Through the rain

So as I said, on my second day in Queenstown, I first did laundry. After parking on a steep street—unfortunately without success!!!—I headed to the laundromat. I must say it was a very good experience there; it was quick, you could buy detergent, and you pay with a card that you load there. These laundromats are everywhere in New Zealand, so I will probably always go to them from now on. After that, I went back to the library, looking pretty unsocial, and charged all my electronic devices. Because yes, I can charge while driving, but that runs out quickly, so in between, you need something like this to charge everything fully. After spending a few hours planning and charging there, I went to Glenorchy after refueling, actually a bit further to the campsite. At first, I had a little light, and the route was a dream—sometimes so narrow that only one car fits, passing rocks right by the water, up and down through the mountains, past sheep. Incredibly beautiful. It rained heavily, and the last part was a gravel road (for a few kilometers). I thought, oh my god where have I landed now. I might have actually arrived at the end of the world, and there was still another car there. When I woke up the next day, I couldn't believe my eyes. The river was a bit far away; I saw it later, but all around me were mountains, just nature, the green and the autumn colors. It was raining cats and dogs but also sunny, so I got this amazing rainbow. Over the mountains, you could see all the waterfalls in the mountains—simply magical, that's all I can say. And that wasn’t the last rainbow of the day, no, no, I saw so many all day. I then drove about 20-30 minutes to Glenorchy, a small little village, and I thought, oh come on, it's just a bit of rain, I really want to do the Glenorchy walk. Yes, it was more than a bit of rain, I was completely soaked, it was such strong wind, but I made it to the lovely bench that I absolutely wanted to reach. The walk was indeed very beautiful despite the weather. I then went to the shore and it was insane; that was the windiest spot of my life, there was a kind of headland where the river and lake meet, blue water, mountains all around, a rainbow, and of course, I had to go all the way to the tip. It nearly blew me away. I then drove to Bob's Cove with a few (dozens) of stops and wandered a bit through the forest and along the 'beach,' it was also super beautiful. Then I went through Queenstown again, where I had to go up this massive steep road. Did I have fears? Yes. Did I somehow make it up? Yes, emphasis on 'somehow.' I immediately realized, either you go full throttle, Carina, or you're rolling back down here. Then it felt like my tires were slipping back and forth; well, I was glad when I made it to the top, those roads were steep beyond belief. I then drove near Kingston to the freedom camping spot, which was amazing, right by the water, made spaghetti there and ate, at night it rained heavily. But I finally finished reading my book: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. The longest book in a long time, so a clear recommendation, by the way, 12/10. I find that it takes a little time to get into it at first, but then you’re hooked. If you want to read it, read the trigger warning or what themes the book deals with first, and in the end, you’ll be emotionally drained, I can say, but it’s an incredible book. Now I can dive into the new Fitzek book. Okay, I veered off a bit here. I’ve now driven to Lumsden. Why? To fill up water, shower, chill. Tomorrow I have quite a bit planned and I'm already a bit closer here, but I still need to leave early in the morning.