Today’s been a bit of a quiet day. I left Kaikoura around 10 on the Intercity bus, driven by someone who seemed like he had never seen a stick-shift before. Every time he changed gears, we heard fun grinding noises and got jolted back and forth in our seats. Oftentimes he would just stop in the middle of an uphill climb, and we were treated many symphonies of angry car horns. Fortunately, they provide seatbelts, and I definitely made good use of mine!

When we arrived in Picton, I ran into two girls that I met in the Adelphi Lodge in Kaikoura; they’re staying in the same hotel as me tonight as well. They went off to do the “Snout Track,” which is a 4-hour round trip from central Picton. They asked me if I wanted to go, but I decided against it since I am setting off on a 4-day tramp tomorrow morning, so I didn’t want to wear myself out beforehand. Plus, I am desperately in need of clean clothes, so I decided it might be a good idea to do laundry/go grocery shopping before tomorrow as well. Instead, I did a shorter walk to “Bob’s Bay,” which is a small bay about a 30 minute walk from Picton. It was a decent walk that wasn’t too strenuous, so it was really a nice stretch of the legs for tomorrow. I got lucky too–it didn’t start spitting rain until after I finished the walk and went grocery shopping, so I didn’t get soaked.

I won’t be updating for the next few days, since I will be on the Queen Charlotte Track. I’m staying in a hostel for my first night, and then camping the 2 nights after that. On the last day, I’m taking a bit of a detour and going to Hopewell, which is supposed to be an awesome backpackers that sits right on Kenepuru Sound. I’ll be there for 3 nights and will hopefully be able to update you then!