Chapter 17: Christmas

25/12/19

The first day after the Kepler track. Although I still woke up 5 times this night, the sleep I got seemed to be of some kind of quality. Maybe hiking 50 km will be the solution to my sleeping disorder? Today I had planned to take a boat trip to the Milford sound, a day to recover from the Great Walk. This waterfall is surrounded by fiordland and the whole trip takes you onto the Tasman Sea. Since the weather is not that great and visibility rather poor, I decide to stay at the hostel. Luckily, the Dutch speaking squad consisting of Maxim

and Britt wanted to go for a hike close to the Milford Sound.

I load up Sparky#04 with both of them and off we go for the 100 km road trip to the Lake Marin track. The drive towards Milford sound is once again stunning and having some travel accompany makes the drive go fast. We swiftly arrive at the parking lot and start the hike. The fast flowing river filled with gletsjer-like water rapidly flows next to us. Not soon after, the wood track stops and the real hiking can begin. Rainforest like forest shelters us from the rain that starts without a warning. Great day for a hike! We continue uphill and push slowly towards the lake. The steepness of the track gives way to flat ground and soon we are greeted by a magnificent view of mountains tightly surrounding lake Marin.

A couple of pictures later it is back downhill towards the car. Damn, Maxim and Britt are certainly faster than me, like two gazelles flowing

down the track. Eventually we make it back towards the waterfall and the carpark and start the drive back towards Te Anau. Here we will prepare a Christmas dinner, hamburgers and fries. 2 Belgians, 2 Israelis, 1 Dutchy, 1 Indian/Australian, 1 asian which I can not identify which country she came from and the Danish guy form the international squad. I must admit, during these days I miss home. Spending time with family and friends, preparing Christmas diners at different locations. Well, here I am in charge of getting the oven baked French fries crisp and shiny. The food tastes very good and the atmosphere is nice. Later on we are joined by the American squad, Kate and her two hommies. International Christmas it is. Something that will be remembered. Since it is a Religious day, here is Bon Iver – 33 ‘GOD’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C5sB6AqJkM).

Happy Christmas to all the people I normally would have spend it with!

(Omg, Spark#04 license plate JKG116 was parked in front of the car with license plate JKG115, what a coincidence)

Maybe next year!

Steven