Kepler - "todot" post trek

After four long days my first tramp is over, and it was enjoyable enough because some people insisted i'd get some things i did not want.

shay dinur - the hydration bladder was a life saver. climbed 4 hours in rain and wind. would have dehydrated.
the scary girl in the doc office - thank you for scaring the shit out of me, thus causing me to hire rain gear.
nadav - thanks for insisting on getting high shoes for the trek. i would have broken a leg. or got some really wet feet.
that guy from the trekking shop - thanks for telling me to get a -7 sleeping bag. it did its job on the first night of the tramp.
that sales girl who gave me another thermal shirt - after tramping all day in the rain i was lucky to have a dry shirt to change into.

tramping is fun enough. you carry a 15kg backpack uphill for two days. then you carry it downhill for another two days. if you're lucky you get some views. if you're even luckier there's no wind when you walk for two hours on a ridge line, with 300-400 meter drop on each of your sides.

what amazed me most about the tramp is
a. the amount of food i ate
b. that i've found my chocolate threshold
c. i actually lost some weight after eating all of that crap

the food i ate over the four days included:
- 5 pitas [1200 cals]
- 2 apples [120]
- 2 tomatoes [50]
- 350g of breakfast museli [1000]
- 4 granola bars [400]
- 1 chocolate bar [300]
- 1 pack of oreos [160g] [700]
- 200g nutella [900]
- 1 backcountry meal [500]
- 1 instant pasta meal [400]
- 1.5 protein bars [600]
- 7 slices of cheese [700]

ca. 7000 calories and counting.

first day:
we climbed for four hours through rain and wind in the bush. sat down to eat lunch and froze off. we finally reached the hut, got inside but it was cold!

second day:
walked on the ridge line. saw lotsa fog. later that day we saw the views. walked through some very nice bush on the way down. after reaching a nice and warm hut we walked to the waterfall. i put on my swimsuit and went dipping with the other hikers. slept well. reached my chocolate threshold.

third day:
walked as fast as we could through bush near some rivers. 16 kms in four hours. stayed almost alone in the hut, just five people in a forty bunkroom.

fourth day:
walked for 50 minutes. reached a swingbridge. was sure i missed the sign for rainbow reach, but walked some more and got to the real swingbridge. was picked up by a shuttle at 10. supermarket, some stuff in the city and then walked to the backapckers.

summary: met some nice people, walked way too much, saw lotsa woods and bush, as well as three keas. i don't want to go on the milford trek in threee days but i do not have a choice :")