By Liz

13th February – 15km hiked

Today was a rest day! We woke up late and had jam sandwiches for breakfast with our instant coffee mocha and ginger nut biscuits – living the dream.

We had to then decide what we were going to do with our day! The campsite was actually quite large, it had a few walks, the river for swimming and there was also a mud slide! For $25 a night, not bad entertainment! We decided on a hike. Just a little un. 14km. Up to the top to see Akaroa and back. Easy.

The hilltop tavern at the top offered a beer and a view, so off we went. It was hot and pretty hard going for the legs but ‘good training’!

Lunch half way up, our ham and cheese sandwiches were a welcome energy boost.

The views were amazing! Luckily as we arrived the two tour busses of people were leaving.

On the way downhill we went a lot faster, but round trip was about 4.5hrs, and at the end we were happy to be back on a flatter terrain.

Back at the tent we snoozed and I am reading ‘The Stars’ Tennis Balls’ by Stephen Fry – getting good.

We hadn’t been to a shop, all we had in our pannier bags were some sweaty mushrooms. The previous night I spied some packet pasta and thought we could add the mushrooms, but when we got to the box of goodies, of course, it had gone. Luckily we found some spaghetti, some garlic and a shallot, a tin of tomato paste, some salt and pepper, added a bit of water and it became delicious!

This evening we route planned our day tomorrow. In need of a gas stove. The top we have does not fit the gas canisters we have found. Problem!