Stony Bay to Colville
Waking up this morning was great. It was quiet, the sun was drying the dew off the fly, and I felt rested. Actually, I had a great sleep.
By the time everybody else was crawling out of their campervans I was packed up and striding off. Last in and first out. It made me think of Kens ten before ten rule. Ten miles before ten in the morning to start off the day. I didn't manage that but I might have done maybe six kilometers or something. I am a slack packer after all.
The walk around to Sandy Bay (Where I met a couple looking to buy a house because Tauranga is getting to busy for them) was along a metal road with a bit of a climb to start with but then it flattened out before heading back down.
Amusingly as I was leaving Sandy Bay I heard voices behind me gaining at such speed I thought they must have been going slowly on bikes. It turned out to be three older woman who past me at great speed and then made excuses for me because i was wearing a pack.
The goal of the day was to reach Colville and I was going to do this by following a track on the NZ Topo maps that started off from Port Charles, along to Potiki Bay and then back to the Port Charles to Colville road.
Unfortunately it appears this track doesn't exist. I was suspicious when the map showed it starting in exactly the same place as someone driveway so I asked a local guy and he reckons he gets asked all the time and there isn't any decent track at all. So that was the end of that.
i walked back to the turnoff and another local stopped and gave me a lift to Colville. Turns out he knows my aunt and had just been talking to my cousin at Xmas. Very small country. So it was the Colville Cafe for lunch and then Colville Motel for a camp site (I like it).
I am a little at a loss as to what to do next. I have tried contacting DOC in Whitianga and can't get through and the only map I can find that shows the track on the NZ Topo maps is the NZ Topo maps. Doc shows nothing. NZ Walking shows some paper roads but not much else. I'll go to the cafe tomorrow before the tourists get up and see if I can find someone who knows but if not then it looks like a walk until bored road walk and then hitch to Coro tomorrow.
