23.6 km

So, yesterday I had a relaxing day, thankfully. In the morning, I had porridge with real milk, which was excellent, I tell you. After that, I went to the next town, Motueka, to do laundry. The stay there was longer than expected because I accidentally washed my clothes twice, thinking it was the dryer. But well, you know, laundry is washed, smells good, is clean except for the indelible stains, so everything was wonderful. I then went shopping and to the overnight spot. There, I was greeted by Dan and his dog, who were also camping there. I chilled, crocheted, and walked on the beach - a perfect day. The next day, the alarm was set for 6:30, but I woke up earlier and thought, oh well, doesn’t matter. I could luxuriously brush my teeth and wash my face since there were sinks here. Then it was off to the starting point of the hike in Abel Tasman National Park: Marahau. And as expected, the road was quite winding. I parked the car, packed my backpack, made sandwiches, double checked my water blisters, and off I went. 11.8 km there and 11.8 km back in 9 hours with a 1-hour break on site. And I made it; the last 2 km back were tough, not gonna lie. My feet were throbbing, but it was worth it. The path was generally quite pleasant, but now and then there were steep climbs and descents through the rainforest over bridges, always along the mountain edge. Occasionally, there were glimpses of the sea. And the beaches, wow, the bright sandy beach and the water, people, transparent turquoise green, unfortunately, it was hard to capture with my phone camera. Upon arriving in Anchorage Bay, I had some snacks and was surrounded by a Weka the entire time, haha, they are just sweet. The beach there is simply a dream; in summer, it must be wonderful for swimming. So I had about 1 hour here before I had to head back because I definitely didn’t want to end up in the rainforest in the dark. But I accomplished everything; back at the car, I was so relieved to take off my shoes, wash my feet, bandage my feet, and cream them. I went back to the campsite from yesterday before heading to Nelson tomorrow. So an incredibly beautiful day, but even though it wasn’t too many km, it was still exhausting for me. I think it was the longest hike I’ve ever done, 23.6 km.