Game On

Well, folks, we've got the all clear to keep going. We're not 100% match fit yet, but good enough to take the field again.

Enough sports metaphors?

The physio said it was a matter of tired muscles causing the legs to go out of alignment. So it's a prescription for:

* daily exercises (yes, on top of walking with a pack) to strengthen those key muscles; and

* taking it slow, with shorter days

Yes, we actually got a prescription to slow down and enjoy the walk, which is exactly what so many of you have said in comments or emails to us. Turns out you're all pretty smart! :D

So over the next two days we're doing the Merrivale - to - Birchwood section, which most people do in one day. But it means we can take our time and enjoy... hey, what a concept!

A brief summary of the past two days:

We hitch-hiked in to Invercargill, catching a ride with a young artist, who also works as a hut warden on one of the Great Walks. Super friendly, and understanding of hikers/trampers!

Two nights in town meant we put back on any weight we'd started to lose over the first few days of hiking (yay pubs!), and got our medical supplies etc all topped up. We also met a very friendly white cat at the holiday park who absolutely owns the place. When we woke up this morning, Vaughan unzipped his side of the tent to find her sitting next to the tent, under the rain fly. And as soon as the tent inner opened, she took that as an invitation to come right on in!

This morning, not sure how long it would take us to hitch the 75km (short distance) to Merrivale (very small population), we hit the road early. We got a taxi to the edge of town - our taxi driver was very talkative - and then got a ride about halfway here with a farmer/hunter/worker at the Tegel plant. Interesting views about the rights of hunters vs trampers in wild forests. A few minutes more on the side of the road saw us picked up by a nanna originally from the nearest small town (Otautau), who now lives in Invercargill, coming out for her weekly day of nanna day care for her 1-year-old granddaughter. Not so talkative, but when she dropped us off a mere 8km from our destination, she all but offered to take us back to Invercargill in a few days if we needed! 

The final 8km was with a friendly face - one of the two Artificial Insemination experts in the Merrivale area, she recognized us on the side of the road and laughed as she picked us up again. And this time Eliza got to ask the stupid questions about AI that she'd been thinking about since the last trip. (Why AI at all? Turns out bulls can get quite aggressive, so in addition to surer breeding lines, it can be better for the cows' welfare! Also, apparently there is a seed-stud farm near Taupo with like 8 bulls that provide for quite a lot of the country's insemination needs, and it sounds like those 8 boys have a **really** good life!)

So we made it back to the private hut by 10am; having already decided to not hit the trail until tomorrow, we've had another beautiful day relaxing in a great setting, watching the deer, birds and two neighboring horses. 

Oh yeah, the horses - one of them seems to have separation anxiety, and whenever the other horse goes around the corner of the house for too long, it neighs. The other horse, obviously well aware of its companion's mental state, comes trotting over, and they share a very sweet muzzle-nuzzle. And then either both go back around the corner of the house, or hang out wherever the anxious horse was eating grass. This happens at least once every few hours.

Finally, being back in Invercargill gave us the opportunity to rectify our earlier mistake of missing out on cheese rolls. It's a "Southern Delicacy", we'll let you look up (or share in the comments) your favourite recipe.

Tomorrow might have no reception, so we'll update you from Birchwood, with more trail photos.