Huts and the highway to hell

It’s nearing the end of a very long day. The trail has twisted and turned for almost 20 miles now, plunging through bush, down to creek beds and dragging me back up to open tussocky tops. I stop to catch my breath, throw off the pack and flop, lifeless, at the...

Loose on the lakes: Hawea to Tekapo

I was sat in the cafe/general store/local gathering place in lake Hawea village, watching it rain. It’d been raining for hours. ‘One more coffee, then I’ll go.’ Well, I was 4 coffees deep now, and getting a little wired. Then it occurred to me...

From bush to bustle, and back again

I’ll confess, by the time I made Queenstown I was a bit of a state. I hit the first section hard and, in a bid to catch a friend before she left town, I went without a break for 11 days. My legs were cut and bruised, I had an aggressive rash covering both cheeks...

And so, it begins.

Did I ever tell you about the time I put the bag with all my worldly belongings on a baggage carousel at Auckland airport, without any instruction of flight or destination? Funny story that one. Yes yes, in my overexcited-ness-ness and having already checked in...

The Final Countdown

Crikey O’Riley. There’s now just one day to go until I take my first steps onto the Te Araroa. I’m sitting in my friend’s Auckland apartment, looking out over Mission Bay. This afternoon I’ll catch a flight to the South Island for the Journey to Bluff.  Next time I...