Monday 7th July
I was up at 08.00 and had breakfast – including some of the sweet fresh bread that sat on the kitchen counter every morning – before I packed the rest of my things. We left 'The Bug' at 09.30, went to the supermarket to stock up on supplies and then headed south down State Highway 6, and then eastwards on SH 63 to the town of St Arnaud, which sits on the edge of Nelson Lakes National Park.
We were almost at St Arnaud when my stomach clenched and I realised that I had left my raincoat and warm jacket on the hook in our room in 'The Bug'! I am usually very thorough in checking that I have gathered all of my stuff before leaving all accommodation or forms of transport. Maybe it was because there were more of us with more gear that I just didn't notice it, but it was unlike me. Anyway, I felt very pissed off with myself because I had made the mistake in the first place and because I would have to waste my time and energy on returning to Nelson to pick it up. Danika very kindly offered to turn the car around there and then to go and pick it up, but I didn't want to put all three of us out, especially as were almost at our destination.
So, we moved on into St Arnaud, called at the DoC office and got some more information on some of the walks that were available to us in Nelson Lakes NP. There was no convenient alternative offered by public transport to get back to Nelson, so I asked Danika whether her offer to drive me back to Nelson was still open and, again, she was very happy to do so. Before we left, we checked into the 'Yellow House' hostel, and paid $24 each per night to share a room. There didn't seem to be that many people staying, but it was nice to have our own room.
Before setting off, Danika and I ate the leftover burgers from the night before and they were even better (and even easier to prepare) than the night before. We drove back to Nelson, and the round trip took about two and a half hours. It was long enough but it could have been worse, at least we were in the same region. It also gave us the opportunity to stop for some roadside photos, and to capture some of the awesome views that were laid before us: snow-capped mountains, rolling hills, and blue skies.
We got back to the hostel late in the afternoon and we made dinner before it got dark, and while the kitchen was still free of people. I spent the rest of the evening doing some writing and went to bed early to get some rest as we were planning on starting our day-long walk the following day by catching the sunset on Lake Rotoiti and this required us to be up not long after 06.00.
