"Now Can I rest?"

We left the Hut early this morning and climbed the ridge again for our last panoramic view of Anchorage Beach. Then we descended into the Ferns and followed the ridge trail back around the various bays, past the peaceful beaches and out onto the final bridge to Marahau, our original starting point. We only stopped once on the way for a quick lunch. Finally, after four hours of continuous foot pounding, we arrived at the car. I was exhausted.

I slipped my feet into my slippers, propped them on the dash and handed John the keys. He could work the pedals, my feet were out of commission.

We decided to camp again at the Maupa DOC campground and on the way stopped to buy some groceries at Super Value and then bread at a wonderful German bakery we had discovered. My feet begged me not to walk the twenty feet to the bakery, but we filled up on samples of some of the best breads I have ever tasted, and since my brain was concentrating on my taste buds, my feet temporarily forgot I was standing on them.

At the campground a half hour later, I forced myself again to stand up. A trampers work is never done. I pulled on my corners of the tent and drove in my share of the stakes. "Now can I rest?" Not yet, I needed a shower. With no facilities around showering was a two man job. I washed as John poured water over me and then visa versa. Head to toe we were clean in less than two liters of water each. Getting more would have required walking to the faucet, more energy than I had at the time.

We put on the last of our clean underwear. Socks? Nope, all dirty. I looked at John, he looked at me, and we both knew what had to be done, laundry. Why not?

It took over an hour to do everything that needed doing and after wringing out two pak-towels and two fleece sweatshirts, each of which held what seemed like fifty gallons of water, my hands were screaming as loud as my feet were. "Now can I rest?" "Yes, now you can rest."

Twenty minutes later John woke me up for a steaming bowl of mushroom soup with rice. Where he gets his energy I'll never know. I think he nips at the chocolate bar when I'm not looking; it's the only explanation.

John did the clean-up as well while I rested. (I swear the chocolate bar was definitely smaller!)... He took in the laundry while I rested, he prepared the tent's inside while I rested and that's about all I can remember.