28 Jan. An 08:00 yoga session with Mary jo and another group of ladies (Carrie, Angela and Olga) here for an Indian head massage course, followed by another great healthy breakfast from Steve. Chara is also on the course. She is from Barbados on a working holiday visa and “wwoofing” with Mary jo. Wwoofing was originally associated with organic farms, where people travelling work about 4 hours a day in exchange for full board and accommodation, learning new skills in the process. In this case Chara is learning massage techniques from Mary jo and she is obviously a quick learner.
After some trail admin (below), I donated my body for a good cause 😊 Mary jo needed bodies for her Indian head massage students to practice on. Thank you Olga for a great head and shoulders treatment. My body is going to be better than when I started the trail!
In the afternoon I spent a couple of hours in the public spa pools. The aqua therapy pools with water jets were good for leg muscle massage. There I meet Florian (Flo) and Pierre. They had got in from the trail yesterday and were heading back out tomorrow. Dinner was back at Vibrant Living Retreats with the ladies on the Indian head massage course.
Gas stoves are the easiest form of cooking on the trail, but when you are trying to minimise weight, there is always the problem of what to do with nearly empty canisters. Do you dispose of it or take it with you to use for a few days and then carry it out as rubbish? I found a solution which will never be recommended by the manufacturers. I bought a small gas refill adapter on eBay that enables refilling the screw thread canisters from the aerosol type canisters. The aerosol canisters are much cheaper, but they don’t have propane/butane mix for low temperatures, however this isn’t an issue in summer. It helps putting the canister receiving the refill in the fridge first. So I now have a refilled canister to last me at least the next week and with the spare gas Steve has some of his canisters refilled.
Some of the other walkers have asked what I do for electrical power. I have an iPhone, Garmin GPS/inReach device and a head torch, all with in built rechargeable batteries, so I don’t carry spare batteries. I have a 21W Anker solar charger and a 10,000mAh battery pack and I have never been short of power. Just a couple of hours of late afternoon sun keeps everything going. If I need more, I have tied the solar panel to my pack while walking. Everything works with 5V USB connections. Also useful at home for earthquake preparedness!
The Interconnected View 
Karen saw this “poster” at The Edmund Hillary museum on Mt Cook. She / we thought of you immediately
The down side to mountaineering a century ago…
“Have you ever carried a swag, a real swag? … When you take it up and sling it on your back in the orthodox fashion you remark: “ Yes, I think it does weigh fifty pounds”. In ten minutes your estimate of the weight has doubled. In an hour you begin to wonder why Nature has been so foolish to make men who will carry swags…by the time your day’s work is done you find out to your own demonstrated satisfaction that the burden weighs at least five hundredweight … But then, you see, we are enjoying what you feather-bed Swiss mountaineers cannot get. Exploring and opening out virgin fields, learning to be our own guides – and porters – from that best of masters – hard experience” G.E. Mannering 1891.
We are both continuing to follow your blog. What you are doing is absolutely amazing. You have now inspired Karen to do yoga when we get home. Keep blogging…and great photos too.
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