Longstride

After a hard stretch of trail and a long day yesterday, today is another zero, in Hanmer Springs, to rest and resupply.

• I slept in, not getting up until almost 9 am.
• I was about to go out for breakfast, but it started raining. Not wanting to get wet, instead I ate all seven packets of oatmeal I’d gotten in St Arnaud. (Two, or maybe three, packets were meant to be one breakfast, if I needed an extra day on trail.)
• I did inventory and started planning for the next section, to Arthurs Pass. This should be “easier”, since there’s not a lot of elevation change, but the track is apparently quite rugged, and involves a lot of river crossings. Which isn’t great, since it looks like it’ll rain while I’m out on that section. Guess I’ll need to take extra food in case I have to wait out the rain…
• I went out for lunch at a restaurant (which was kind of pricey), then went to the Four Square for my resupply for the next section to Arthurs Pass. The 115 km section should take five days, but I have seven days of food in case there are issues with the weather, since there are numerous river crossings, and rain is forecast while I’ll be out on that stretch.
• I did my laundry.
• Rather than gamble with hitching back to the trail, I arranged for a shuttle to take me back to the trailhead. Rather, I joined someone else’s shuttle, which leaves at 8 am tomorrow, and cut the price in half.
• I went to the “Toy Shop”, which also has an NZ Post shipping center. Unfortunately, the place has really short hours (9 - 3), and I was far later than 3 pm. Rather than throwing my shirt out because one of the shoulders has ripped open (giving me a not-awesome sunburn), I was hoping to send my old shirt back to Auckland, where perhaps the shoulder could be mended. But, it seems that’s not possible.
• I got dinner. I feel awfully stuffed with food, but it’s making up for being on-trail.
• I finished the day by repacking my food, getting a shower, and relaxing.