Day 15 - Queenstown to Arrowtown

Day started out easy since I took a cab to the post office in town to send off my resupply packages – wise decision: 16kg of food for two stations!

Managed very well with my new backpack – even the tent still fits inside with five days of food!

Ben and I started slowly really feeling being out of the hiking rhythm after the break.

Did another stop in Frankton to pick up a cable with a Kiwi plug for my camera batterie charger so I don’t have to carry the converter anymore after getting a new iPhone charger already. To bad the address was not up to date and I did a detour to the old place on foot while Ben was waiting with the packs… ?

Anyways – again saved some space and weight which will go to Auckland – SORRY & THANK YOU SARAH!!!!!

We continued on a very unspectacular stretch on the highway. Boring but part of the game… Around 28km today.

After that circled lake Hayes. Weather was always in between but stayed dry.

The trail actually went through Millbrooks Golf Course – the one I played two days ago. So Wayne and us had another chance to say good bye before we continued. We ran into a guy on the golf course who was asking us where we were heading towards and after telling him that we are on the TA he started laughing: “you will think of me on the second day of the stretch when it just goes up and down and up and down again – I designed this part and you will hate me for it.” He continued and wished us all the best and a great time in NZ – so let’s see how bad it really is ?

Very creative mailbox in front of one of the houses:

Picked up Achim, a German TA hiker, on the way who came back on the trail after a break and arrived in Arrowtown on the campsite. While checking in another guy showed up saying he was also on the TA but had to stop because of a foot injury and that he was waiting for another German hiker that he wanted to meet here to do the next 4 days together with. I stated how funny that was since I also know a guy that had to stop the TA because of a foot injury… And than we just cranked! This was Jason himself! The guy that started one day ahead of me and had to quit. We kept in touch the entire time and he sent me a message today that he would come to Arrowtown to join me on the stretch. I just hadn’t read my messages… And since we had never met – and Jason shaved his beard of and mine is getting longer and longer we did not directly recognise each other – Ben and Achim were also laughing their asses off…

We had a few beers on the campsite and exchanged a lot of stories. Great one! And an amazing sunset…

Setting off tomorrow at 7.30 since the weather forecast gives us five rain days from now on…