Another quick update

Well I succumbed to procrastination with this blog post and now it will have to be a short one. I'm currently in Christchurch at Gabe Lewis' place. He is a TA here at the University of Canterbury but is also a Williams and Overland alum. Gabe is heading back to the states tomorrow so we are staying here one more night to help send him off.

Ben and I arrived in Christchurch after an awesome 9 day stint in the bush. We covered a lot of miles and did it in a much better way than I had been doing it solo. We would hike until we wanted to stop most days, which meant short days alternating with long days instead of trying to grunt out 25k every day. Some days we only went 10k and on one glorious day we went 50.

Regardless of how we've been covering the miles, it's been so nice to have my buddy back in the woods. Days are filled with jokes and laughing instead of introspection and worry. When days are hard, I find myself able to laugh at them and just shake my head with Ben and say, "this is ridiculous," instead of muttering the same thing to myself in a much more agitated tone.

We've been in Christchurch for 4 busy days now. In that time, we've been to a rugby game, a beer festival and a concert as well as doing the necessary large amounts of sleeping and eating. Now we're getting ready to head off for 9 more days and I intend to post a longer blog after that. So, a few pictures are below to provide some of the scenic highlights (including one from a natural hot springs on the trail!).

Until next time,
G