Breakfast at 8am so we could leave by 8.45 to travel the 280 kms to Queenstown - the roads were scenic but twisty so the journey wasn't fast; we finally got to the Remarkables shopping centre in Frankton for coffee at 12.45pm. Next stop was the hotel - thankfully they let us check in even though it was 1330. We quickly sorted ourselves out and got back into the car driving the 6 kms into Queenstown for some last minute shopping and our Ultimate Hikes briefing for the Milford Trek. The briefing finished at 6 pm and we set off back to the car to refuel it and return it to the car hire depot before walking back to the hotel and finalizing our packing for the trek and the luggage for storage at the hotel - easier said than done as after three weeks we have accumulated a few purchases. One of our buys today was compression sacs which allows 30 litres of clothes to be compressed into 10 litres - phew - result - and the space it freed up was a god send. Final panics over, regarding what was in which bags, we headed to bed - we have a taxi at 7.45 tomorrow to get us back to Ultimate Hikes for an 0830 check in and departure. The weather for the next 4-5 days looks damp - well wet - but fingered crossed we can dodge the worst of the wet stuff!
(Today's photo is the yellow eyed penguins heading to the ocean in the golden light of the breaking day on the Otago Peninsular.)