Day 21 – Queenstown, Roxane Rendezvous

Finally, today was the day Roxane was arriving. I hurried around town to finish all the errands I hadn’t got to yet. I checked into the Butterfli Lodge, a much nicer hostel out of town a little way. Rox arrived around three in the afternoon. We went for a walk about town. I had missed one errand – at the grocery store I had found texturized vegetable protein, an important staple from my Appalachian Trail days. Dad and I used to throw it in nearly every meal to add a bit of protein and texture. It’s not common, so after buying a single package of it, I resolved to go back and buy three more to stick in my bounce box. A bounce box, by the way, is a package you repeatedly mail to your future, elsewhere self. It “bounces” from town to town ahead of you. It’s a great way to deal with stuff you don’t need at the moment but will need in the future.

After that, we went for a huge dinner at Fergburger. Rox’s first comment out of the bus was that I had lost a shocking amount of weight and I needed to eat more. So I stuffed myself silly off my meal and her leftovers. Like I needed any incentive.

While there, we ran into two of Roxane’s closest friends from the backpacker bus – Nola and Allison. Had a great time eating with them, then went to the backpacker bar nearby to meet up with the rest of her bus crew. Nola remarked “I’m so surprised – he’s actually sociable! I expected a Grizzly Adams type.” I joked back “The only way I manage it is through prolonged periods of absolute solitude.”

Had a great evening. The best part, naturally, was having Roxane’s company again.