We left Nelson today on the return leg of the GSWW, beginning a long stretch along Discovery Bay.
We got to sleep pretty late last night, so we slept in a bit later than we’d planned, and didn’t head over to the gas station for breakfast until almost 7:30.
Still relatively early in the day, the road hadn’t had much traffic on it, and so a flock of parrots stood around on the other side of the road. Most of them flew off when we walked past.
Breakfast at the gas station was good, though a little loud; an old Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fridge made quite a racket.
As I expected, they had power banks so on our way out, I grabbed one. It’s less than half the size of my broken battery, but with care, it ought to be enough to make it back to Portland, especially if my broken battery happens to show any sign of life.
We returned to the hotel, and I got a quick shower while CareFree finished packing and I charged everything to full. We finally left about quarter to ten. Which was fine, really, since low tide was around 12:55, so rushing to the beach would only put us there with less (and therefore, more difficult) beach to walk on.
Leaving town, we followed a paved road to the Discovery Bay Costal Park. It felt a little like hiking the roadwalk detour to the start of Ninety Mile Beach on Te Araroa, except that the Northlands of New Zealand were greener.
We passed a sign warning that the Ocean Beach was unsafe for swimming — there are unexpected large waves, and a powerful undertow, plus no beach patrols or lifesaving service.
There was also a sign for rules for pipi (some sort of mollusk) harvesting in three languages, which prohibited using any sort of tool at all.
After briefly talking with a guy out for a walk on the beach with his dog at a viewpoint, we descended to the beach and turned southeast, beginning our (not excessively long) walk along the beach. This is my first walk on a beach along the Southern Ocean.
The beach as a whole felt a lot like the TA’s Ninety Mile beach, though perhaps a slightly lesser version. A reasonably wide, flat beach separated the dunes from the ocean. Once we got down to the hard wet sand, we didn’t have any problems walking on it. There was a constant light breeze, and no clouds blocking the sun, of course. There were washed up shells, and some seaweed, though hardly any washed-up animals sea life. No jellyfish, or pufferfish, or sharks, but one lone solitary dolphin, already partially eaten. The ocean lacked the scent I’d usually associated with the ocean, which is making me reconsider what a “typical ocean scent” actually is. The crashing of the waves and the low droning roar of the ocean was loud and tiring.
We did see a few sea gulls, though, and a couple of oystercatchers, staple birds of the New Zealand coast. A rock a short distance out in the water that we could see from our start on the beach was somewhat smaller than expected once we passed it.
After several kilometers on the beach, we stopped for a break under the shade of a rock outcrop. It was great to be out of the sun for a while.
After we continued, we met a couple walking towards Nelson. They’d come today from Lake Monibeong, and were hiking back to their car near Simsons Camp with only what they needed for the day. Once back to their car, they would drive back to Lake Monibeong and pick up their tent and gear, before going home.
We had a nice chat about long-distance hiking trails, but given we’d likely see them again later in the day, the chat, on the beach, in direct sunlight, went on a little to long for my tastes.
About twenty minutes later, we reached a place where the trail turned inland for about 3.5 km. We somewhat blindly followed the trail, assuming there was a good reason it turned inland. (It was to avoid a section of beach where the water comes up to the rocks, likely dangerous or impassable at high tide.) We likely could have made it through on the beach since it was now low tide, but we didn’t want to risk it.
This inland portion was possibly the hardest section of the GSWW we’ve hiked so far. It was frequently overgrown, and somewhat haphazardly signed as it went through the dunes. Fortunately it wasn’t overly sandy, but it was a rough and frustrating section, given how well maintained the trail has been to this point. At least it was greener than the beach.
There were supposed to be Aboriginal middens near the trail today, particularly in the overland sections, but we didn’t notice them — either we were too far out towards the ocean, or too busy trying to navigate through overgrowth inland to see.
Once we made it back to the beach, we found shade near the rocks and sat down for another break.
About a kilometer later, the trail made another turn inland on its way to Lake Monibeong, though a “direct” route along the beach was possible. Carefree was not interested in a repeat of the earlier route through the dunes, and opted to continue on the beach, while I, a bit tired of the droning noise of the ocean, took the slightly longer route which went behind the dunes.
For the most part, this inland track was nicer than the beach. There was a lot more green, which was at least more visually interesting. However, it was also a little overgrown, though nowhere near as badly so as the earlier section. A little more than halfway to the lake, I stopped for a short break in the shade in a short forested section.
Passing near the lake for a bit, I slowed my pace somewhat to watch for snakes, as the guidebook suggested. (The snakes being attracted to frogs and other critters drawn by the water.) Fortunately, I didn’t see any.
Shortly before the walkers camp, there was a large car camping area, which seemed mostly booked with very extensive car camping setups.
I arrived at the Lake Monibeong Camp about twenty minutes after CareFree did. As expected, there was no one else there, but the tent for the couple we saw was still there. (They arrived sometime before we cooked dinner to pick their stuff up.)
At some point between the break and arriving at camp, I picked up a lot of grippy seeds stuck to both my boots and my socks. The seeds on my boots mostly brushed off, but the ones on my socks are somewhat stuck and will require more effort to take off. I may need to wear a different pair of socks tomorrow.
We cooked dinner, possibly slightly earlier than we should have given how hot it still was; while eating dinner, I was sweating while sitting in the shade thanks to eating hot food. Cooking food (or more likely, the tuna) also drew the attention of a large number of flies, and they made themselves quite a nuisance until we were finished eating.
Once 7 pm rolled around, the temperature started dropping, and it became tolerable to be out in the sun again. We set our tent up, which took a bit because everywhere that looked good had active ants on the site. We eventually just picked the least bad site and set up there.
Both of us got a bit of a sunburn today; me on one of my hands; CareFree on both of her legs. More sunblock is in store for us tomorrow, which should be another day mostly along the beach to the next campsite.