As previously stated, due to my Knee pain I was on R and R in Nelson It is quite a nice town with a great vibe. I stayed at first a the Tasman Bay backpackers with its free desert.

As I didn’t return back to trail I stayed with acquaintances for a fee more days getting in more rest. I used to time to play some golf and find out how miserably bad I am at it, despite the course I did in school 15 years ago. After 5 days off the trail I felt good enough to go back and was dropped back at Hackett road to start the Richmond ranges again.

2h in the sun hiking towards Hackett Hut. Nice trail as before, following along the river.

I soon realised though, that the knee pain is still present. No point therefore to go into the ranges. Instead I now planned to stay at the hut, eat all my food and then get a ride out again as this will be cheaper than staying in town. While relaxing at the hut, other TA walkers stopped by and we got talking. One especially talked me into going back to town sooner and seeing a Physio or Osteopath. So I decided to go back on the weekend as there would be lots of people at the Carpark who could give me a lift. 1 hour later a couple with a dog came towards me and asked if I was the one who had problems with their knee. They heard from someone going into Richmond now about me and as they were walking back to the Carpark after an overnight hike they offered to give me a lift into Nelson. So I went along with them. Packed up my tent and went back into town.

I reached Nelson at 7:30pm, checked back into Tasman Bay Backpackers, and after a shower was there in time for the free 8pm desert. Afterwards I spent the evening outside relaxing in a hammock. While there a cat walked by that I lured towards me and then took up to cuddle.

At the backpackers was also staying a travelling illustrator. She came upon me with the car and later included our conversation into her travel journal.

The next morning I went to the doctor first. She didn’t tell me anything I wasn’t already aware off about my IT Band, but my insurance requires me to see a doctor before going for physio. Well now they are paying twice as much… The doctor just gave me a strap and a prescription for antionflamatlry and pan medication. Don’t really need the pain medication, as it is something that only hurts when I go downhill…

Afterwards I made an appointment at the Physio. He also started out about my IT Band but was buffered that he couldn’t reproduce the pain by bending and twisting my knee. He still massaged the muscle and gave me exercise as well as telling me to go for an easy walk like the centre of NZ track. So I went from there.

The next days were spent mostly hanging around in a hammock in the hostel, reading and watching movies. I visited the arts and craft market on the weekend and got some crepe.

The practice walk resulted in the same pain flaring up when going downhill. By the next appointment he now suspected the pain actually results from my weak ankle as I now show him the location of the pain further down. So a different muscle was massaged and I got new exercises. I also met up with a fellow TA hiker who had just been in Richmond. She told me of countless mice there as well as wasps. Somehow the track didn’t sound to appealing right then and I slowly started making the decision to skip the Richmond ranges. I can come back at another time to do this section. With the continued heat the fire risk is also increases now and not all tracks are accessible as well as water levels in rainwater ranks up on the ranges are getting low…

After a new practice hike, this time marking the exact location of the pain as well as remembering when exactly the pain occurs in my movement, the Physio went back to the pain being from week flutes. He taped underneath my knee and send me on practice hikes again. So I did just that. I went up to the centre of NZ again and the pain was slightly less the first time. The second time it was there again.

Upon the next appointment I told of the results of the taping. While helping somewhat it is not yet a fix to the problem. He had a talk with his colleagues the previous day and had me first running on the treadmill and then jumping on my problem leg. Then he found the problem. It seems that I am walking downhill with my foot rotated inwards. This creates additional strain on the outside muscle on my lower leg, going up to the attachment on my outer knee. So I need to consciously rotate the foot outwards a bit and that should relieve the pain. I hope this will work k practice as I am leaving with the next shuttle to St Arnaud to start the Waiau Track. Either I will go through with it or I will stay in the first hut and eat all my food. But I cannot continue staying in town as this is to expensive for my current travel budget.

So I got everything together to get to St Arnaud. As I am picking up a food package there as well as still having the food originally planed for Richmond, I decided to send the Richmond food off towards Hanmer Springs to be picked up for the section from Boyle to Arthur’s pass. This way I will not be wasting anything I have bought.

All in all, I now spent 2.5 weeks off the trail. In skipping rhe Richmond ranges (94km), I am roughly 11 days behind my original schedule. So, now I am all set and ready to set off for Nelson Lakes National Park to hopefully continue my journey:)