Dec 9 day 100 Lake Hawae Village to Wanaka 8:45-2:00 25 km

 

Lake town walking– flat and fast. Woke at 5:30, bing–wide awake. Decided to spend early morning in hostel kitchen drinking coffee and catching up on correspondence. So far behind on a series of short essays, but hard hiking days really don’t lend themselves to evening writing, and December so far has been a pedal to the metal month. Just taking what is there and trying to build some buffer days in case problems emerge. The walk over to Wanaka was along the Hawae River on a bike trail. A little hot and dusty, but pretty, and after yesterday’s rock clambering, ridge hiking, steep descent, a little flat was welcome. The Wanaka hostel is good– they messed up my reservation so I got upgraded to a cabin with some good folks, including a guy from Chile. Got some laundry done (including sleeping bag), resupplied at the New World, got new shoes (!), and found a replacement icebreaker beanie hat. Not sure why that made me so happy– the old one had been such a useful bit of equipment. Not a day of contemplation, just getting things done. After chores I wandered the town a bit. Many people I have talked to have said to forget spending time in Queenstown as it is too “touristy” (which of course is what I am, though I don’t travel around in a group) and to stay in Wanaka. A stroll down the lakeside convinced me that this is a town to spend some time in. Since I’ve been making such good time and have not taken a free zero in a long time (all zeros on the South Island were dictated by weather, not desirability. In addition, I’ve been having some physical stress pains in my legs and feet, so a day of rest is probably in order (and I can walk about town breaking in my new shoes!)