Day 7 hukatere to ahipara

We woke up around 8 and had some tea and breakfast with the wwoofers, the other TA hiker john had apparently left right before I got up. Around 9 we hit the beach, and the previous 2 days' soreness was clearly present. We only made about 10 painful kilometers before lunch, and that didn't rejuvenate us nearly as much as the previous days. My knees were sore and my feet were bleeding and blistered. About 5k later there was a campsite that Manja chose to use, her legs couldn't take her any farther. I opted to push on and complete the day to ahipara in the hopes of taking a zero day tomorrow. In the last 15k of the day, I stopped only twice. I found that the pain in my knees would become unbearable every time I restarted walking, so I simply hiked slowly and steadily down the beach. 

On the way to ahipara I listened to music and watched the tide go in and out, reflecting on the power, vastness, and indifference of the ocean. 

Such and integral part of human life, with no capacity for awareness of its own power. No thought or desire but the power to change the world, whether it wants to or not. 

Of course it's neither of the two, it has no desires or aversions of any kind. Maybe in a way, that gives it an even more omnipotent feeling.

 It will not and cannot stop its being or its power for any reason. It simply continues. I thought of that as my tiny body cried in pain as I willed it forward and felt slightly better. It always seems that the things farthest removed from rationality or reasoning most closely posess omnipotence.