Day 127-129: Pakituhi Hut to Wanaka and Wanaka 0 Days (2549-2585)
Wednesday, April 5
I tried to sleep in a bit this morning since I wanted to walk with everyone today. I had snagged a bed next to a window, so I watched the sun rise and even saw a deer. It stood on the hill for a bit before continuing on its way.
I made coffee with breakfast today because I was only planning on walking the 10 or so kilometers to Lake Hawea. We all ate, packed up, and left around 11.
It was so chilly this morning, I decided to wear shoes and socks instead of my Chacos. Everyone except Bart put on a lot of layers. Bart ended up being right. Once we started hiking we all warmed up really quickly and had to de-layer. I probably should have just worn my sandals.
The trail was easy and lightly undulating until the big downhill to the road. The downhill had so many switchbacks. It made me really glad I wasn't walking up it.
When we got off the trail and down to the road we had a snack break and I changed into my sandals. It was an easy, flat walk into Lake Hawea. Once we were there, we stopped at the store for some snacks (I got chips and hummus), and met two NOBOers.
After eating our snacks, we walked to the highway and tried to hitchhike to Lake Hawea. A nice lady stopped and could take four of us, so Spencer and Shada got the next ride. The lady who picked us up was originally from California but had moved here to run a business.
I had a reservation at the YHA, but it was full, so I went around with Jen, Alex and Bart. We went to the Base Camp to see if they had beds and then called the holiday park. The holiday park had affordable cabins if everyone split them, but we needed to find Shada and Spencer.
As we were looking we ran into Magnus. I had been hearing about him since I met Jen and Alex. He was turning 30 and TA hikers he knew were meeting him in Lake Hawea to celebrate. While I was walking around looking for Spencer and Shada, I saw Nadine, Sara, Sonya and Simon in town. They had hitched from Twizel to avoid incoming bad weather.
We found Shada and Spencer and everyone went to the Holiday Park. I went to the YHA. Once we all settled in, we went to Red Star, a delicious burger place. There were so many of us, Alex, Bart, Jen, Shada, Spencer and Magnus. And Karolina, Noemi, and Jeremy showed up too! After burgers we all got to hang out and celebrate Magnus' 30th birthday.
The deer on the hill from the cabin window.
Bart, Shada and Spencer with Lake Hawea in the background.
Jen, Alex and Bart with Lake Hawea in the background.
Lake Hawea.
Thursday, April 6
I woke up this morning and really wanted a zero day to do nothing - not even run errands - so I looked at my schedule and maps to see if I could swing it. The walk from Arrowtown to Queenstown looked like a road walk, and with some quick googling I saw that there was a public bus from Arrowtown to Queenstown. If I took the bus or hitched that section, I could save half a day walking and spend an extra zero day in Wanaka.
After figuring that out, I went to New World to get supplies to make breakfast today and tomorrow. Then I heard from Jen and grabbed some snacks and breakfast supplies for us all to eat. It was a few hours after I'd eaten breakfast so I was hungry again.
After spending some time at the Holiday Park I went back to the YHA and watched lots of West Wing and got snacks and dinner supplies. It was probably the most relaxing zero day I've had on this trip.
Friday, April 7
I woke up and made breakfast. As I was making eggs, I heard an older lady talking to a younger woman in the kitchen. The lady was asking what the younger one was doing in New Zealand and I heard her say she was with Rustic Pathways. What a small world! I worked for them for a summer, so I piped in and said so. Their group leader was in the kitchen too and heard me. He was really nice and had worked in Costa Rica like I had, just not the same year.
After getting ready to run my errands for the day, I walked out of my room and saw the Rustic Pathways group leaving. I said goodbye and went to the library to file my taxes. I was going to just fill out an extension form, but it was almost an equivalent amount of work to actually doing my taxes.
Once that was taken care of I got fuel and three days of food to get me to Queenstown. As I was packing everything and doing laundry, I talked with one of my roommates at the YHA. She said the neighbors cat had snuck in the window by her bed last night and that the movie theater in town was pretty neat.
I thought I'd end up going to a movie, but I downloaded a book by Alyssa Mastromonaco and couldn't stop reading it. I read it until I fell asleep.