Te Araroa
3000 km of hiking in New-Zealand

October 26th, 2022  

I'm flying to New Zealand to hike 3000 km across the country! I'll be walking for 5 months, carrying everything I need on my back. I am SO excited.

The trail, that runs from North to South, is called Te Araroa, which appropriately means 'the long pathway'. There will be wilderness, mountains and camping, but also farms, roads and cities. It will be really fun, and it will be really hard. But I'm so ready for the this adventure!

For months I've prepared for this trek. Reading stories, making lists, finding the right gear, adding up the weight of every single item in my backpack in a spreadsheet. By now I'm an expert in all the different materials that hiking stuff can be made of, the pros and cons of every item. And I've selected an assortment that I think will work for me. We'll find out 😬

IT'S DONE!!!!! That was it. The end. We touched 'the pole' in Bluff. A steel rod that I've been fantasizing to touch for months. And I mean that, literally - I was imagining my hand stroking the cold white metal pretty much every day.

We celebrated our arrival in Bluff with champagne and tequila, brought to us by friends who had arrived the day prior. We hung around the signpost for a while, first with smiles and then more awkwardly - not really realising our hike had ended and not ready for the question of what's next. 

We all ordered an obscene amount of food, stuffing ourselves fuller than full, probably trying to fill the void we already felt growing inside. Because it was weird, not hiking anymore. We lost our clear objective of following the trail South. This life had been so simple, basic in the best way.

Letting go would not be easy.