Legs and Borders

Not much to report today. Good weather, track was running mostly along the river. Halfway through the day there was a hot spring everyone was stopping by. It was really nice but also it made you quite dirty so a bath in the river afterwards was necessary. The hot water relaxed my muscles so much that I found it difficult to carry on for the remainder of the day.There was a lot of people, mostly couples walking both ways today, majority stopped at Hurunui No. 3 Hut just an hour walk before Cameron's Hut where i stayed tonight. Here's pictures of yet another hut called Hope Kiwi Lodge from today: A hanging bridge along the way consisted only of one wire for the feet and two wires to hold on to, Doc really outdone themselves in this one. You could always walk the river underneath if you didn't feel up for the challenge. Philippe Petit would be proud. In Cameron's Hut I met Miriam from Welli...

"There is no freedom" Maori woman sitting on a bench in Hamner Springs "Oh hello mr TA hiker" non-Maori woman at the information centre in Hamner Springs "Deer meat needs to age for about a week in the fridge before the muscles relax and it gets tender. Our friends in Europe think that we are barbarians" man hunter at the Hope Halfway Hut Town day. They are always exciting, especially after a long time on the trail. But then again it's equally good to come back to the trail after all your business is done. Today I started earlier than usual to reach the road and get a hitchhike to Hamner Springs as soon as possible, I didn't want to stay in town overnight. It was over 50 kilometres away from the trail and accomodation there was rather scarce and expensive. I got to the Boyle Campsite by the road just before 9am, Lemmy the German guy who walked here yesterday was still around, so we decided to get a ride together. It took around 15 minut...