New Zealand!

Oct 21

Day one: we picked up a bunch of food and dropped off a few people. I'm going hiking with Nathan and Wesley for a week, then picking up Darren and Anna for two more weeks of hiking.

We drove out of Christchurch and camped by a creek near Lewis Pass. Dinner was lamb on rice with sweet chili sauce, served with a pear cider each. We each have an individual tent, so we set them up side by side and made fun of each other.

Wesley's tent is definitely going to be the most waterproof, since it actually has a floor. On the other hand, it's not quite a Wesley-sized tent. You can see his knees touching the sides when he's in it, and there's no room to sit up.

Nathan Golshan's tent has the advantage of having been tested in New Zealand weather before. Downsides: it takes a bit of time and fidgeting to set up, and it's also pretty small inside.

My tent is a product of Nathan Golshan's time and sewing machine, but has the advantage of being much larger. It's the only tent with any real room in it, which is good because I'll be sharing it with Anna on the latter part of the trip. (Golshan says it's a "1.5-person tent".) In theory it should be easy to set up, but my first time around it was definitely the wrong shape. It has no floor but has a groundcloth, and is better than the tent we had last race because it's actually made out of waterproof cloth. Both my tent and Golshan's are pitched with trekking poles. My tent did well against wind the first night and I was very cozy.

Our goal is to go to the Nelson Lakes Wilderness and go for a multiday hike there.