On the road: Week twelve round up
Distance travelled: 538km (7 hours) from Hari Hari to Twizel.
Audiobook on deck: Fear The Sky by Stephen Moss is doing it’s bit to keep up awake at night! Kind of weird to be surrounded by pandemic protocols for COVID-19 when part of the book you’re listening to is also about a virus that aliens plan to drop on earthlings to wipe us all out.
Currently watching: We have just caught up on campaign two of Critical Role, ready to watch it live on Friday, but it was announced today that it’s on hiatus until COVID-19 has calmed down a bit.
We were grateful for: Single-digit overnight lows. When you sleep next to a human heater, the weather forecast telling you that it’s going to be 5 degrees overnight is welcome news indeed.
We missed: Easy access to supermarkets and groceries while in the wilds of New Zealand. Choosing to stay in places like Tekapo and Twizel is great but the price is the groceries are a bit more expensive. To be fair, it’s a very minor grumble.
We learned: That when your house is on wheels, social distancing isn’t all that bad. We can change the view outside our window at a moment’s notice, and choose to be completely alone if we need to be.
Funniest moment: When Dan and I went on the TSS Earnslaw (before we realised that spending time in crowds of people was a seriously bad idea), we were sitting with a couple of American tourists from California. They loved to travel and were really great to talk to. Then Dan made a crack about “well it takes all sorts… you can always find a Trump supporter lurking…!” To which the lady replied: “We support Trump, actually.”
I looked on and attempted not to chortle while Dan had to listen to “the good he has done for our country”.
Best save: Dan helping out two French tourists in Hari Hari when their old van wouldn’t start. Despite the pouring rain, our boy dove into the engine bay and dug out the problem: too little charge in the battery causing spark/fuel supply issues. He got them going again and sent them off to a mechanic for a proper fix. What a legend!
Best spend: $10 for an unpowered site in the middle of the Lindis Pass. We were the only ones there and the temperature was so perfect, we both slept like logs for 12 hours. Amazing.
Best campsite: Wonderland Makarora is one of our all-time favourite places, so it’s impossible to go past that! Nestled in the midst of the mountains just before Wanaka, with a pub on site and loads of chonky kererū puffing around the place, it’s heaven on earth.
Most interesting fact we learned: That a fully trained sheepdog is worth up to $8000! Which is not surprising, considering that it takes about two years of damn hard work to get them fully trained.
We recommend: Making Chef John’s Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl. It’s become our go-to cheap and easy lunch on the go. If you’re keen, here’s the YouTube recipe clip.
Number of wrecked cars on the roadside: None! Mind you, traffic has dropped off significantly in the wake of COVID-19 and the travel restrictions.
Progress made towards our 20 in 2020: Despite the Te Ururwera hike at the start of April being in doubt due to the spread of COVID-19, we have continued our training by hiking 3/4 of the way up Mt Shrimpton (an ADVANCED track according to DOC!) and been for several walks including around Lake Ruataniwha and along the Cowan’s Hill walkway. We both swam in Cromwell’s Lake Dunstan swim and Dan just swam in Lake Tekapo.
