Not sheep posters, but actual sheep. It's hard to take a picture of a sheep from a moving bus. This was my best attempt:
I've never seen so many sheep. Thousands is probably a more realistic estimate. If you ever want to feel insignificant on the earth, think of yourself as a sheep and then think how many sheep there are in New Zealand alone.
You could also think of yourself as one human being of billions, but sheep are a more cute and wooly perspective aid.
Back to the bus. We got off it.
And we loaded onto another bus and then got on a ferry to be dropped off with a bunch of far more outdoorsy (ie experienced) hikers at the start of Milford Track.
After an hour or so boat ride, we arrived at the start point. Jim, our ferry driver/skip, wished us luck and everyone took photos at the start. Off the hikers went!
All but me and Lacey who decided we should have lunch first. You can't hike five kilometres without proper fuel.
So we sat, ate, and then trekked ahead. The thirty pound back took some getting used to and after two kilometres I was quietly questioning to myself if could handle more than fifty. I think by the third kilometre I might have expressed this out loud.
We readjusted our packs at least five times in that first leg of the walk and told ourselves that is totally normal on day one. Not normal was how excited I was to see the cabin. After only five kilometres of walking. On flat ground.
We threw our packs down and headed to the glacial swimming hole. It was too cold to swim in but it was a great spot to hang out with a book. It was also a formal meet and greet with the resident sand flies, who we got to know very, very well on this trip.
A fellow camper came over to snap photos where I was sitting. After a moment of awkwardness when I thought she was taking my picture ("iiiii bet you think this song is about you, 'bout you"), she said "didn't you see the huge bird behind you?!" No, I did not. She showed me the picture she took. It was the size of a small dog and I didn't notice it.
Five kilometres can really wipe me out, apparently.
Lace informed me that back at the cabin, a school group had arrived. Turns out they're an American school based in Singapore. The Students might have been in grade ten or eleven and were on a week long break. They made for a memorable dynamic with all the hikers.
They also made me feel old and out of shape.
We decided after all that walking we did, we should eat dinner early. While everyone else went on a nature walk. Figures, Lacey and I were the only ones in the kitchen. The Pad Thai we threw together made The Students jealous and earned their respect, probably because they were eating instant potatoes. Unfortunately, one of the girls thought we were park rangers and asked us for permission to fill her water bottle.
It was an early to bed evening, largely because we brought nothing to do but read our Kobos. We went to extremes to limit the weight of our packs and cards and Dutch Blitz didn't make the cut.
Didn't matter though, because day two was soon to arrive and that brought a lot more than five kilometres of travelling.
