Hanmer Springs is a tourist town with plenty of restaurants to choose from for our meals. The kitchen in our hostel was so well equipped that we were able to prepare delicious steaks and salad there. After our day off and a few hours in the outdoor pool, with hot springs to relax our tired bones and water slides that we enjoyed very much, we had to face the harsh reality again.

Departure day started leisurely with coffee and pancakes and was followed by a phone call home. I did my shopping for the coming days on the day of departure to be able to take as many fresh vegetables as possible. Before we could hike again, though, we had to get back to the trail. Hanmer is 55 kilometers from the point where we got off two days earlier.

So Connor and I kept our fingers out, hoping to find someone who would be happy to host us in their vehicle for a while. In my experience, it’s the run-down and old cars that stop and offer a ride. A Frenchman who is here for a year for work and travel was very happy to help us out. We were equally happy to be picked up after a 40 minute wait.

Arriving at Boyle Flats Camp we met Brandan, who is healthy again and was also very happy to be picked up by us. The swelling on his arm had gone down very well, so he was able to hike without pain.

In the camp there was also a box of food left by other hikers for free disposal. We both stocked up on extra provisions and set out on our 20 km march for the day.

This section turns out to be rather boring after the last very overwhelming sections. The trail just dribbles along without being particularly strenuous. No excessive inclines, only a few bumps or mud. Actually, these are optimal conditions to just switch to autopilot and cruise along. But somehow my body feels very sluggish and unwilling. I’m literally dragging myself through the landscape, I’m missing the challenge.

Initially, my thoughts circle around an emotional problem I sensed between me and Conner for over 2 hours. I felt kind of estranged even though we’ve known each other for a while now. It felt like an impasse that we were lost in. I pondered how best to address it, how to make myself understood. Escape was my first reaction, but I have left that way of problem solving behind. Therefore, I chose the path of self-revelation. Carefully, I approached what I was missing in our joint endeavor. I felt like we didn’t have much left to talk about. Connor agreed with me that things were a little rusty between us. Together, we tried to get to the bottom of it to better understand what exactly was going on. As it turns out, we just had different expectations of what we expected from such a trail acquaintance, or to what extent we would behave differently on the trail than we might at home, how much you are willing to open up to another person. I’m glad to have talked about it and not just sunk into my spiral to solve something that’s not just my business.

Especially in the evenings, when you’re sitting together in larger groups, it tends to revolve around general topics. If you can’t manage to spend a few hours hiking alone with someone, the brief encounters you have from day to day leave little time to get to know the people around you a little more deeply.

Josie, with whom I had previously had a very intense exchange, has since fallen a few days behind us. Where exactly she is, I can only guess from the stories of others. It would be nice to have her around again.

Somehow I seemed to be too spoiled. The many beautiful stages seem to have dulled me. I’m still hiking through some of the most beautiful scenery I can imagine, and yet my baseline seems to have been raised to the point where I haven’t really been able to enjoy the last few days, and so I’ve been more or less dragging my feet. I’m apparently not the only one feeling this way. I have meanwhile talked to some other hikers who have fallen into the same hole.

On the North Island we always had enough time with our road stages to build up a real hunger for good views. On the South Island we are largely spared these, which is basically very nice. Another theory that we are all just realizing that we are on the home stretch, or at least getting noticeably closer to our goal. Which in turn makes for some annoyance.

I had decided to take a day’s rest in the mountains on the way to Arthur’s Pass. On the one hand, to give Josie a chance to catch up, but on the other hand, to give myself a little rest away from a village. I wanted to spend the whole day just lazing around, writing and reading. The whole interrupted by a bath in the river.

Half a day I was all alone for myself in my cabin in the mountains. Connor has already marched with a few other friends to have a beer in the pub a day away. Around noon Noor and Tarni showed up at my hut and also decided to stay and keep me company. Since we had decided together to hitchhike directly to Arthur’s Pass the next day, and to do the following leg slack packing – we left the rest in Arthur’s Pass – we all had unplanned sweets and meals left over, which we ate over the afternoon playing cards.

I understand from Noor that Josefien has decided to take a vacation from vacationing. I will try to reach her as soon as I get reception again.

Connor had recently asked me if I had an idea for a movie and what it would be if the budget was completely irrelevant. That got me thinking about old story ideas. I came up with three that I’ve stumbled across on and off for a few years now. The following days I started working out one of these stories, which has been floating around in vague outlines in my head for a while. I’ve only written down a rough construct so far. It is totally exciting to explore new facets of this story while hiking, a daydream so to speak, and to write down what I have invented during the day in the evening. Here I have more than enough time to let the thoughts buzz.