I woke up rather slowly this morning; it’s really something how good a sleep feels after you’ve earned it! Not that you have to earn sleep! But you know what I mean! I’m in that space between spaces, the purgatory-esque realm between my body’s old schedule and the new one to which it will so quickly adapt.

And so, I revel in a good sleep in.

Also I have to keep reminding myself that I have nothing to do but walk. And, aside from closing times on food resupply days, I don’t have to be anywhere but where I am.

And right now, where I am is a little town called Riverton. I don’t know much about it other than I started off the day in the rain, on Oreti beach, and I sang Eminem’s “Not Afraid,” out loud, to get me through it. My rain jacket works. And my rain-cover for my pack also works. And my pants and shoes dry quickly. Thank you for asking.

I saw some lady-bugs on a log and came across some dead birds and jellyfish (I think) but mostly I just walked and I even put in my headphones, listened to my favorite book, and when I got bored of that, I switched to the Zach Bryan Radio that I downloaded on Spotify. And the family that picked me up when I thought no one was watching me sing and dance and walk must have thought I was an absolute loon.

But they still stopped. Sue and Pete and Dominique and Electra. And I still have never stuck out a thumb on the side of the road. And their generosity saved me lots of energy — enough to make it to the shops to resupply today before heading to the forest tomorrow.

And so today, after my soup and egg and cashews dinner, I am in my tent, thinking about rain and mud and wind and also I am wondering whether little Electra is still thinking about that safe we zoomed past on the beach — the rest of the car was sure her safe was just a toaster so we kept on going but I wonder whether she wishes she could have gotten a closer look just to be sure.

xx

P.S. today, my spirit guide took the form of a fellow TA walker — a journalist from Nelson ❤