his way inside my tent. These little thieves don't sleep! I scared him off, but this lead to a horrible dream where a Weka put a hole through my tent and I spent the rest of the day trying to sew it back together with my tooth floss. Even when I woke up I frantically checked my tent for the holes I thought I still needed to repair. It was a poor sleep to say the least.

David, Kat and I decided to walk together today, and for the first time on the TA I was actually hiking a day with other hikers. David had to split off at the road turnoff to Havelock. We said our firewalls to David - which come all to frequently as a thru hiker - and Kat and I continued on towards Havelock.

We only had 20km to hike today, which is a pretty standard day on the TA, but it ended up taking us much longer than expected. My camera battery was dead today so unfortunately I only have one photo to share. By 5pm we reached Havelock and found a backpackers, and after 5 days of hiking I finally got myself a nice hot shower. We took a stroll down to the local 4 square and when we walked in I saw the two other TA hikers I met at Camp Cove 3 days ago. We were all filled with joy and excitement to have a endless variety of food selection. Havelock is a tiny town filled with happy locals and good restaurants. It's the perfect size for me.

The next section is the most difficult section of the Te Araroa, and also by far the most desolate. 10 days over the Richmond Range alpine track. I hope my body is ready. I know my mind is.