🗓️ December 26, 2025

🏁 Kilometers : 1505

We woke up at 4 a.m. that morning with Matteo, the youngest member of the group, a 22-year-old Frenchman. We have a quick breakfast and gather our things, trying not to make any noise so as not to wake the others sleeping in the adjoining rooms. We manage to get going by 5 a.m., after spending half an hour looking for Matteo's glasses (who, I should mention, is a master at constantly misplacing his belongings).

Our goal is to walk 27 km along roads to reach a beach and then continue for 5 km to reach the mouth of a river that we have to cross within a certain timeframe before the tide gets too high. We arrive there around noon, which was more or less our objective. The water is a little below our hips, but the crossing is perfectly manageable.

We then take our first real break of the day and continue on, aiming to finish the beach section and reach kilometer 50 by the afternoon. This would be the longest distance covered in a single day for each of us since the start of the trek.

The beach we are walking along, 19 kilometers long in total, is made of black volcanic sand and littered with hundreds of white driftwood logs. Numerous black and white pumice stones and black pebbles are scattered along the shore. The waves throw up white foam that contrast sharply with the black sand. The weather, turning to rain, transforms the sky into various shades of gray. It is a black and white scene before us, a colorless landscape that is nonetheless captivating. Only a few tufts of green or yellowing grass on the black dunes in the background timidly attempt to brighten this achromatic scene. The rain starts to pick up, a light drizzle at first, then heavier as we continue, and the waves are keeping crashing powerfully onto the shore. It's a bit like stepping into a vintage black and white photograph, frozen in time, and finding ourselves in the midst of an invigorating storm. Magical!

When we reach the end of the beach, an idea pops into Mattéo's head, and he challenges me to reach the town of Bulls, 19 kilometers away, which would mean covering a total of 65 kilometers in one day. I think he's crazy; I don't really feel capable, even though I'm still feeling good today. So I suggest we keep going and see how we do. If we can't manage it, we can always hitchhike and come back to the same spot the next day to finish this section. We walk, motivating each other, his enthusiasm acting as a driving force to keep me going. And yet it's raining cats and dogs, we're soaked, starting to get a little cold, we've covered about fifty kilometers, but we keep walking along the road.

We count each kilometer, we feel we're getting closer to our goal and that we're going to be able to make this slightly crazy idea a reality. We pass the 1500-kilometer mark since the start of the trek, which we celebrate with a small bottle of Cointreau. And then, after 65 kilometers, we reach the town of Bulls; we've succeeded in our challenge! Our friends, who were already there, having left a day earlier, are waiting for us, forming a guard of honor. I'm amused by their idea and genuinely touched by their spontaneity!

Needless to say, the moment we can finally take off our shoes and sit down is more than welcome, even if our feet are as pale as death and we are aching and exhausted.

We did it!

🗓️ December 27, 2025

🏁 Kilometers : 1545

I wake up sore, but still rested enough to continue walking today. About forty kilometers await us to reach the town of Palmerston North. The route isn’t very interesting, following only roads or cycle paths the entire way. The good news is that this will be the last major section along roads for the rest of the trek.

I finish the 40 kilometers quite late, still tired from the 65 kilometers of the previous day. I have walked a total of 105 kilometers in two days.