Southland
Lake Wakatipu to Bluff

Daily journal of my 3000km hike across New Zealand, Te Araroa, the Long Pathway.

Day 1️4️0️ | 12 km | Greenstone Car Park - Greenstone Hut

A very short day, because heavy rain is predicted for the next 18 hours and we'd like to spend that time in a spacious and comfortable hut. We gather and chop firewood, get the stove burning and relax during the rest of the day.

Day 1️4️1️ | 22 km | Greenstone Hut - Boundary Hut

Another easy day, although we still walked more than we thought we would in the rain. The morning consisted of a beautiful forest section with lots of fallen trees. Much crawling, climbing, yoga and some puzzling was required and that was really fun.

We then entered a cloudy valley where we walked over hills, between shrubs and through alpine bog. Arriving at another hut, we decided to stay and relax. We celebrated St Patricks day by colouring our dinners a very bright green (mmm pasta with green cheese sauce) and caught up with some hiking friends.

Day 1️4️2️ | 32 km | Boundary Hut - Kiwi Burn Hut

A 50/50 day of open golden valley and beautiful beech forest. All easy to follow, little elevation gain and just generally pleasant to walk. Especially the autumnal forest with all its mushrooms was great!We walked in a group of five, taking breaks together. Our chatting continued all evening in the hut, until it was dark enough to sleep 😴

Day 1️4️3️ | 29 km | Kiwi Burn Hut - Princhester Road

We get up in the dark, again, because sunrise is at 7:45 now - getting later and later. We're walking in the same group, crossing a river with slippery stones and then entering a slightly overgrown track through farmland. While avoiding the poo and bog, stabby shrubs and scratchy ferns, we chat and laugh, making the challenging track a fun experience. We end the day with some roadwalking, then hitch to Te Anau for resupply and the luxury of comfort: Indian food, hot showers and real beds with actual pillows 🥰

Day 1️4️4️ | 6 km | Princhester Road - Princhester hut

We're doing a so-called 'nero' today, a 'near zero', almost no kilometers of hiking. The little distance we do walk is all on a road, so we reach the hut nice and early. We spend the afternoon talking, relaxing and reading (... and enjoying a special treat that a hiker before us has left in honour of the hut's altitude at 420 meters).

Day 1️4️5️ | 16 km | Princhester hut - Aparima hut

We really tried to make the most of this day and enjoy it, but really... it was a little miserable. After a night of heavy rain, we started with a very cold morning on a flooded trail. Seemingly stuck in an endless loop of beech forest and tussock fields, we continued on and on while drizzle turned to hail, relentlessly pounding down on us and scratching any exposed skin.

The area was clearly beautiful, the forest lovely, but we were just COLD, unable to move our hands properly, no feeling in our fingers, ice bullets falling from the sky. When it was dry and we sat down to have lunch and I was finally able to open the clips on my bag and find my ingredients and make myself a wrap, it started hailing again.

After this, luckily, it cleared up a bit and we even saw the sun for a few minutes. Now we could enjoy the fun maze the high tussock had created for us. At the hut we made a fire and enjoyed a cosy afternoon and evening.

Day 1️4️6️ | 26 km | Aparima hut - Telford campsite

After a boggy start, we enter a beautiful forest with bright mossy hills and a sea of plants. We're wading through big ferns for hours until we reach the hut where we have lunch.

Then it's time for the ascent of our last 1000 meter peak. It's a nice forest climb that ends on a gorgeous alpine ridgeline. Most of the views are - of course - obscured by clouds, but we get some nice valley views towards the end. We can't see the sea through the clouds, but we can imagine where it is and that's enough. Getting closer to the end!

Almost there...

I'm tired. Everything is dirty. It's getting cold, and dark. My shorts are torn, my t-shirt threadbare, my hiking poles worn down, my sleeping bag liner shredded, the arms of my stove limp, my socks full of holes. My legs full of scratches and sandfly bites, my muscles cramping, my appetite for hiking food gone. And I'm so done with putting on my icy, wet and stinky socks and shoes in the morning...

I'm ready for the finish line.

But I'm also not.

Because there's nowhere else I'd rather be when I wake up to a view of snowy peaks and sunrise. When I'm walking through lush beech forest and spot a bunch of fantails. When I'm listening to my friends talk about food for hours. When we're hiking together, chatting, laughing, facing the challenges of the trail and receiving its rewards. When I'm proud and exhausted in my sleeping bag, my legs tingling after a long day of walking. And when I get to spend yet another day outside in nature, being me and being free.

It's weird to be slowly approaching Bluff, the end of Te Araroa. I feel a lot of things, many of them contradicting. But above all, I'm grateful beyond words for everything I have experienced in the past few months.

Whether I'm ready or not, it's time for the final stretch 💪 let's go! 🚶‍♀️

Day 1️4️7️ | 30 km | Telford campsite - Birchwood station

After walking on yellow grassed mountains for weeks, it's refreshing to suddenly be surrounded by green hills again. Most of what we walk through today is farmland with some stunning views. And a lot of sheep.

Wet weather combined with farmland means that we're sloshing our shoes through puddles of sheep shit most of the day. But life is worse for Siobhan, who has lost a hiking shoe to the river yesterday and is wearing sandals now...

After getting lost in a turnip field, we eventually make it to the hut. We have a hot shower(!), then get a ride to the supermarket so we can buy some brownies(!!), after which we get delivered to the local tavern for a delicious pub meal(!!!).

Day 1️4️8️ | 39 km | Birchwood Station - Longwood forest track

A looooong day of walking with many roads, some farmland, a very steep hill, a muddy section and a nice ascent between trees at the end. We camp at the start of the Longwood forest, pitching our tents in the rain while singing.

It continues to rain, so we cook and eat in our tents. I make some instant chocolate mousse (best camping invention ever), read my book and have a shouting conversation with my neighbours. At night I finally hear a morepork again! 🦉

Day 1️4️9️ | 19 km | Longwood forest track - Martin's hut

If I'd give my days a title, today would be "moss & mud", which would also be the summary. We walked in a forest that was beautifully mossy, and there was mud. A LOT of mud, deep and thick and smelly.

...and it was great. We'd been excited for this section for weeks and it did not disappoint. Thanks to the rain that fell all night (and morning, while packing up our tents...) the entire trail was wet, gross and extremely muddy - exactly what we wanted. We jumped in the puddles, screaming with excitement while skidding down the trail and found the deepest patches to walk through.

Singing and splashing and completely covered in mud, we arrived at the last mountain hut on trail, where we rinsed ourselves and got a good fire going to warm up.

Day 1️5️0️ | 29 km | Martins hut - Riverton

Mud, mud, mud again! A full morning of it, skipping and sliding and splashing down the trail. The forest is full of birds and I'm enjoying it to the fullest. When we finally get out, we clean ourselves in a stream and have lunch at a pub.

Soon after, we can see and hear the sea again for the first time in months, quite a special moment! We walk along a pebble beach, over green hills and through a bit of bush until we reach Riverton. We have a quick dinner and a very long hot shower. And a real bed for the night 😍

Day 1️5️1️ | 33 km | Riverton - Invercargill

After treating ourselves to a cafe breakfast and coffee, we start our long beachwalk towards Invercargill. It's nice to walk next to the sea again and it feels perfectly circular to be hiking on endless sand with an unchanging view - exactly how it all started 5 months ago.

We walk together for a while, as we've done for most of the past week. When I choose to take a moment for myself, I look at the map on my phone and can barely believe that the blue dot is showing me to be so very close to New Zealand's most Southern point!

What a journey it has been. I scroll through the photos of my first weeks on trail, listen to the same music as I did when I was on 90 mile beach, shed two tears, then continue with a big smile on my face. Something changed and I feel ready, I am ready, to walk to the end of Te Araroa... TOMORROW!

Day 152 | 34 km | Invercargill - Bluff

IT'S DONE!!!! I DID IT!!! WE MADE IT!!! 💪🤩🎉

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH 😃😃😃

What an amazing moment it was to run to the pole marking the end, finally touching it after months of visualising this exact moment.

This journey has been INCREDIBLE. There are no words to describe it in short, but if you've been following my hike you surely have an idea of how diverse, beautiful, surprising, challenging and adventurous it has been!

It was a great pleasure to digitally take you with me, hiking through New Zealand. Thank you so much for all the support, kind messages and great comments 🥰

I cannot believe it's over! My body has finished the trail, but my mind is yet to arrive. I'm going to take some time to rest and enjoy, take a little break from blogging. But I'm sure I'll be back with a new adventure ✌️

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SouthlandLake Wakatipu to Bluff