We managed to hitch various rides from Marahau to Nelson by noon, and took care of all outer grocery shopping. In the youth hostel, I had a great conversation with a Venezuelan woman about the area, and just general small talk for about 45 minutes. It was refreshing to just have a light conversation like that. Because today was a lot of down time, I have made the decision to buy a travel guitar to pass the time.
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Today was much the same as yesterday. Same scenery. We got into camp early, and I had a nice nap on the beach. Pat is learning to play harmonica. Its going well I think. For dinner, we tried boiling mussels, and they were ok. Nothing to brag about, and I probably won't try again. The landfills ate us alive during dinner, and we retreated to the tent soon after. They were so bad, my foot ended up bleeding.
Not really an eventful day, although we did see Brent and Min again after a tidal crossing. They were camped at the other side, and we happened to walk right through their camp. As far as the Abel Tasman goes, while beautiful, I think I prefer the Queen Charlette Track. We talked with a French group in the kitchen area, and that was fun. I think the primary draw of the Abel Tasman for me in the social campsites.
I had a wonderful day today. We started out in Motueka, and hitched a ride down the roads bit with a woman named Robin. At some point in the conversation, she offered us jobs picking apples in late February through March, so Patrick and I are going to think on her offer and email her when we get back into service. I don't think we will end up doing that, but the offer was nice. We also booked camping in the Rootburn and Kipler tracks for early March, so there's that schedule conflict as well. Robin ended up dropping us off at a crossroads, and we discovered over the next hour and a half that it was a very popular place to drop off hitchhikers, but not a place where to pick them up. Patrick and I were at that crossroads for an hour and a half (we mostly only have to wait 30 minutes), and in that time, 5 other people were dropped off. It was a regular little hitchhiker powwow. Those five were all dropped off in the last half our of waiting. Fir the first hour, Pat and I sans most standard songs that kill time and generally whatever else sprang into our heads. Finally, Brent and Min picked us up, and we had a full day even getting to our destination, Wainui. Brent was born in the area, and grew up here, but he had been in China the last few years, where he met his wife, Min. They are now living in China, but are currently doing a tour of New Zealand; they just included us in that tour. We stopped and did a 45 minute cave tour, which was fascinating, and in that time, learned about the formation of the caves, Moa birds, and the eagles that hunted them. After that, we had a stop in Takaka so that Brent and Min could get lunch, so Pat and I just wandered around town for a bit. Brent and Min, once done with lunch, declared that there was one last mandatory stop: ice cream, their treat to us. They were just fantastic. So we had a pretty full day even before we started our hike. We finally began actually walking around three, and made it to camp at seven. It was my favorite hiking portion to date. We went along the coastline, the trail was shaded, and we always had a spectacular view. No picture I take will do this justice.
We finished out the Pelorus River Range, and managed to hitch our way over to Motueka. This will be our first actual diversion from the Te Araroa, as we will be hiking the Abel Tasman. It's supposed yo be stunning, with Sandy golden beaches. It'll be an easy three night trip, but I'm looking forward to it
Beautiful hike today. We had the option of either going to a hut, or a picnic area farther on to camp. We ended up choosing the a shorter day and staying in the hut in order to stay in the mountains longer. A family of five also ended up spending the night in the hut,and I must say, the kids are a lot of fun. Keeps the energy lively. Dinner is couscous as it has been for the past week, but we're going to add a beef bouillon cube tonight, so that should be good
I suppose today's hike was pretty, bit boy, let me tell you about the the hit we were in. Everyone should stay in Rocks hut. It's spacious, has a fire place, enough room for 16 people to sleep, a spectacular view, and best of all, flushing toilets. Flushing. On top of a mountain! It's the height of luxury. We got into the Hut around three, and simply couldn't pass it up, so here we are. We passed the afternoon reading, talking with Johaness, a German man doing the South Island portion of the Te Araroa, and going to the lookout. It was completely socked in when I went to the lookout, but the experience was a glimpse of the truth. One does not know true freedom until they have have belted out Queen on top of a mountain. I also threw in Songs from Les Miserables, but that was just a personal preference. Queen on a mountain top, especially "We Are the Champions," is something everyone should do.
The water is so clear up in the mountains, it's absurd. As for the walking, we had two days planned to get to Captain Creek hut, but we did it in one. It was going to be two days of road walking, which would have sucked. Instead, we got picked up out of Havelock by a wonderful South Korean man, then again on Mougatapu road by a cheerful older fellow. We learned a lot about about the local area from the older guy. For instance, it hasn't rained in 4 weeks, there's a couple from Seattle who live in the area, and there are two kinds of deer here. Back to the hut, it's quite cozy. The hike in was easier than expected, but still enough to slow me down with my newly food burdened pack. it's incredibly peaceful here, and the river is just a stone's throw away
Pat and I pretty much had the day off. We spent the day in Havelock after finishing the Queen Charlette Track and hitchhiking from Anikiwa to Havelock. We were passed by many cars, but were finally picked up by an older man who suggested various backpacking routes. Friendly guy. When we got into Havelock, We relaxed, bought food, bug dope,and blister material. We also took advantage of the hostel WiFi to get in touch with people back home, and that was nice.
Here's a general recap of the Queen Charlette Track. The landscape is simply gorgeous, not quite mountainous, but definitely larger than hills. Its so green, and on the trail, there's always a background noise of the forest. I saw a wild pig this morning, but wasn't able to grab a picture of it. Maybe next time. Along this stretch, the wiccas are abundant, and they've stolen a plastic bag so far. Luckily, or wasn't important.
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