TA Day 61: Monday 17 February 2025

Wellington, Shorland Park - Wellington, Wakefield Street (Nomads Capital Hostel)

Already at 7 we woke up. Apparently there is a construction site literally on the other side of the road, facing our hotel room. So sleeping past 7 proved to be nearly impossible. Kim was so incredibly tired so she really tried, but didn't really sleep.

We tried to close to windows to keep the noise down, because you could hardly hear your own thoughts in the noise - and here we were hoping to have a day off and chill in our room most of the day... Well, yay. We soon had to open the windows again because we were about to die from the heat. Our room got incredibly hot with closed windows. Even with open windows it was very warm, but closed ones were unbearable.

After some time we decided to split up and do different things. Lukas bought a new gas canister and a new SIM-card and went looking for a secondhand phone for Kim. He also checked whether it would be possible for Kim to just change her screen. But nope, that would take AT LEAST 10 days because they would need to order parts from overseas. Well, damn.

Meanwhile, Kim went out to buy a new foot salve, a foot file, bought Snapper cards (bus/train cards) etc.

Back at the hostel Lukas made a late delicious lunch in the tiny, very crowded kitchen, that could fit 3 people at most but usually had more people there. The food turned out really good though!

While Lukas made food, Kim tried to research as much as possible about which phone to buy and how to buy it. Easier said than done...

In the afternoon we filmed a video for YouTube about what we had in our packs during our hike on the South Island. Then we took a bus to Shorland park and started our night walk back to the hostel. On our way back we ate a Fruju and ice cream, and also stopped for a nice kebab.

The last thing we did was stop at a store. We hadn't brought anything else than ourselves and the clothes we were wearing (and bumbags) so we could only buy as much as we could carry in our hands back to the hostel... Some pancakes, Nutella, "jam" (was called something else but it was basically jam), fruits and some snacks.

We came home quite late, and Kim tried again to come up with some solution for the phone. She wanted to try a flip phone, preferably a Samsung Galaxy Z 6 Flip instead of 5. At first we looked at companies that sell refurbished phones. Could have worked, but some things made it tricky. Not knowing how long it could take for it to be delivered, while we were also changing location everyday. Sending it to a post office would be great, but they needed you to sign the package, and that part made it nearly impossible. Ended up sending a message on Facebook to someone. First person we messaged earlier today, about a 6s, didn't answer, but someone who sold a 5, actually did! We went to bed around midnight, hoping tomorrow would sort itself out...

Today's:

Distance: 6.84 km

Ascent: 85 m

Descent: 74 m

Tent nights: 40/61

Weather: Sunny, little bit of wind, and a little bit of rain