Twig Adventures

February 5th Slaty Hut (km1896) – Tarn Hut (km1917) Mileage: 13mi/21km This day involved a little bit of everything these rugged mountains have to offer. I was first surprised when I went outside early morning to use the bathroom. The moon and stars were out…clear skies! They held until dawn and I was quite excited when I left the hut at 8 am. It was also quite cold…low 50’s and maybe into the 40’s overnight. Everyone left around the same time and I matched Brian’s pace, since his pack is even smaller than mine. He is from Seattle, WA and did most of the PCT. He is just doing a quick stop in NZ on his way home from Asia.[…]

February 4th Rocks Hut (km1871) – Slaty Hut (km1896) Mileage: 15.5mi/25km It was one of those mornings where I didn’t want to get out of bed. It was quite cold and drizzly. We all left the hut kind of late around 8:30 am. I started out in my rain gear, then popped the umbrella. I stay so much warmer when I can leave it up. One of my clips got ripped off during the ferry ride but I am still able to rig it to my pack. We went through an open section of tussock but got nothing but “inside-of-a-ping-pong-ball” views. At the bottom of the trail, Dan had decided to walk out towards Nelson. He is missing his mate[…]

February 3rd Pelorus Bridge (km1839) – Rocks Hut (km1871) Mileage: 20mi/32km It was a great day where I felt my energy levels were really high. It probably just had to do with the temps being so much cooler. When I woke up, I actually put my down puffy on. It was hard to strip to my hiking clothes…and this was in town. The mountains may reach the single digits…celsius. That is into the 40’s…cold. What was I just saying about not needing my warmer quilt? I set off to get a ride back to the Pelorus bridge around 8:30 am. I waited about 10 minutes as there wasn’t much traffic. I started working up my positive thinking. Today it would[…]

February 2nd Havelock (km1818)- Pelorus Bridge (km1839) Mileage: 13mi/21km Several factors made my decision to slack-pack today an easy one. One, my package of extra food had not yet arrived but was likely to come today. Mail is apparently only delivered 3 times a week here: M, W, F. Second, the forecast was for some more unsettled weather. Third, WhyNot did a version of this plan in order to wait out the weather, so I got the inspiration from her. I would leave most of my stuff at the backpacker and do just a 21 km road/farm section to the Pelorus Bridge, then hitch back. I woke up early as usual and tried to go back to sleep. It didn’t[…]

February 1st Up from Torea saddle (km1781.5)- Havelock (km1818) Mileage: 22.7mi/36.5km As I feared, the wind came up through the night. My site at the top of the ridge was pretty protected but not enough for the strong gales. You sleep pretty poorly when your tent is constantly shaking or the trees above you are waving wildly. There were some branches banging together all night, like wooden wind chimes. I was ready for the dawn and already packing up before it was light. I felt a sense of urgency and wanted to beat the rain while my tent was still dry. I was on the trail by 0630 am, which was good, because I just got a glimpse of the[…]

January 31st Queen Charlotte Track (km1741) -up from Torea saddle (km1781.5) Mileage: 25mi/40.5km I don’t have a lot to say about this day. It was just a nice, cruisey day. It was just starting to cloud-over when I woke up. Another remnant tropical storm is moving over the SI, with the main impact being Thursday and Friday. I was actually happy for the cloud-cover, as it wasn’t as hot. The trail wound all around Endeavor Inlet and then up onto the main ridge. Just before going up the ridge, I stopped to load up on water. There are 2 campsites on the ridge that are supposed have water but both have run dry. I thought I might stay at the[…]

January 30th Ship cove (km1734)-Queen Charlotte Track (km1741) Mileage: 4.35mi/7km I was up by 6 am trying to get all packed and moving. I stuffed-up (kiwi slang for screwed-up) my food calculations while at the supermarket the night before, ending up with a bunch of extras. For some reason I got it in my head that I was buying for the 6 day stretch through the Richmond Ranges, as opposed to the 4 day stretch from St. Arnaud. I could either carry the extra food or mail it to Havelock. I had two boxes plus the bag of extra food, plus my full pack to carry about 1 km to the train station, ride to the CBD and then onto[…]

January 29th Ngaio Mileage: about 8km walking around I had so many chores for today that I was somewhat dreading my first day off since Taumarunui. Like that last one, it was busy, busy. I woke up early just to write postcards, then set off for downtown so that I could pick up my bounce box. I couldn’t get it yesterday because it was Sunday. I went to the post office only to discover that the box pickup location had changed to another office, back on the other side of town, from which I’d just come. At least I got the postcards in the mail. I also had to visit the Icebreaker store in the area. Unlike the store the[…]

January 28th Ngaio (km1711)- Island Bay (km1733) Mileage: 13.7mi/22km (more like 16 miles with all the additional walking) I was not at all excited about having to walk the final stretch of trail through Wellington, not after the big day yesterday. I was literally dragging my feet. I got to slack-pack it at least. I didn’t leave the house until after 11 am but once on the trail, I perked up a bit. It wound through a stream valley and then up along the city greenway (an undeveloped green belt that farsighted city planners set aside over 100 years ago). Then the route marched me through the botanical gardens (free entry), past the cable car, observatory, and down through an[…]

January 27th Paekakariki Holiday Park (km1662)-Ngaio (km1711) Mileage: 30.5mi/49km My big plan for the day was to walk the 50 kms to the Hart’s house, just off the trail at km 1711. That would leave just one more short day to finish the North Island. Ok, by trail distance it was 49 kms but 50 sounds better, plus the extra walk to the house definitely put me over the mark. This would be my biggest day on the TA. I’ve only walked 30 miles in a day once before, and that was in flat Florida. I had dropped nearly all my weight, so slack-packing would make it go easier. By that account, I was also kind of committed to getting[…]