Te Anau

I'm in Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland National Park!  I'm sitting in a hostel, waiting for my room to free up.  I'm supposed to be sharing it with 2 people, so.. here's hoping for twins!

I didn't really get much sleep last night - I was up late reorganizing my backpack and trying to squeeze everything in there somehow..  and it worked!  All of the food somehow fit in one pocket - I'm not quite sure how, but it's somehow all in there.  If you're wondering what I'm going to be eating for the next week, it's backpacker friendly food pouch thingies that you add boiling water to..  and they magically turn into beef flavoured curry..  and spaghetti!  I also have dried apricot and bluberries, a big bag of roasted almonds, 12 granola bars, a block of cheddar cheese, several small smoked sausages, a giant bar of chocolate, a smaller bar of chocolate, 3 soup pouches, 6 pouches of honey flavoured porridge for breakfast, and a 12 pack of fine Kiwi lager.  ok..  just kidding about that last part..  but I really hope the Milford Lodge (where I will be staying in betewen the 2 hikes) has something on tap!

My bus picks me up at 9:30am tomorrow, which takes me to some sort of a boat, that takes me to the beginning of the track.  I visited the DOC (department of conservation) office eariler and got all my tickets, so I'm all set!  I think.  It was supposed to be raining (as it often does round these parts), but according to the weather forecast it's going to be sunny for the next couple days!  So..  who knows..  I might not even need any of this waterproof gear *knock on wood*

Humorous anecdote:  The pen I brought from Canada really sucks..  so I went to buy one here in Te Anau..  I walked into a store and asked if they have any pens, and they guy started showing me pans..  for cooking.  I told him that I wanted a pen for writing.  "Oh", he said, "You are looking for a peen, not a pen".  "Sure"

So now I have a pen - meaning some of you might get postcards.  Talk to you again in a couple days