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Day 120: Bluff Or Bust!
March 3rd Invercargill Estuary Walkway(1845.5)-Bluff/Stirling Point(1862.9) Mileage: 17.4mi/28km We knew it was going to rain by noon, so we got an early start and packed up in the dark hoping to beat the rain. It was a calm and mild morning. We walked in the dark on...
Day 119: A Beach Walk & Time To Reflect
March 2nd Riverton(1822.5)-Invercargill Estuary Walkway(1845.5) Mileage: 23mi/37km Campsite Elevation: 10ft/3m *Note: For some reason yesterday's post didn't get emailed out to everyone. If you missed it, here is Day 118's link. It was an awesome night of sleep...
Day 118: Are We There Yet?
March 1st Longwood Forest(1799.9)-Riverton(1822.5) Mileage: 22.6mi/36.4km Campsite Elevation: 136ft/42m We all woke up early to start hiking at 7am. That really isn't early, but when you're packing up in a pitch dark forest, it seems that way. Griggs and I said bye to...
Day 117: More Of The Same
February 28th Woodlaw Forest(1771.1)-Longwood Forest(1799.9) Mileage: 28.8mi/46.3km Campsite Elevation: 552ft/168m We got going at 7am, knowing we wanted to make it to a particular campsite at the end of the day. Doing a full day today will position us well for the...
Day 116: Through The Woods And Over The Farm Hills
February 27th Lower Wairaki Hut(1744.5)-Woodlaw Forest(1771.1) Mileage: 26.6mi/42.8km Campsite Elevation: 374ft/114m Since I'm our alarm clock, we slept in this morning. I was too tired to write last night, so I woke up and finished yesterday's post this morning...
Day 115: Powering Through The Takitimu Forest
February 26th SH94/Te Anau(1721)-Lower Wairaki Hut(1744.5) Mileage: 23.5mi/37.8km Campsite Elevation: 1579ft/481m We woke up around 7am and got ready to go. Griggs went out for breakfast while I was in the mood for something lighter and had a banana and a bar. I got...
Day 114: Te Anau For The Third Time
February 25th Mararoa River Track(1709.7)-SH94/Te Anau(1721) Mileage: 11.3mi/18.2km Today was just an 11mi/18km gravel road walk to the highway to then hitch 19mi/30km into Te Anau, one of the final major trail towns. We knew it would be a short day, and couldn't...
Day 113: Passing The Test
February 24th Mavora Walkway(1683)-Mararoa River Track(1709.7) Mileage: 26.7mi/43km Campsite Elevation: 1516ft/462m Another short post here as not much happened today, which is a good thing. I'm finding it very relaxing and enjoyable to mindlessly chill and not exert...
Day 112: Unpaused, Back On The Te Araroa!
February 23rd Fraser Creek & Caples River Intersection-Mavora Walkway(1683) Mileage: 26.2mi/42.2km (8.7mi/14km on the Caples Track + 17.5mi/28.2km on the TA) Campsite Elevation: 2173ft/662m We finished up our final side trip and got back on the Te Araroa today! We...
Day 111: Final Side Trip: Routeburn & Caples Tracks
February 22nd Routeburn Shelter Car Park-Fraser Creek & Caples River Intersection Mileage: ~41km We were up early for our 7am, 30min shuttle ride to the beginning of the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's 9 Great Walks. It is 18mi/30km long, and the huts and...
Day 109 & 110: Out to Glenorchy & Zero
February 20th & 21st Shelter Rock Hut-Muddy Creek Car Park Mileage: 11.5mi/18.5km A rare double day post here. With my stomach stuff, I fell behind on my writing, and need to minimize my tasks to have more time to rest and reset. I'm combining the half day hike...
Day 108: Cascade Saddle-A Needed Hiking Distraction
February 19th Aspiring Hut-Shelter Rock Hut Mileage: 16.4mi/26.5km I slept horribly last night. My stomach is a mess. I'm not sick, and I know that, but I've been nauseated from all the transportation lately, and now it's more of an anxious/nervous stomach feeling as...
Day 107: Mt Aspiring-Bus, Hitch, Hike
February 18th Raspberry Creek Carpark-Aspiring Hut Mileage: 27.4mi/17km (includes 5mi/8km side trip to Rob Roy Glacier) We were all up early to catch buses out of Queenstown to our respective places. Becky, Tom, and Calvin headed back up to Twizel while Griggs and I...
Day 106: Becky’s Queenstown Birthday!
February 17th Today was the big day, Becky's 2-1! It was a jam packed day with plenty of activity in "The Adventure Capital of the World." We started off with a visit to McDonald's for breakfast immediately followed by a visit to Balls and Bangles, an awesome donut...
Day 105: Wooded Half of Kepler & Queenstown Reunion
February 16th Iris Burn Campsite-Kepler Track Car Park Mileage: 19.7mi/31.7km It was a nice peaceful night of sleep and we got going at 7:30am. We knew it would be a wooded flat cruise for the day, so we had plenty of time to hike the 20mi/32km before we had to catch...