Day 10: Our First Zero Day

October 20, 2019

Kilometers: 221.3-221.3

Kerikeri Holiday Park

We woke up and had a big time hearty breakfast. I went with cold pizza and mint chocolate chip ice cream while Ethan opted for Doritos and Mountain Dew. Yes, our healthy eating book will be hitting the shelves at the local bookstore near you in a few months. We have both noticed a bit of weight loss in the first 10 days and will be trying to gain some weight back during our zero days here. 

As you can image our day wasn’t exactly action packed. It was somewhat similar to my typical Sunday in Falls Church, naps with some football watching sprinkled in. We did laundry, Ethan went to the grocery store and I watched another Michigan football game. Spoiler alert: they lose. 

Ethan’s grocery shopping was on point. He brought back all the essentials: icy hot, some fresh fruit, snacks and a full rotisserie chicken. He also came back with some more dominoes cause two meals in a row ain’t enough apparently. 

At about six we went down to the other cabin full of hikers we’ve been with since day 1. We all went to the kitchen area and each made dinner. 

As Ethan played some more big bootie mix from his phone everyone cooked and drank. With an abundance of food compared to the back country, everyone was offering each other food and having a great time. Right after dinner we all headed to the local bar to watch the rugby World Cup. France was playing Wales, and as our friend Nicolas is from France we chose to route for them. Unfortunately, France lost by one point. Ethan and I had a great time cheering them on while having absolutely zero understanding of the rules or scoring. With no football on here we’ve decided to become big All Blacks fans (New Zealands national rugby team). 

We’re looking forward to another rest day tomorrow as we try to get our bodies back to 100% before continuing on. Also, big time win that we can stream the NFL red zone on our phones tomorrow. It wasn’t a deciding factor in taking another rest day but definitely helped make the decision easier. We also have to take care of our bounce box, get me a NZ phone plan, resupply and get Ethan some shoes that won’t hurt his Achilles. 

-Alex