February 4, 2026
Zero at Wanaka
TA km marker 2640.7
Hiked today: 0.0 km

It was lovely to be in Wanaka for a rest day on the 4th of February,  Rob’s birthday. After a cooked breakfast at a cafe, we caught up again with Lorraine and Grant who were ready to head off towards Queenstown. On the agenda for the day was purchasing new shoes for Rob and new rain pants for me. We got both items for a reasonable price as well as some heel cup insoles for me to help with my Achilles pain.

Lunch, which we ate overlooking the lake,included sandwiches and milkshakes from a local dairy. Then back to our lodgings via the nearby New World Supermarket which had everything we needed for our resupply. It was a lovely surprise running into Grant and Lorraine,  and we found out that friends from Flinders Island, Pete and Jenny, were also nearby and we arranged to meet up with them in the afternoon.

As we headed out of the door to the rendezvous point, I realised that we didn’t have my phone. I had thought it was plugged in and charging, but apparently I had list it somewhere around town. We quickly sped off to check all the places we had been but without success. Rob managed to meet up with Jenny and Pete, but I was hurrying around town, including the police station in the hope of being reunited with my phone.

Although we didn’t succeed in locating it despite using the Google Find My Phone process, we were able to report it lost (both on line and at the police station) and at least we have Rob’s phone as a backup.