TA Day 108, side trip! Rob Roy Glacier, Mt. Aspiring National Park
Pink light glows on the mountains and glaciers. A perfect sky for a day trip. Harry and I have been assigned to the lunch making squad – cheese, hummus and avocado sandwiches, chocolate and nuts and a few exploded hard boiled eggs.
TA Day 107, Hawea to Wanaka, 25 km
It rained nearly all night on the alicoop in this odd carved out campground above the hotel. Self-contained vehicles hemmed me in, but most everyone tucked in early enough. I read an interesting article about regret before I closed my eyes. The author used a phrase, ‘counterfactual thinking’ to describe the ‘what if’ stories we […]
TA Day 106, Stodys Hut to Hawea, 22 km
The cure for loneliness, is solitude. —Marianne Moore Waking up this morning felt like a new start on a new day. My muscles rested from the river sidling/up-and-down nightmare and I even sang “Que sera, sera” with my NOBO hut mate, Helen. How can I not feel better?
TA Day 105, Tin Hut to Stodys Hut, 27 km
A perfect sleep in a perfect, tiny historic musterer’s hut opens with pink clouds and orange light on the grassy hills. The wind is up, moving those clouds fast over the saddle I’ll climb soon, but first, the loo with a view – for real, as the door is unhinged and laying on the ground. […]
TA Day 104, Freehold Creek to Tin Hut, 30 km
Being alone is, we know, the best chance you have to be yourself, which is in turn the seed of integrity and of any possible originality. —Patricia Hampl My little lair in the beech forest was so dark overnight, bright stars shone through the tops of the thick canopy. It was slow start, but eventually […]
TA Day 103, Twizel to Freehold Creek, (29 km) + 6 km
At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. —Toni Morrison The stars were spectacular overnight and I slept deeply in my little single bed in the Hobbit House. It’s a lazy morning on Denise’s porch – typical Kiwi with an enormous outdoor living space under a corrugated plastic roof. I lose myself in […]
TA Day 102, Tekapo to Twizel, (54 km)
I slept poorly last night with all the rustling about, phones going off and generally being stressed out knowing I need to slow down and enjoy, but somehow unable to just yet. So many friends responded with incredible words of kindness and encouragement when I posted my breakdown video on social media. It is the […]
TA Day 91, Goat Pass Hut to State Highway 73, 10 km
The remaining trail of roots, mud and stream crossings is through heavy mist.
TA Day 84, Upper Travers Hut to Blue Lake Hut, 16 km
I fall after Travers Pass bending my pole and ego, then it’s through magical beech forest to Blue Lake.
TA Day 74, Kaiuma Bay Road to Captain Creek Hut, 32 km
It’s easy road walk to the emerald pools of the Pelorus River and sandfly hell.
