Day 118: Poppin Bottles at Bluff
February 5, 2020
Kilometers: 2971.4-3005.3
Ibis Styles Hotel in Invercargill to Bluff (TA Southern Terminus)
I didn’t really sleep last night. I may have gotten about three hours total. I was too excited about finishing the trail. I woke up at 6:30, about the same time as the others. After showers and packing we walked a few blocks to the hostel we had a reservation at for the night. We dropped off our big bags and all took small day packs with some water, a jacket and our valuables.
Joel decided to walk the last 34kms with us so the four of us set off together. We walked through the town to get back to the trail. We turned onto a gravel bike path, which we walked on for the next 10kms. It wasn’t exactly an exciting walk. I FaceTimed my friend Lucas, listened to music and podcasts as I walked.
After the ten kms we turned onto state highway 1. The next 16 kms were along the highway onto Bluff. It’s kind of an underwhelming way to get to the finish of a huge hike. The TA trust is working on some sort of path for this section in the future. The road was long but we made good time.
Just before 1:30 we arrived at the edge of Bluff. The three of us climbed up onto the Bluff structure for some pictures.
From there the end was close. We walked together, excited to arrive at the finish. We got to Stirling Point, the official southern terminus and the celebration began. There were a lot of tourists there and they all gathered around as the three of us shook up our champagne bottles, popped them and sprayed/chugged them together. It was awesome. We had Joel take a million pictures of it. I can’t choose between them so here are most of them.
People congratulated us as we sipped the remainder of our champagne bottles. We walked up to the restaurant right next to the finish. We sat down and had a fancy meal and some beers. We also got our TA finisher medals. So cool that they make these medals for hikers.
We decided it was time to head back to Invercargill. We split up, Chuck and I got a hitch very quickly back into town from a nice Kiwi couple. They had a yellow lab in the back of the car who I fell in love with.
When we got back we checked in to the hostel, showered and went to get pizza. Pizza was followed by beers and card games. That was followed by great kebabs.
We wanted to go out after and have some fun but we are all exhausted. We returned to the room early and met an Alaskan woman hiking the trail who’d just arrived. It was close to nine and we all fell asleep quickly.
I’m so happy that I finished hiking Te Araroa today. I have been thinking about this trip for years, planning for many months and hiking it the last 118 days. I have completed a thru hike that spans the whole length of the most beautiful country. It feels great to have accomplished this massive goal.
I have a whole lot more I want to say about the TA but will take a few days off before writing. I will post my one final “in conclusion” sort of wrap up about the TA in about a week. I also plan on posting a gear review but that won’t be until i’m back home in the states.
I’ll be in New Zealand for the next week before flying home out of Queenstown. I figure I’ll post some blogs about what i’m up to this next week although they won’t be daily updates. Some storms in the South Island have screwed up my plans a bit but I’ll figure it out.
Today I popped bottles in Bluff with my boys. Don’t get much better than that. Te Araroa complete.