Day 47 - Takepo to Twizel

I woke up late, around 930am, made my way over to the Reflections cafe for a hearty breakfast and caught up on some blog posts and emails. The usual. According to my maps, their are two different routes you can take to get to Twizel. I wasn't crazy about either of them because they both consisted entirely on the road, but I ended up flipping a coin in end, setting myself towards the route along the Canal. It was about 1pm by the time I made my mind straight for the day. I lathered up on sunscreen and hit the road. I was making way out of town, through a construction area, when a car drives past me and suddenly pulls to a stop. I did my best to continue walking, thinking it was just some tourist who had lost their, when out jumps Ryan Freeman with a big smug look on his face. We immediately embraced in a hug and excitement. I was planning in catching up with Ryan in Queenstown, and I was quite surprised to see him here. I worked with Ryan for the entire shoot of Pete's Dragon, and Brooke and I rented our flat to him when we left the country two years ago. He's a very good friend. After telling Ryan about my plans for the section he offered me a ride to Twizle later tonight after he finishes up with work. I didn't need to listen to my gut to know that this was a good choice so I walked back into town, ordered another flat white and happily enjoyed somewhat of another rest day.

During my time in Tekapo I discovered that all the accommodation was booked up in Twizle, so I decided by the time I get in their tonight I will continue walking on the trail until I find a spot to camp. And since I was originally planning on resupplying in Twizle I made a new plan to continue walking straight to Wanaka, needing 8 days total of food. So back to the 4 square I went. Now I was ready.

The drive to Twizel gave Ryan and I a great amount of time to catch up. I'm still planning on meeting up with him In Queenstown town, but this was a welcomed surprise running into him.

After Ryan dropped me off I continued walking for another 2 hours before finding a nice place to rest for the night. I can be incredibly picky with choosing a spot to camp. I like to be hidden, with flat ground. I need the ground to also be solid enough to hold my stakes, but not so solid that rocks are around. There needs to be water, and ideally if I'm near trees they will help to keep me warm and reduce condinsation. And I also like a room with a view. I ended up finding my desired spot, and I was happy to crawl into my tent and it being a warm night. I checked the forecast in Tekapo before I left, and everything says I'll be waking up to rain in the morning. I hope that changes, but the weather has been so good on my walk that I feel it's only fair that I have a rainy day every now and then.