The hike from Lake Hawea to Albert Town follows a bike path along a river, which would be nice if it wasn’t for all the bikes.
We stopped at a cafe there and grabbed lunch and ice cream. Jaden was staying with a friend there and split off, so Holger and I continued on to Wanaka. We stopped at puzzling world and took a look around. It was quirky, but not enough that we were willing to pay to go in the maze.
We got a cabin in Wanaka, it was touristy as expected, but has a lot of fun places to eat. Holger and I met Pierre for Indian (delicious vindaloo), then met with Jaden and Lisebeth and went for a beer at an Irish pub.
We took a zero day in Wanaka. I was thrilled to find my shoes at the local shop! I didn’t think anyone in NZ carried Altra shoes and even though they fall apart way too quickly they are one of the only trail runners that fit me well and have good traction.
I did laundry, got a new SIM card for my phone, got a new SD card for my camera (been using that a lot!) and resupplied for the next section. I took a walk around sunset and checked out the famous Wanaka tree, which is a lovely tree growing in the lake, that has been ruined by instagram.
