Day 101-102 - Wanaka

I make for the town of Wanaka today, 37km away, but mostly on the flats. Should be a cruisey day, looking forward to some beer. 

11am walking along the beach into Hāwea. I got a tasty fried chicken burger in town, and returned Rene’s rain jacket that he forgot in the hut. He was very pleased someone brought it down for him. 

On the way to Wanaka we passed some surfers trying their luck on some man made breaks in the river. I ended up watching them for a while, very entertaining. 

Along the cycle paths, which brought me all the way into Wanaka. Past more perfectly blue water of course. 

I reached the town of wanna late, but still time enough to go into town for beers with the German trio I’ve been walking along for a while. 

I decided to take a zero here as well. I’m feeling burnt out these days and zeros are becoming increasingly common it seems like. Wanaka is a beautiful town so I don’t mind at all. 

I spent my zero getting new shoes. No feeling better than putting on a fresh pair of shoes. My last pair went for about 1150km, which, given the terrain is pretty good. I could’ve squeezed a couple hundred k more outta them, but I learned my lesson with the last pair. Get them earlier before you do real damage to your feet. 

On the other hand my mat full on exploded on me when I was trying a last ditch effort to patch it. Not that it changes much. Annoyingly this town doesn’t seem to have mattresses I want, but mostly because I don’t want to drop 350$ on a new one. I’ll buy a cheap foam one next chance I get. 

The rest of the day was spent chilling at the beach and eating more than was good for me. I got big plans for the next few days so lots of planning to do as well.