The one and only hike

 The one and only hike

With a pledge rooted in my heart, I set off an hour earlier today at 3pm with just one goal - to hike beyond 20km, something I have never done before though I did run Penang Bridge a few times, day hike, it’s something unprecedented. 

I have long planned to hike to Bay View from my son’s homestay house on Ranfurly, based on Google Map it is 12km away, so I guess if I complete a return trip, it will breach the 20km mark. I did hike up to the starting point of the track to Bay View from Westshore a week before, due to time constraints I turned back. 

I decide to walk to Westshore Beach by Taradale Road in the direction of city-bound, the 3pm sun is searing hot but with low humidity and breezy condition, it doesn’t perturb me much. Passing by this Streetwise Coffee stall, the aroma of the coffee beans is way too much to resist, I halt to grab a large cup of hot latte, it is sheer bliss in life to sip a good coffee while trudging on in your own assumed “Great Expedition”.

Then I turn to the way to Ahuriri, about after an hour, I reach Ahuriri Estuary on my left and Westquay on my right. The high tide at around 4pm floods the entire wetland, it is transformed into a massive lake where weekend visitors fish, swim and kayak. At the Westquay, the water level at the bay is so high that it seems to be overflowing soon, countless boats and yachts buoy violently in the rather choppy sea.

I then turn to Westshore Beach, have the last sip of my large cup of latte, take a short respite at the bus station just beside the beach. The sea is emerald green under the bleached sunlight, beachgoers are having all sorts of fun swimming, surfing or canoeing. I don’t rest for long, there is still quite a distance to go, I time myself to turn back whatsoever at 5.30pm at the latest, otherwise, it would be too late for me to reach home. 

It’s always enjoyable to walk along the shoreline of Westshore Beach, blooming yellow daisies blanket the slope of the pathway near the beach, at the distance, there are cargo ships or speedboats gliding across in the vastness of the deep blue sea, and the air is filled with jubilant cacophony from the visitors who throng the nearest safe-to-swim beach in Napier, the swells are not really ferocious but then it was good enough for the surfing beginners to have some good blast. 

Around 4.15pm, I reach the end of Charles Avenue at Westshore Beach, it ends at the starting point of a walking cum cycling track to Bay View. I stop for a while to have some water from the water cooler station and to refill my water bottle. I can sense the intensity of sunlight mellows, and the blustery wind smooches my body with cosy coolness. The track stretches side by side to the black sand beaches that continue for a few km,  they are strewn with old abandoned tree trunks and branches, various types of flowers trees flourishingly bloom in the spring cover the ground like colourful carpets, it is a natural sight to behold and provides excellent compositions for photography. After about 45 minutes, the track ends and it leads into a small residential community, then I see this sign showing Bay View on the roadside. 

I have eventually made it to Bay View on foot, but it is only half of my hike, now I need to make my way back home. 

The sun is dipping in the West when I slowly walk back home, I take the route for the first two times where I covered more than 16km, it goes through Ahuriri Estuary along the railway's track, then I turn left to go down the slope to cross the railway track and the Hasting Expressway through the underpasses where I reach the other side near the sheep farming field. Again, I turn into the dirt path that leads to Church Road, ripping through the grazing meadows of the sheep. It is a long, solitude walk as I don’t come across anyone at all, it is kind of strange not to bump into any cyclist on this Saturday evening, the sun is shining softly as it collapses further towards the mountain top in the distant, wind blows at balmy pace, I just walk on, alone but enjoyably immerse in the serene silence. 

Around 7.30pm, I complete the water ride trail that snakes its way along the narrow canal, I witness a family of ducks swimming timidly away from me when I approach them to take a few shots, birds’ chirping breaks the calm quietness intermittently, and a flock of seagulls fly across in the sky. The sweet pastel hue of sunset emerges in the horizon above the distant hills, I walk towards the sports ground near the Park Island Reserve, the thin lampposts lit up their eyes in the failing light, I can see only a handful of people strolling at the park, the field is empty, the night is eerily looming and I hasten my pace to beat the imminent darkness that will soon inundate the surrounding. 

I reach home right before 8.15pm, the entire hike takes me 5 hours and I manage to achieve a new record of 21.3km, my departure back home is exactly two weeks away, and I just make up my mind that such a long hike would be the one and only until I leave.

（10/11/2019)