Tramping New Zealand

DAY 6 - Too Lazy to Go Anywhere

Even though we hardly were worn out by yesterday's outing, both Dave and I seem amenable to an off-day.

After arising at the ungodly hour of 8:30 a.m., my normal routine takes me over to the Big Fig to upload files.  Once again, however, the service isn't working; so I head across the street to an Internet Cafe.  It isn't open yet, but the associated coffee place sells me a half-hour's worth of internet time for two dollars.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work either; so the clerk refunds my money.  In retrospect, it's just as well, because a review of the receipt shows that I was only going to get enough bandwidth to upload one photograph anyhow.  What a ripoff.

Returning to the hostel dismayed and unrequited, I write up yesterday's journal; then, lo and behold — the hostel's Internet service works!  I actually am able to upload all sixty photographs.  Go figure.

After that, Dave and I have some of yesterday's salad, which still is decent.  Then I walk to a pharmacy and purchase some lens-cleaning tissues as well as a bottle of ear-cleaning fluid, which turns out to be ordinary olive oil.  I don't know why I didn't simply pack my own bottle of mineral oil in the first place.

I don't know what tomorrow's warmup will be, but we are looking apprehensively toward Saturday's venture up to the Mueller Hut on Mount Cook.  It's a 3,800-foot climb in a few short miles; and we'll be using our overnight backpacks for the first time.  In fact, it will have been more than forty years since I actually prepared food on a trail.  Of course, this time we would have the advantage of a provided gas stove and a roof over our heads.

Also — sorry Janice, but it won't be necessary for us to transport our own Poo Pot after all; it seems that that is required only in the winter when the camp potty is snow-bound.

I can't believe it, either.  Affleck is a good guy, but not a great actor

I hung out some laundry at about noon.  My quick-dry Death Ride T-shirts ought to do just fine.  The issue of daylight savings time came up; here it kicks in on April 2.

Dave has just informed me that our schedule has been mis-calculated, and that lodging reservations must be procured for another day between two of the upcoming Great Walks.  That issue seems to have been worked out already.

For dinner, I have a package of Ramen-type noodles, plus another tin of tuna that worked better on yesterday's salad.  Dave has a couple more lamb steaks and some broccoli, of which I enjoy a couple of bites.  Our room came stocked with a big carton of chocolate ice cream, so we finish up with some of that.

I'm sorry to bore you with mundane, boring details of my day; the next thing you know, I'll actually be texting people (ugh).  Tomorrow should offer something more interesting to relate.

Here's another half-millennium history recap, starting from 1 a.d.: