From the moment I returned from hiking the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand my time sitting in an office in the corporate city world was limited. In the words of wild man Bodhi, resisting arrest at the end of the classic surf movie Point Break, “You know I can’t handle a cage man!” The …
Comyns Hut – back in the ”good ol’ days’ on the trail… Coming home was never going to be easy but I guess I didn’t appreciate that hiking the Te Araroa Trail would have quite the impact on my life that it has. I think I did a lot of my grieving about its …
With 3068km of Te Araroa trail completed I decided to head even further south for a little ‘cool down’ walk on Stewart Island. Mission: See a kiwi. I had the idea in my head of a little gentle walk and lounging around in a remote hut pondering the last five months, however on the second …
(Photo credit: marker pole) 146 days into this journey and I realise I’ve come a long way. And I’m not just talking about the 2800km of trail behind me. In the last week I tramped alone along the Mavora Walkway, a stunning route through vast open valleys flanked by huge mountains. Wandering for hours through …
It’s been an eventful nine days walking from Methven to Tekapo. After saying goodbye to several long term hiking buddies I found myself heading out alone into what was a potentially challenging high country section. The trail notes and other hiker comments revealed I should expect around 60 river crossings, trail-less routes ‘lightly marked’ with …
“…There’s a river crossing on a rock chute just above a 4m waterfall. The water is flowing fast down the chute and if you lose footing you go over the waterfall… Some trampers may find this section challenging”. Hmmm…should trail notes really read like this? Luckily for us we were blessed with hot and dry …
“Has anyone told you about the weka?” the ranger greeted us as we walked into camp.No, what do I need to know about the weka? “Be careful with your belongings. They have been known to steal things from your tent, even from under the flysheet.” Suitably informed we wandered down to a small patch of …
Whilst Wellington is reasonably well known as ‘the Windy City’, it’s probably lesser known that the nearby Tararua Ranges are also renowned for the wind and rain they attract, thanks to their proximity to the Cook Strait which acts as a funnel. Our trail included four days in the Tararuas and during this time we …
\ The night before departure sees me crouched in a shipping container on the rivers edge, cooking noodles and nervously listening to the thundering rain outside. It’s so loud we can hardly hear each other speak. Manu had decided to ‘test out’ his chosen boat in a huge lake forming on the grass in front …
These are not the words you necessarily want to read over breakfast as you peruse the trail notes for the day ahead. The description however seems to have been the order of the day lately as we walked south from Auckland to Waitomo. The last 11 days have seen us tramp through many dense and …
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