By Elliot

Distance: 31km

If I was looking for signs to quit the trail, last night had several. We unrolled our sleeping pads, which have developed some mould since the last time we used them. We cleaned it off and tried to disinfect as best as we could. It also seems like there might be a small hole in my inflatable sleeping pad. The pad seemed to be getting a lot softer as the night wore on. Finally, I had a nocturnal encounter with a possum who was rifling through my bag. It didn’t get any food, but got my ziploc filled with toilet paper, destroyed the bag, and nibbled holes into my toilet paper.

But I don’t think last night was too bad. Thanks to the 11:30pm possum encounter, I looked up at the sky and saw probably the most stars I’ve ever seen. And this trail provides toilet paper in its outhouses, so my anxiety is assuaged. We also saw a gorgeous sunrise from the tent this morning.

So we started the day feeling pretty good. And we continued to feel pretty good, other than when we were going uphill in full midday sun.

We weren’t planning on doing such a big day today, but started early and enjoyed ourselves so much that we kept going. Our feet still hurt for the last few kilometres.

Our campsite tonight is right on the water, so we went for a swim in the ocean as soon as we arrived at camp, and then rinsed off in a freshwater stream. It was lovely.

We’ve heard that tonight’s campsite also has some possums. Hopefully the possums here will disturb us less than the ones from last night.