The shortest route always has the steepest hills.

I left relatively early in order to avoid the crowds and to be able to take my time getting down to the car park at the end of the trail a little over 5 miles away. Part of the way down there was a large slip (landslide) that gave a great view of the Routeburn Flats valley. I stopped by the hut in order to let the hut warden know that I would not be there as scheduled the next night since I was completing the trip two days early. She said I looked like I was a but tech savvy and asked me to adjust her watch that was driving her insane since the alarm was going off every 15 minutes. It took me a while, but I was finally able to get it fixed as well as display the correct time, so she seemed very appreciative.

The final four miles were gradual, however my shins and foot tendons were killing me. Because of the weight of the pack and having to hope up and down a lot, I figure I must have pulled a tendon in my right foot since I could not even extend/point my toes. Fortunatly the girl, Nikki, I had met at the Howden Hut and saw again at the falls hut was at the end waiting on her shuttle. She was a paramedic in Newcastle, Australia and happened to have some anti-imflmatories with Codine, so a couple of those help things significantly. The car park was a good distance away from the Glenorchy or Quenstown, but I figured with the number of people on the trail, it couldn't be too hard to find a ride, otherwise I could just pay the $30 for a shuttle when it came around. After waiting 30 minutes, I saw a couple come back from a day-hike and asked for a ride and they graciously obliged. It was a lovely ride into Queenstown and I found they were traveling from Vermont for a few weeks and had even heard about hashing, so I was sure to tell them about it and encourage them to check it out upon returning home. Besides saving $30, it was really nice to just get a chance to meet some other travelers. They shared a litle of their experience in Queenstown and dropped me off right in the middle near the Base X so I could try to find a place to stay. the hostel had plenty of room so I got a bunk for a couple of nights, unloaded my stuff, and headed straight to the showers!

After a little refreshment, I walked, ...er... limped, around for a while. I stopped by the tour desk downstairs to get some information about area activities and then headed to the grocery store (seemingly on the other side of town) to load up on food for the next couple of weeks. On the way back I watched the paragliders for a little while before heading in to cook dinner in the kitchen and finally getting some rest.