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Published: January 27th 2018
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The Heaphy Track was definitely a challenge. The first day was actually easy peasy as we only had to hike 16,5 km. When we arrived, I noticed that I'm still myself as I of course forgot an important item: my sleeping mattress. And I can tell you that it's NOT fun to sleep on the ground for 3 nights. The first evening we met 2 people from Spain whom we spent the evening with. The first and the second day it was rainy and cloudy, which, however, didn't bother us as we had our professional rain protection for our backpacks. Or should I say Christian, since I had to use a trash bag. Maybe I should listen to my mother next time when she tells me to buy one but I explain to her that it would not rain that often in New Zealand. GOOD JOKE. Whatever, the second day we had to hike 13,4km and the landscapes were beautiful. Can't describe it in words. I'm not sure if that was my favorite spot or the one after that one. Whatever, we had the possibility to take a dip as there was a lagoon. That was amazing! The third day was
the one with the most kilometers since we had to hike 32 km. When we were nearly on the campsite I had to put on that one song caaaaalled: 'One more time'. That was all I needed in this moment. And as you know I'm the born singer... The last day was definitely the most exhausting and I really can't tell you when I was that groggy the last time in my life. I had blisters which nearly killed me when we had to tramp another 16,2 km. That day day was just too much. I didn't even enjoy the last hour because the lack of sleep, my knee issues and my blisters hurt too much. Finally on the endpoint of the track I wasn't even happy as I had absolutely no energy left. The most challenging part of this adventure was to hitchhike back which was going to take us around 7 hours as we had to drive all around the Kahurangi National Park. Starting to hitchhike was so easy that was unbelievable. A Ukrainian family picked us up and suggested that we’d spend the afternoon to celebrate Christmas with them. In their religion Christmas is the 7th January.
We tried all their traditional food and we even got beer. Perfect, because that was all I needed! After lunch they asked us what our plan was and we told them that we would like to hitchhike to Westport, which is the next big city. They told us that it would be hard as there aren't a lot of people driving that road, but that they had a friend that would drive there the day after. So they gave her a ring and asked if she could give us a ride. So yeah that's what happened and as lovely as they were they suggested us to sleep at their home and dropped us the day after at their friend's place. Can't get enough of these amazing people here in New Zealand. Once in Westport we had to wait a bit longer to get a lift. At some point we hitchhiked with a guy from Switzerland and after that 2 ladies from China were surprisingly driving to our destination : Golden Bay. We were so lucky that we got that one 5 hour ride with these people. Christian and I were just a bit worried about getting back to my car
as that was another 40min one way gravel road drive. Believe it or not but in the end the 2 ladies decided to drive that detour for us. I was so thankful and even more relieved when I saw my car. Mission accomplished. That evening, Christian and I decided to treat ourselves with fajitas, chocolate and wine. The day after drove to Blenheim, which is 1h30 away from Nelson, where I dropped Christian. When I arrived, I was supposed to sleep in a hostel, where they would give me phone numbers to contact vineyards as it's difficult to get a job here without staying in a hostel. Unfortunately that one was completely booked out, so I slept on a campsite that night. The day after, I went to another hostel where they had space for me and gave me a job. I was happy to finally have a job and I enjoyed working on that vineyard. There, I met Theresa and Jana, who are two lovely girls that stayed in the same hostel as well! I worked there for one week when they suddently cancelled the job because of whatever reason. This upset me because I would have to get
a new job again... Since that day, I had a headache, which was no fun. However I didn't give up and looked for a job by myself. I called plenty of vineyards but none of them needed anyone. I had one last chance, which was going to the Ministry of Social Development. However, the lady that worked there was so rude and unhelpful, which took my last hope. So I decided to go back to Ashburton where I stayed and woofed when I first arrived in New Zealand. However, when I arrived back in the hostel, Alice told me that she had a new job for me and I signed a contract the same day. Unfortunately my headache became worse and I also ended up having a stiff neck. The day after ,which was actually on Monday, I couldn't move my head at all but because I really wanted that job I went there and ignored the pain. After 9 hours of work in the heat I went back to the hostel. Completely exhausted I called Alice and asked her to drive me to the hospital. At first, I had to talk to a nurse and after she realised that
I had high feaver and a rash she told me to lie down. She gave me a wet cold towel, which I put on my forehead and kind of a water ice so that my temperature could calm down a bit. After that, I had to talk to a docter and after she examinated me, she called a specialist and sounded very worried while explaining everything to him. Sitting next to her and not knowing what was going on I panicked and started to cry. After she finished her call I asked what was going on and she said that they thought I might have a virus. So I had to go to the emergency department where I spent the next 4 hours. It was the first time that it was unbearable for me to be so far away from home. I'll never forget that awful feeling. I was glad to have Alice by my side but I was even more happy that Logan replied when I called him. It was simply soothing to talk to someone important to me. I really didn't want to call my parents or my boyfriend Pierre because there was no point to worry them
at the other side of the world without knowing what was going on. Around 11 p.m. the docter came in and told me that they thought that I had meninigits but that they checked my blood and it's pretty sure that it's not the case. LUCKY ME! However she told me that I have to come back if it's getting worse. It's definitely better now but I'm not allowed to work until monday, which implies that I might lose my job... Well I think that the bottom line is that I cared to much about getting a job and I that it's time to listen to my body now.
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