THE PALACE
Cloudy at first, clearing somewhat and quite warm
Today was meant as a technical day, but there was certainly a lot to do. Breakfast at 8 was pretty empty (the hostel here provides one, at least) and I made my coffee and a bowl of cornflakes; then some toast for which I collected my vegemite.
Washing could only be done after 12:30, so I started on transcribing the hiking diary into blog format. Rearranged the TV room to get a comfortable enough seat for typing and downloaded at least some of the outstanding podcast episodes and finished transcribing two days. Guys came in every now and then to watch something on the telly, which was really helpful.
Went down to the library just after it had opened and start the really data intensive work down there: Plotting the GPS tracks on GoogleEarth. After last night’s tribulations this seemed to work out fine and Stewart Island comes to a total of 137 km. Found a new and apparently updated source of the SRTM data which was used without causing any problems.
Also stopped at the i-site for the lowdown on water taxis. Got info on a place that will take me from near the end of the Abel Tasman back to Marahau as well as store the car for the period of the hike. Came back to the hostel with the information and worked out that I could do the trip starting tomorrow, with one early waking for low time, and, possibly, one later arrival.
Made a mess of the sandwich toaster by trying to toast beef and cheese sandwiches in it. Tasty but required some dedicated cleaning afterwards which was not beneficial to the non-stick surface (ha! found that melted processed cheese sticks permanently to teflon…). Then it was finally time for the washing, during which time I went down to the post office to post Tom his DVD. Then the washing was hung up on the line at the front of the house to dry.
Went off in search of some new buckles for the rucksack. The first place I tried opposite the library didn’t have any, but they suggested trying Rollos on the other side of the bus depot which did, in the right size and in a configuration which precludes accidental detachment: 2 for $2. Then it was back to the library to check all the details of the Abel Tasman, and then to DoC to book it.
Found a reply from Christchurch about speaking there on March 27, which would be fine. Also checked the driving times to the track (just over 1 hour) and at the other end in the direction of the west coast (1½ hours), so I can take the last boat on Saturday. Was going through the DoC procedure and reached the payment part when I was struck by severe passworditis. No idea what the password was and my greeting, “Karina was the best” gave me no clue. Cancelled the booking and went back to the library to change the password, back to DoC and this time it worked.
It was getting rather late by now & still had to do the shopping. Countdown didn’t have any surprise mixed veg, so I took off on an odyssey through town – also needed some DEET, and finally nailed some dried peas down.
Took the clothes off the line (mostly dry) and having discovered a fish’n’chip shop at the back of the hostel, went there to try my luck (51 Vanguard St). Lamb burger (lettuce, beetroot, onion, tomato sauce) and half a scoop of chips for $10.50 was well worth it. Ate it on the balcony to the tune of thousands of cicadas (or was it wetas?) chirping away merrily – anyway lovely atmosphere, very noisy.
Will see about boiling some eggs and packing for an early start tomorrow. Spent most of the evening talking with a very pregnant Danish woman who borrowed the laptop to do a bit of chatting. For a couple of days after returning from the hike Facebook greeted me in Danish.