in the land of the long white cloud .. sending a quickie on one of these timed jobies. just finished the Routeburn Track this morning after two nights on it. was a great hike but only kinda short (32km) and bloody cold. they have it in for tent users over here. i think they think we are a tad crazy .. and they may be right. my term-a-rest last night blew a puncture and i was basically sleeping on the frozen ground without insulation. get up in the morning and it starts snowing. so we trekked through a wintery scape for the last stage. the previous two days were not snowing at least .. but we did get the wind and rain. and i am on holidays for this. guess it beats sweating like a maniac on the kokoda. we got the short end of the stick the first night on the track. a lovely roaring fire in the nearby hut and when we ventured in for a warm up from the howling rain the ranger kicked us out. 2nd class camper citizen. bastard. i was thinking of ways of revenge for the next day and a half. actually i have just stopped of the revenge. maybe cause i just got out of a hot shower.
currently in milford sound at a backpacker lodge. great spot. and they have laundry. the dirt is being removed from the trousers and the boots are in the drying room. off soon with my mate and a hike pal from the track to go and find the pub. a couple of beers would complete the return to normal. tomorrow a tourist trap venture off to see the fabled "sound" will report back if it is worth raving about and compares to the norway fjords. after that we are off to Te Anau and perhaps a bit more masochism on the Kepler track. it is a 4 day 3 night beast through an alpine terrain. can't wait. i think i will book into the huts though this time.
signing out from the blunt end of hiking and self flagellation.
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