Te Araroa, Day 69 and 70

We have 2 days off walking; nevertheless, they are very busy. There is laundry to be done in a real washing machine, and everything needs to be dried in a dryer.

I will have to buy lots of food to fill 4 parcels since there won't be many opportunities to resupply in the beginning of the South Island. The first parcel goes to Pelorus Bridge and is supposed to cover for 10 days in the Richmond Ranges. The 2nd box goes to St. Arnaud to cover about 6 days in the Nelson Lakes National Park. The third box will be addressed to an outdoor education center in the middle of nowhere to cover 7 days, and the fourth box will be waiting for me at a small hotel, also in the middle of nowhere, covering 6 days.

My first destination on Friday is the Bivouac Outdoor Shop. I need freeze-dried food for dinners. I still have some, but to cover the boxes and the first few days until Pelorus Bridge, I need to buy 27 dinners. I also get a new waterproof compression bag for my quilt since the one I carried got holes, a compression bag for clothing (my dry bag got holes too), and some wet wipes.

The next stop is a postal service to buy the 4 boxes needed. After dropping everything off at the hotel, I spend a long time in the supermarket, trying to find food for breakfast and for during the day. I am not especially happy with what I find, but it will keep me alive.
Back at the hotel, I pack the boxes and carry the first 2 boxes to the postal service. The other two I will carry tomorrow. I had enough of the noisy, busy city for today.

Other stuff to do includes checking out the next sections, working out where I need to get my next pair of shoes sent, and doing some blog writing.

The next day is similar. I drop my last 2 parcels at the postal service. Then, I try to clean my water bottles. I have one that I carry in a shoulder pouch. It got some damage that I could not mend. I didn't want to immerse myself again in the city, but well, I need a replacement, so I walk to another outdoor shop to find a similar bottle.
I also get some (half) insoles to try with my foot pain. I intend to use them only when walking on pavement and only if necessary. I feel good to have this option now. Maybe they will help, maybe not.

So, although we took 2 days "off," they are filled with a lot of to-dos to be ready for the next part of the walk, the South Island.

New Zealand has a population of about 5.2 million people, and only about 1.2 million live on the South Island. I am very glad to get more into nature and less into populated areas.