Te Araroa (day 69) - Manova Lakes Campsite to Te Anau / mile 1743

Today I was mainly trying to run away from rain through an obstacle course of blow down trees.

It was raining all night but my sturdy MSR tent took it really well and most of everything was dry in the morning. It stopped at 7am and despite the weather forecast announcing thunderstorms the sky was looking fairly clear. It was still 30 miles before I could get a hitchhike to town (or so I though at the time) so I was trying to get as far as I could to have a longer day off tomorrow.
Initially trail was wet but easygoing, running along a four wheel drive. Eventually it went over a bridge to the other side of the lake and into the forest, here the issues begun. Despite the visible effort of Department of Conservation to keep it tidy, path was full of blow down trees and it looked more like a obstacle course from ninja warrior than a trail. After 5 kilometres of it I was done and took an alternate path running alongside the gravel road on the other side of the river.
Around 3pm, despite the forecast predicting cloudy and dry afternoon, it started to rain and it got windy. At this point I was still few miles away from my final destination but decided to catch a ride to town as soon as possible. Fifteen minutes later I was in a car with Paul and Anna, immigrants from Europe who kindly offered me a ride to the intersection from where I could get a hitch to Te Anau. Here the first (literally) car passing by stopped, it was Leslie from Alaska who has gone out fishing but the weather changed his mind and now he was heading back to Te Anau. We arrived in town after 20 minutes, Leslie showed me where the shops and affordable places to eat were before dropping me off at the centre.
Firstly I got fish and chips at Te Anau Dairy and called Rosie's Backpackers but unfortunately they were fully booked for tonight. Then I walked to Te Anau Central Backpackers which was second best budget option, they still had bunk beds left, I've booked 2 nights for 100$. I had a shower and did the laundry. It was first time I washed some of my clothes properly since Wellington in North Island. Then I went to Fresh Choice, the local supermarket and got food for tonight and tomorrow morning. I didn't get the resupply just yet as I wanted to calculate exactly how much I will need for the next section.
While I was doing all that the weather was getting worse. I felt that for once I made a good decision to get out of the trail just at the right moment. It was supposed to be miserable tomorrow as well. Luckily I would be inside with dry socks and belly full of beans, apples and bananas but the best of all, I didn't have to set the morning alarm on!

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