Day 19 – 8 Jul, Foot of Cunicearru to Foot of Boazoaivi

(34 km, total 440. 406.5 381.5 km, 9h 15 , 0845 to 1800)

I woke early but snoozed a bit. I was packed up and tent down without swarms of insects which was nice. Not so nice is that on one of my poles the inner sleeve has disappeared up the pole and I was not able to get it back out. This makes the pole unusable but tonight I will try and find a branch I can stuff in and see if that works as a temporary fix.

The trail started on nice single trail for a couple of km and then at an intersection crossed over but was now on a vehicle track.

I had my second fall of the journey coming down one of the tracks. My left ankle started to roll and I put both sticks in front of me to take the weight but my balance must have been off as I ended up on one knee, managing to scrape the knee and slightly twist my foot, but my ankle was unhurt.

Result of my fall

The track would go thorough a few swamps, climb up into the open, drop back down and repeat.

Unfortunately I was not paying enough attention and there was an intersection I missed, and was not marked on the map. I ended up following a vehicle track (not marked on the map but well established) over a hill when I should have turned right. The markings had been sporadic so I didn’t notice the lack of them. The track took me over some flats and then up a hill. It was from the top of the hill I noticed the features did not line up as they should have and realised my mistake. Rather than backtrack or cut directly east to find the proper track I decided to just go my own way for a while and eventually I would catch back at the trail, 5 km later. I enjoyed the route I took and I don’t think I lost much time. I skirted around the ends of Sotnabeaigielas and Sahpohangielas and over the saddle near Guovdacohkka and with the ridge coming off RivkksI ended up with less climbing than I would have had on the trail.

I linked back with the proper trail just before the descent to lake Raisjavri, which was a big lake. The descent was single track and at the bottom there was a nice 2 plank wide boardwalk over the swamp. This went for about 30 meters and within 5 meters of coming off it, wet feet.

The track went through some trees and emerged at a reindeer fence which I crossed at the gate just after a red marker The track then followed under some power lines and then along the side of the lake. It was an old vehicle track and nice to walk on, though there were some short swampy patches to negotiate. The track passed a couple of cottages and just past there I saw my first frog here.

After a while the trail emerged at a brown building with grass roof and just past that there was a signpost for various trail destinations a bridge and a bit more boardwalk before coming out at a carpark. There was a good information board about the area and there was a little bit of sand on the lake edge.

The start of the trail was from the end of the little sand beach and it was through the trees for a short time then onto the beach. Beach walking just like on Te Araroa.

Looking back at the short time the trail was on the beach

It was a very short time on the beach then the track turned inland and passed through several swampy bits to a power transmission station then turned left onto another track. This one passed through several swamps and over a river before climbing a hill.

There was a choice of tracks here. Slight left ahead was longer but went around the hill and had the red markers. To the right was over the top of the hill but shorter and I chose that one. The good thing about not having a specified route is I can make these choices without worrying about not being on the pure route. My definition of Norge Pa Langs is a continuous journey by foot, using hiking tracks where possible. This means both options were fine to take.

The trail dropped to the edge of a lake and turned left. There was a houseahead but I met up with the other trail just before it and turned right. After only 50 meters it was anther right turn onto a smaller disused track. This one had lots of footprints so I am guessing this is a popular hike. I am used to seeing only the two pairs of footprints, Jonas and Brendon.
It was a nice trail, going past a big lake. I saw a tent near the lake so I wandered over in case it was Jonas or Brendon. It was a couple of Norwegians who were there fishing for Brown Trout. They had not had much success yet. I re-joined the trail and after leaving the lake came to a pretty river which I had to cross.

As it was getting close to time to stop I filtered my camp water here. The trail was now rocky and a bit harder too walk along.

There were power lines overhead and I decided to camp when I got away from the power lines. The track cut under the power lines and skirted around the end of a swamp before starting to climb – up a swamp. At the top of this swamp was a stream so I splashed around to try and clear the swamp mud from my shoes and socks. The track continued to climb and there was a lovely grove of trees which I turned right into and quickly found a nice camp spot.

I had a lot of company putting up my tent with 4 different types of insects, though thankfully they were not biting too much. I still find it strange that the insects that look like NZ Sandflies are still not biting me, just sitting all over me. Jonas said they were called Gnat here and did bite.
I jumped into my tent and spend the next 10 minutes clearing it of unwanted visitors. As I did not want to open my door again I set up my stove inside my tent, the first time I have done this. I made very sure to get a stable platform and some protection under the stove. It went fine and I did not burn or spill anything. I looked at my maps as I ate dinner, Morrocan Lamb, and desert, Butterscotch Instant Pudding. Then I read for a while. Before going to be I put some tape on the instep of both feet as my socks have worn through and they were just starting to rub a little near the end of the day. It is better to start protecting them now than wait for them to blister. My other blisters were all fine today. One calf is healing well and starting to peel but the other calf is not healing well.

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