Monday, April 9: Routeburn Day 2

Early in the morning (~7:30) those kids made so much bloody noise that they must have awakened the dead (surely hey woke me up). Nonetheless, we didn't leave the hut until 10:30. The weather was pretty bad in terms of visibility, but fortunately, that changed dramatically, and ultimately, we got brilliant views as we arrived at the very top. There we met two Jewish American sisters, who were headed the other way.

The walk to the second hut, was not eventful, except that we met a group of 4 Americans that included one guy's father, who seemed to be in better shape than all of us combined. What a guerrilla! Also, we met another American (goes by Dan), who was also traveling with his dad. At the hut we met those kids again, and went for another Yaniv. Team Israel was defeated miserably..

A note about the huts in the great walks. There is a bunk room that occupies up to 50 o 60 people (sometimes half as much). Toilets, running water (with exceptionally cold water), cooking facilities that include gas stoves, and low lights that go off automatically around 22:00.
Also, at 19:00 or 19:30 the DOC (Department of Conservation) person at the hut gives a talk. We call it "Aliyat Mishmar", since they all say the same god damn thing. Namely, if there's fire, go to the helicopter area, don't light candles in the bunk rooms, some weather report, and a lot of bullshit about keeping the place clean and turning off the gas stoves. Anyway, some of these talks are longer than others. Tonight's talk was particularly long and boring and we decided to resume our game during the talk.