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Te Araroa trapping!!!

  • Bluff

      2 January 2023
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    So cool. So very cool to have done this.

    On the eve of our first day after finishing I wondered what we had done during the day. We'd biked some fun trails and played at the lake and generally fiddled about... what we hadn't done is walk for 8 to 9 hrs. How did we even do that? I already wondered.

    I flicked the switch on the kettle and had hot water. I put my rubbish in the bin instead of carry it around with me for a week. I didn't need to hurry anyone along to get ready because we had no hut we had to make by days end. ... It was these types of things that I was most aware of. Not the bed, or the fridge and food readily available, or the flushing toilet and hot shower. Mentally I didn't have to be planning the timing and logistics of our day, or keeping a clear space in my head to have the capacity to manage the mystery challenge that was bound to appear at some stage.

    We'd done it.

    I was asked by many "how did it feel to touch the post at Bluff?" There was excitement and amazement in their voice. But I didn't feel the buzz of adrenaline when we finished. It wasn't like crossing a race finish line where you feel like you've absolutely conquered something and have the intensity of the mission at the forefront of your mind. We had been going for 2 months, or actually longer when I include the planning phase, at a notch down from that on a long slow burn. I cried, as everyone predicted I would. I was full of emotion. Emotions like gratitude and awe and contentment and peace. The emotions that are behind a long 'arrrrhhhhhhh' which has an accompanying relaxed smile and the action of shoulders dropping.

    The kids were incredible. So adaptable and capable and expressive. I marvelled numerous times at how stoked I was that they were keen and that we were here doing the T.A together. As individuals and as a family I think we'll all have a sense of ourselves pre T.A and post T.A. It's just so cool to have done this.

    A heart felt thanks to all the love and support we received along the way. Every bit contributed to making this so cool.

    All that's left to say is 'What the Chickens!?'

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  • Last week

      1 January 2023
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    This last week zoomed past as fast as it inched along. We had a few days in Arrowtown for Kiki's birthday and Christmas. My head was still whirring with T.A logistics and relaxing into festivities felt like an unusual thing to be doing.

    We left on the 26th on the Earnslaw to cross Lake Wakatipu. The boys then made their way on bikes up the valley in high heat to Lake Mavora. We found an excellent swimming spot and camping site in this remote place. Biking continued the next day to Princhester hut. From here we had the most impressive tramp yet. The length of the Takitimus, in 3 focused 8 to 9 hr days with children who knew now how to walk strong. There were a few moments of wondering how to take the next step but less then I could count on one hand. The other interesting thing was the change from games of distraction to keep things moving to walking in silence with their own head spaces peacefully entertaining them. The terrain was stunning. The forests were ancient. The tops were wind swept and harsh and lush all at once. Seeing the Southern sea brought a tear to my eye. The walk out through Linton Station farm was green and long. We laughed at giving peace symbols to cows and bulls as we walked through their paddocks with a bright orange pack cover. We had a gorgeous horse run along beside us in our last paddock and over our last hill. We made the car elated and stoked and impressed with how fit and capable we had all become. The car was so kindly shuttled around for us by friends, Ria, Rob and David, who miracously also found a way to come for dinner at our first hut via a side track... T.A Angel's as such generous people are called.

    The boys then jumped back on bikes for a 80 odd km bike along the South Coast finishing on Oreti Beach and suddenly we have just one day to go.

    Seeing the sea and smelling it and swimming in it was calming. So very cool to be at this end of the island.

    We got to spend some of this last bike with yet more friends, these ones going way back to bridesmaid time. Fi and John. Now with us all with kids in tow and actually not that different, just with a few more stories to tell as we saw New Years Eve in together again. ...Well, we made it to 10 o'clock anyway. ..

    Last day to go...

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  • Macetown Mighty's

      23 December 2022
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    On a whim of wanting to be involved a friend and her son, Sandy and Josh, flew down from Taupo to join us and their infectious enthusiasm to just jump in caught one of her friends and their daughter, Teresa and Pippa, and suddenly we were leaving Glendu bay as a mighty pack of 9. We had biked from Hawea through Wanaka to Glendu bay the day before dodging rain and were looking forward to getting back on tramping tracks. Having a big group generates momentum and having a friend more aligned to Aria was also a real treat. She had been the youngest by far on all the other legs with the pace and style being swayed towards teenage boys. Even though Aria was meeting Pippa for the first time on this tramp I knew the formula was a winner.

    This section definitely needed a winning formula and group momentum. The hills between Glendu bay and Arrowtown are mightily steep up and then mightily steep down. The group was swept along, or more accurately up down up down, and we had chatter, songs and new flavors of conversations and treats to keep us going.

    The huts were the fullest we have experienced with T.Aers going North as well as South. Each T.Aer has their story which is different and interesting, such is the nature of this journey.

    We camped in Macetown on our final night and had a gorgeous afternoon and evening amidst lupins, river holes and lush greenery that we discovered sandflies love too!

    Thanks friends! A great way to get through a tough section and a great way to get to know each other. Yous are awesome.

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  • Ohau to Hawea skip

      23 December 2022
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    Six weeks on the trail, a decent amount of rain forecast for a section we'd need to camp on, Kiki's birthday on the 24th of December and Christmas looming with wishes to be in Arrowtown by then, and Twizel being our back yard with plenty of scope to revisit... we decided to skip the section between Ohau and Hawea. It was one of those no-brainer decisions again, the ones that instinctively feel right but take some time for the mind to adjust to.

    The first of these types of decisions was actually back when I first heard about Te Araroa. It was a no-brainer that we would do it. I loved Geoff Chappell's (creator of T.A) concept and his personal belief and commitment to making the trail into an entity in itself is truly remarkable to say the least. I can imagine it was for him one of those no-brainer decisions too. There is no sensibility around such decisions, in fact if you start thinking about it too much and analyzing how it might work, pretty soon you hit overwhelm and it's easier to not do it.

    There were many times this year while I was planning how to make our T.A journey an experience that left us all on the right side of 'the G.L' (Great Life) balance point, that I hit overwhelm and had to walk away.

    During course planning I hit overwhelm numerous times. Despite all the route being well documented I made up a table with a thorough understanding of what each section entailed and how much as a family we might do in a day. Often it was just too much to take in and fully understand.

    During logistics planning of who would be on what section, how they would get there, if cars/bikes/shuttling was involved... I went well through the alphabet on plans created and then rejigged and rejigged and rejigged. It all just had to marinate for a while and I had to be OK with dropping control and the need to have it sorted, for instead trusting it would work itself out and letting it unfold was by far the most effective plan.

    Then food... goodness that was a mind game. Dehydrating, buying, bagging, boxing, predicting how much and what we'd like to eat... if it was an adult only trip you'd just eat anything and if you ran out you'd walk for how long it took to reach the next restock point. But as a trip with kids I wanted to make sure the food was appealing, well as appealing as dehy food can be, and that we never ran out... that stressed me out for ages and it took right up until the fnal 2 planning weeks to get over the overwhelm and start pulling it all together.

    Just as this trip is often reduced down to the next high point, the next hut, river crossing, even next step, the pulling together of doing the T.A took on the same feel. What was the next bit I could fathom to plan?

    Doing the T.A with my family wasn't a decision, it was just the next step.

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  • A2O bike

      17 December 2022
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    Back on bikes, as I see quite a few T.Aers do through various bike hire schemes, the boys biked from where we exited the Two Thimb range tramp near Round Hill ski field, through Tejapo with a stop off st the pump track there. Then along the canals and shore of Lake Pukaki to Twizel. The whole family got to do the last part through to Ohau. All stunning scenery but more enjoyable for us to bike.

    In Twizel we took a day to do all those things you need to do to keep it all ticking along. Things like eat, a lot! Our appetites are through the roof now. Wash, check weather, check route ahead and see if original plan still meets expectations/wants/needs, repack, oh and try to recupe a little, and eat some more.

    We're all feeling like taking things leisurely rather then rushing now. And we're keen to make Arrowtown for Christmas so we can be together with more of our family. With that in mind, another front indecisively coming and going, and this next stage requiring some tenting we have decided to skip it for now and carry on from the end of that stage in Hawea. Like Waiau Pass it was a no-brainer decision I came to based on those factors mentioned and also that we are our whole family now so pushing through big days to just smash it out is less desirable, even detrimental. This whole journey has involved constant reassessment of the balance between challenge and joy inducing experience. We've been on the go for almost 6 weeks now. I get worried when I see bags under eyes, too tired to eat, too overwhelmed to manage run downs of what's coming up. I get reassured when we arrive somewhere and after a feed the desire to explore this new place displays such curiosity it is contagious and together we marvel at anything from nature to our own quirks and we play games and laugh. There is no defined way to do this, it has to ebb and flow. There are many moments in a day which are 'growth' moments, and leave us vulnerable and stretched. It's not all easy and all just fun. As the instigator and the mum I am constantly scanning to check the balance point of myself, each person, and of us all as a group. That's a challenge all in itself for me, and one I get deep satisfaction from when I get it right. ...

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  • Bush Stream to Lake Tekapo.

      17 December 2022
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    Wow. This is a spectacular tramp and one we have all said we'd like to do again. It has stunning gorges, very cool mustering huts to stay in, even with authentic names etched in from the 1960s musterers. It has stunning rivers with great swim spots, breath taking passes including Te Araroa's highest at 1925m which still had snow on it that was incredibly fun to play in, and just glorious terrain to soak up with funky alpine plants.

    Really quite something. I took so many photos. It has left me saturated and despite growing fatigue in awe of this beautiful environment, how resilent and capable kids are and how good it is to be doing this with family and friends.

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  • Ashburton Lakes mystery

      16 December 2022
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    .When I said to people we were planning to do Te Araroa those that knew of the T.A asked next "are you going to do the bit between the rivers? It's an incredibly long gravel road..."

    That comment and the T.A going on the Alps to Ocean trail in the MacKenzie basin prompted me to organize bikes for these sections. Nothing like a hot, flat, uninteresting path to cause a death by "are we there yet?"

    So Nat and I had looked on the map at the south bank of the Rakaia and worked out a bike alternative that took us on part farm where the T.A wasn't bikeable and then T.A trail through to Potts River. It would be a mystery on the day as to whether it could work or not. Fortunately Nat had arrived with our bikes and was keen to join the boys so they set off with friend David, and Ria, Aria and I shuttled a car around to Tekapo for our next tramp stage.

    The boys took the inreach tracker and I had the joy/anxiousness of watching it move along mysteriously.

    Truth be told I think the bikers had a more enjoyable day. The terrain was incredibly hot and gravely but it was real Lord of the Rings country and the rainbow that had set off with them followed them all day. Meanwhile we drove all day in torrential rain, busy traffic, and unsure if we had a puncture or not. As it so happens we did but it held up until we reached our final stop for the day at Peel Forest . Many blessings that day. In all a highly successful, albeit tiring, mystery bike done, and the bit between the rivers Rakaia and Rangatata ticked off in a day.

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  • Lagoon Saddle, Hamilton hut, Lake Coleridge.

      15 December 2022
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    We left Christchurch after our couple of days recupe with mates. David, who would be joining us for a week, Ria his mum who was driving us back to Arthurs Pass and walking a wee ways at the start, and Oscar, a really good friend who hadn't been tramping before but texted me just before leaving asking if he could come.... it had all sounded too much fun!

    The next two days were a brilliant concoction of banter, 20 questions games, riddles, throwing stones, chase, general goofing around and idle chitchat about anything from golf to hunting.

    The boys entertained each other and soaked up mate time, which was said to be the greatest thing missed, and I relished being back out there. I got arty with my photos, inspired by nature's beauty, and I even took a selfie. I don't normally do that but one time I turned the camera back on and it was in selfie mode and I saw the most alive expression staring back at me grinning ear to ear. I just loved being back on the trail after two days of city, and school busyness.

    The Harper and Avoca rivers were crossed low flow with ease and Nat and Aria met us as planned at Lake Coleidge so we could cross the Rakaia River via a detour into Methven for L&P, jelly tips and fish and chips. Gotta love it when a plan comes together with 'stease' (style and ease).

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  • Goat Pass gorgeous-ness

      8 December 2022
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    Goat Pass is stunning.

    I have run through over a dozen times, tramped through once before, and we talked about doing this section again in Summer with mates.

    It has rough interesting river bed dancing, stunning cascading waterfalls, gorge towering rock walls forested but with jutting outcrops on either side, mountains that feel touchable at the Pass, deep turquoise pools perfect for bombing into, boulders to leap around and whio blue ducks. Absolutely stunning and it's a race course.

    Truth be told, we were pretty worn out and looking forward to some recuperation, deep steam cleaning and homely normality of Christchurch that we would be teleported back to at the end of this section, but still we marveled at this track and our fortune of walking it together.

    We've been going for a month now. Christchurch marks half way in time. It feels very normal o just get up and walk all day and it feels very odd to be back in our home city with all the normal routines. We made it back for school's final prize giving and for the kids to see their friends before the end of the year. Tomorrow part 2 begins. We've been taking a photo each day of animals beginning with a letter of the alphabet. We've made it through the whole alphabet. We'll be dreaming up our next alphabet challenge tomorrow and back to nature, hut life and good old goofing around.

    "G. L?" We ask each other as the torches go off each night. .. "G. L!" we reply. Great Life.

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  • Harper Pass wanderings

      8 December 2022
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    I always knew the first day out of Hanmer was going to be difficult, quite possibly our most challenging. .. We had completed the two 'biggies', namely the two week long back to back tramps, had had a day off in luxury, and would be saying goodbye to our awesome tramping mates, Penny and Mark who had been with us from the start. Emotionally and mentally I knew getting back on the track just the three of us for what was to be a big week would be a test. .. and it was. The first day to Hope Kiwi Lodge exhausted us. It's always amazing how much mental state affects physical. We were very grateful for some hunting mags left in the hut and a deer within 350m just outside the hut to distract us as we adjusted to being back on the trail. Nature always does its thing, the tramp through to the Taramakau was filled with little gems; butterflies, tiny flowers, huge dinner plate cup leaves, a rainbow, mushrooms, kiwi prints, bird song, natural hot pools... amongst the usual stunning mountain, lake, forest and river backdrop.

    I learnt the Hurunui valley is a mainland island with extensive trapping and Conservation practices. Saying that there were also a lot of cows, hmmm, not sure how those two things marry up.

    Anyway, we had full days bonding in beautifully vulnerable ways as our tiredness and closeness played out.

    I had been nervous about the last day of this tramp which involved numerous river crossings known to be tricky so I had organized for a friend from way back to meet us at the last hut and walk out with us. Shaun, Kirsten, Wil and Meg didn't just get themselves from Christchurch to Locke Stream hut amidst their busy end of year schedules, but they brought with them bacon and real eggs, not dehy!!, amongst a treasure trove of treats and we feasted and had extra partipants to our nightly monopoly deal card World Champs. The walk out the next day was a delight for me. Guided, great company and no stress river crossings.

    Gotta love it when a plan like that (and this whole thing) comes together.

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  • St James rain...

      30 November 2022
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    We had had rain for 4 days and I'd not dared look at the forecast for the next 8 days. We were packed and ready but awoke to heavy rain, and more alarmingly, it was cold. We'd had rain, but it had been warm. I checked the forecast while drinking coffee, and a 'stop the bus' call rang out. From tomorrow it was 3 days of snow falling well below where we were headed, gale force winds, and then days of rain to follow when we would be camping. Oh dear. No decision to make, the next section clearly had to be rejigged, but the decision took some accepting. Waiau Pass was supposed to be a highlight, an epic but glorious mountain stage.

    I broke the news to the kids that we were making a different plan. Their response was music to my ears... relief sounded out. They didn't want an epic suffer fest, instead they wanted easier days, longer hut stays, and a more relaxed pace.

    So we created a plan to walk the T.A. section that we could around Lake Roroiti and then thanks to my awesome brother and sister in law we worked out the shuttle to get to the beginning of the St James walkway. The T.A. leaves Lake Rotoiti, goes over 2 mountain passes at 1800m, and then walks down a valley to join the St James for the last bit. By walking the whole of the St James we would be using a valley to achieve a similar result.

    What followed were days of pelting rain, but snug warm dry huts, gorgeous ancient forest, surreal prairie with wild horses, oodles of time for hut antics, whittling, songs, gymnastics, wood hunting and gathering, cards, deluxe hut cooking, laughs and a good dose of everything this trip was supposed to be.

    I'd been given 4 pieces of advice before starting the T.A.

    1) Treat all river crossings with utmost respect.

    2) Waiau Pass is high risk. Be cautious and recognize its a rugged remote mountain pass.

    3) Know the deep purpose behind doing T.A. and remind yourself of it often. (For me this was to connect to nature and to each other as family and friends).

    4) Be aware the T.A is a thing. Dont get caught up in the ego of it. Make it what you want it to be.

    So far, just 3 weeks in, I have valued immensely being advised each of these.

    Thanks Mick.

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  • Richmond Ranges

      30 November 2022
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    This section was such an adventure. The days were full, the terrain was rugged and physically demanding, the scenery was incredibly varied and the test of character was great.

    We raced to beat the weather in the first 3 days. Because we were on the tops we could see how far we travelled and there were many times any one of us exclaimed "we were way over there this morning".

    We clambered and climbed our way up Wairoa gorge, took one step out of the bush up the top by the hut and instantly found ourselves surrounded by red boulders 'mars scape' like.

    Having had gorgeous warm.blue skies cross Mt Rintoul, we battled our way in horizontal rain blowing us sideways as we sidled under Mt Ellis.

    We went from one barrel water stop in a day to strategically crossing a swollen rising river to make it to the hut drenched to the bone and deeply relieved.

    Amidst the adventure and challenge our characters shone through and while the rain tried to dampen spirits, instead it was so extreme it brought out a ridiculous mud puddle splashing debacle, numerous renditions of Queens song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and a warmth and connection between us all through shared adventure experience.

    Saying that we were relieved to reach St Arnand and fall into the welcoming generous arms of my brother and sister in law, and reunite with the whole family for Tawhai's 12th birthday.

    This section was certainly a gift to treasure.

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  • Made it through phase one to Nelson

      14 November 2022
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    Having started by flyng through the Queen Charlotte, hot and covering lots of km each day, we then biked the road link to Pelorus, and settled into a more rugged tramping pace enjoying the coller rain through to Nelson. Out in time for Arias birthday. Magical family times in stunning scenery. While organizing it all was a flurry, I had glorious moments of walking along at the back watching my family and thinking... yeah... what a great thing to do. ... while there has been moments of adjusting to life on the trail, the kids have been rockstars. So helpful towards each other, so capable of managing mentally big climbs and long days, and (blow me down) with renewed energy to burn in the huts at night after a food restock... they are so much more capable then we can imagine. A joy to watch. And all this brought about by being in nature. What a treasure and a blessing.

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