Wednesday February 14, 2024Distance/ Total: 16.2 km / 10.2 mi It was a cold morning and I just didn’t want to get out of the sleeping bag. I kept covering back up and falling back asleep. Before I knew it it was almost 7:00 am. I forced my self up and started getting ready. The trail continued following the Hurunui […]

Tuesday February 13, 2024Distance/ Total: 26.2 km / 16.3 mi It was a cold morning this morning and I didn’t want to get out of my sleeping bag. I finally forced myself to get up and noticed that the sandflies were gone. It must be too cold for them. However, when I crawled out of the tent it didn’t take […]

Monday February 12, 2024Distance/ Total: 24.2 km / 15.0 mi Pippi, a hiker from the UK, had set up a shuttle for us this morning at 8:00am. I was up at 6:00am and packed up before 7:00. I went down to the kitchen and made some coffee and ate some cereal and Tim Tams while waiting for our ride. We […]

Sunday February 11, 2024Distance/ Total: 0.0 km / 0.0 mi Zero day in Hanmer Springs. I slept in until after 7:00am this morning and was pretty slow getting around. I thought about going out for breakfast but it was raining when I got up and I didn’t want to walk in the rain. I settled on a breakfast bar, some […]

Saturday February 10, 2024Distance/ Total: 18.9 km / 11.7 mi I woke up before daylight and started getting ready. I noticed that the sandflies had left and I was looking forward to a bite-free morning. It started getting daylight as I packed up my gear and by the time I was ready to climb out of the tent they had […]

Friday February 9, 2024Distance/ Total: 22.7 km / 14.1 mi The hut was too warm and the mattress too flat to be comfortable last night. I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable but never could get things just right. The hut started coming alive about 6:15am and I got up and moved my gear to the common area to […]

Thursday February 8, 2024Distance/ Total: 26.0 km / 16.2 mi Despite my murderous rampage on the sandflies that got in my tent last night, the outside of my tent was swarming with sandflies this morning. I ate breakfast, packed up most of my gear, and applied insect repellent before venturing out. They still swarmed me while I took down my […]

Wednesday February 7, 2024Distance/ Total: 16.3 km / 10.1 mi I had my first wild animal encounter in New Zealand last night. About 2:00am I heard some rustling outside my tent that woke me up. I grabbed my headlamp and fiddled with it to get it on. I looked around and couldn’t see anything. I laid back down and listened […]

Tuesday February 6, 2024Distance/ Total: 22.0 km / 13.7 mi Camping by the Travers River last night meant I woke up to a wet tent this morning. I wiped everything down, packed up and hit the trail about 7:20am. From John Tait hut it is a 1000m (3,300’) climb to the Travers saddle. The climb up is 8.5km (5.3mi) long […]