er, scratch that. we didn't walk day 3.

i slept in a bit and didn't get up until 7:40am. we're just tired. if we walk today then i'll have blisters for sure. i want this to be my first trip without blisters. twiddle thumbs has had more than she can stand and so last night we told the hut manager to book us on the helicopter for today. she'll call them at 8:30am or so and find out if we can get on and what time. pray we can take the helicopter out! part of today is walking on day 1's area anyway because this is a loop track. we've seen what is to be seen. get us out of here!

sunrise view from port craig village

we ate, cleaned up, showered, packed. fuck tramping! we were able to get on the helicopter and were out of there. before that though i cleaned off my boots. as i was doing this i was eaten alive by sandflies. it was really bad. i got about 13 bites on each foot and some on my hands. shit, maybe i should've waited to clean my boots. i just can't stand mud.

i hate mud

we helicoptered out of there around 11am and it took about 20 minutes. it rained a little before the ride. we had to put our stuff in the helicopter shed and i hit my head really hard on the shed. same deal with the hat blocking part of my vision as when i hit my head in nelson. yesterday i hit my head on a tree on the track due to the same exact thing. damn this hat. after the heli ride we were driven to the track office and it only took about 15 minutes. they said they already charged the card on file and only the difference as we've already paid for our packs to be helicoptered. cool. that means it was only an additional $65 per person. well worth it.

helicopter flight out of the track

back at shooters backpackers. it is run by the people who run the grocery store across the street so you have to go to the store to check-in. we went to the deli counter and twiddle thumbs said to the lady, "i want to check-in to the backpackers." i think that was word-for-word. the lady responded, with a very puzzled look on her face, "you would like a piece of chicken?" it's funny and frustrating when these kiwis don't understand you. don't they watch enough american movies? heheee...

at the backpackers, we ate, relaxed, did laundry, went online, watched tv. it is good to be back in civilization. i made phone calls to cancel the milford track and pushed up when we would do the overnight cruise. so far, so good. i called and left a message with the bottom bus because if we're not going to walk the milford track then i want to make sure there is space for us to just keep riding the bus.

i am looking forward to settling down again. our original plan was to just live in auckland and wellington. then i modified it so that we'd stay in christchurch for 1 month. i'm reconsidering christchurch. maybe just 2 weeks. i just want to spend lots of time in wellington. it depends on how we like christchurch or not, i suppose.