Near Lake Rotoiti

Well last night we stayed at a nice little hotel with a backpacker hostel attached. It has a communal kitchen and dining room. It gave me a very good idea what will be in store for Sarah and I. In the hostel part there are several rooms with a couple sets of bunk beds. It is very nice and clean and cost only around 20 bucks a night NZ. It comes out to be around 15 American dollars. An absolute steal. I spoke to the owner of a neighboring hotel last night about the possibility of work on the south island. There is lost of seasonal work due to it being summer. With the summer ending, Queenstown starts to take off as its a winter town. We might have pretty good luck finding work there.
The group I am travelling with is nice. The guides are awesome and the other customers all have interesting personalities. There is one other person close to my age, a 32 guy from Boston. Pretty funny guy and like to find a bar in every town we have been to. Most of the other people are older but have amazed me in their ability to trudge through some difficult hikes. I hope to be in that good of shape and with such good attitude when I'm over 60. Yesterday we did a moderately difficult hike to the top of a 4,698 ft mountain which overlooked the lake below. Breathtaking views. I was amazed that everyone made it up. I was convinced that some of the people would drop off, but sure enough after an hour of waiting the entire group was on the top together. Near the peak there was a mountain hut that backpackers can stay in. Apparently there are loads of them around the Island and range from 5-20 bucks NZ a night. With many backpacker hostels around, Sarah and I should be able to leave our bikes places and do some really interesting overnight hikes.
Well I have taken heaps of photos, but while I do have my card reader with me at the moment, the front of this computer is completely inaccessible. You will have to wait further for pictures to arrive. If anyone has an 10" laptop they want to send me please email me and I will give you an address to which you can do so. Or if someone wants to donate some money to me just let me know, I will gladly take donations. The last statement pretty much goes for the rest of my life.