Can you imagine a rest day, after just two days of hiking? Last year our first rest day was after ten days! It was a good decision, though, given the torrential rain and heavy winds. Those scheduled to walk today skipped the next section due to slippery, wet, windy conditions with poor visibility and no chance of rewarding views. Remember yesterday’s view?
There were, however, five cyclists who pushed through, covered in mud when they stopped for lunch at Punga cove. I thought of the couple we met yesterday who were camping last night and planning on hiking today. Hope they found a dry spot along the way to sit out the bucketing rain.
Hot chocolate and a one square meal bar made a fine breakfast for storm watching from our dry cabin. These things fascinate me as they are light weight, nutritionally complete and they actually taste good. It must have been fun to be part of the team that developed them.
We eventually donned our rain gear and hit the dockside bar for lunch: a Punga Bay Special Pizza: venison salami, red peppers, mushrooms and shaved Parmesan. Ok, a step up from an OSM bar.
Still pouring, I spent the afternoon painting, recreating one of my spider web paintings with a NZ theme, using a leaf I found on yesterday’s trail. Yes, I’m once again toting art supplies, but part of the beauty of this track is the free pack transfer with the purchase of your water taxi round trip ticket. This falls definitively on the side of vacation hiking as opposed to the pilgrimage experience we are accustomed to.
11/2/2017
Life's a Stitch 
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