Day 80: Operation Weight Gain
December 29, 2019
Kilometer: 1944.1
Alpine Lodge in St Arnaud
I woke up and got started on posting the blogs from the last week. It takes a surprisingly long time to post each one, the more pictures the longer.
Today we are trying to gain back some of the weight we lost in the last week. Charlie especially, he looks like just a sliver of the guy I met on Twighlight beach eighty days ago. His sickness made it hard for him to eat while in the Richmond Range.
When the guys woke up we walked over to the general store, which kinda had a cafe in it. I ordered the “big breakfast” which came with two eggs, sausage links, bacon, toast, baked beans, hash browns and grilled tomato. I had no problem eating it all. Neither did Charlie and Peter.
For the rest of the morning and afternoon I worked on the blog and watched the college football playoffs. For lunch Charlie and Peter made crepes with apples, bananas and cheese. They were very good.
We napped and then picked up our bounce boxes from the front desk. I packed up my food for the next five days.
We also decided to rent out the hot tub here for a half hour. The four of us got it to ourselves and it was quite relaxing.
For dinner we ate at the lodges restaurant again. On Sundays in the summer they have an all you can eat BBQ buffet. This was their first one of the season. All of us stuffed ourselves with multiple plates. They had steak, chicken, sausage, ham, fries, a bunch of different salads, vegetables, bread and more. We definitely got our money’s worth.
At dinner Peter snuck away and set up Charlie’s bday surprise party. He baked a cake earlier in the day and shipped candles and balloons in the bounce box. We sang happy birthday as he walked in the room. We also gave him a birthday card signed by us. Charlie’s birthday isn’t until tomorrow but we figured it would be easiest to celebrate today while we were in town.
Today was day 80. Coming into the hike I had a goal to complete it in 120 days, so this would be the two-thirds mark. Although we aren’t quite at 2,000kms right now I am really impressed with how we’ve hiked. In the last 40 days we took seven zero days, two neros (near zeros, walking 5 kms in Whanganui one day and walking 5kms to start the QCT another), and we completed the two toughest mountain ranges (the Tararuas and the Richmond Range. Despite all that we are still nearly on pace to finish in exactly four months.
It’s hard to believe that the journey is already two thirds over. I’m extremely excited for the next 40 days on the South Island and all the adventures that will come with it. Tomorrow we start a five day trek through Nelson Lake National Park. Once again phone service will be limited so I probably won’t be able to post for that time. Will post new blogs as soon as I can!