Days 98-100: 68 Kilometers From Lake Tekapo to Twizel

 It poured (and hailed) on us Friday morning as we were coming into Twizel to resupply, so we made the impromptu decision to call it a day and stay at a hostel after only 12 kilometers of walking. This is what happens when you have the phenomenal weather we've been having. You get soft. We've had maybe an hour of rain since that 10-day stint of rain we had in the North Island early in our trek. Rain is inevitable, I know, but the warm, dry hostel was calling my name. And of course, 2 hours after we checked in, the skies cleared!!

So, you get an impromptu 3-day update of the last 68 kilometers (43 miles)! Basically, the themes are simple: roads, lakes and Mt. Cook.

It was virtually all road walking from Lake Tekapo to Twizel, but on gravel back roads along beautiful Lake Pukaki with snow-capped mountains surrounding it. This is what our notes said about the road walking:

"Although this is 'road walking,' it is a gravel road through spectacular scenery and you're unlikely to see a vehicle all day."

I assure you that was not true. We saw A LOT of cars. And they liked to drive fast on this gravel road. Thankfully, we did not get pegged with huge gravel chunks as indicated in this sign.

Despite the monotony of the road walking, it was beautiful, especially because we had our first sighting of Mt. Cook (3,724 meters or 12,200 feet). J would like to climb that bad boy, but time and money will not allow it. Next time?

In any case, we are all dried out and well fed by town food, so come rain or snow, we will be back on the trail for Day 102 and the last 560 kilometers of the Te Araroa trail!