Treading Trail

On Saturday, I visited Cape Reinga. Though not technically the most northern point of New Zealand, it draws significance from the Maori belief that souls depart from here to return to their homeland. The lighthouse, combined with the meeting of two seas encouraged me to visit this potentially atmospheric and spectacular spot. Although I wanted Cape Reinga to be atmospheric and spectacular, I was typically disappointed by the amount of people there. I find the 'points' of New Zealand rather arbitrary, with the atmosphere spoiled by the number of people (often the more populous areas of New Zealand in my experience). Being one of the first in the world to witness the sun rise at New Zealand's most eastern point was rather spectacular, but on the whole, these points don't rival beauty you can find in other parts of New Zealand. Despite my protestations that Cape Reinga was underwhelming (by New Zealand nature standards), I couldn't shake off the strange feeling ...

The day began at 5:00am, although our alarms forgot to wake us and we were left sleeping. It was only by chance that I awoke at 5:25. It's not natural to have to move that quickly at that time of morning. It was between five and ten minutes before we were on the road heading to the national park from Reid's Farm in Taupo, a busy but free campsite which reminds me somewhat of a festival. Although we had no time for coffee, we managed to shovel in some porridge, before jumping on the shuttle bus. It was only much later that day when we realised we'd left our campervan unlocked, leaving our home, transport and worldly possessions unprotected. The world was in our favour that day, and on our return, we found our van untouched, and as we had left it. The world was also in my favour on my second trip across the Tongariro Crossing in January, with my sister. Like our first crossing in October, we were blessed with beautiful weather and stunning views. The 19km crossin...

You wake up during the night, in your warm and cosy bed. So comfortable. But wait. It slowly dawns on you that you just really, really need to pee. You weigh up the options. The worst thing is you're actually in a van. To pee you're going to have to trek outside in the cold and darkness to the nearest long drop toilet. Who knows what kind of bugs will be attracted to your head torch! You just really, really want to find another option. Only, when you finally clamber out of the van, you are met with the most incredible view. The stars above you are so clear. It's so quiet, and peaceful, and you really sense the beauty of the nature around you. You're reminded that you're alive. That you're pretty small in this big beautiful world. That you should pause and appreciate what is around you. Living in a van is an incredible experience. There are so many small events in the day that bring you beauty. Without a shower, you swim in lakes, seas, rivers, ...

Today, I completed my first trail run! Due to weather and trail conditions, the event was relocated from Hunua Ranges to Duder Regional Park. Having never heard of the place, or run a trail run event before, I didn't really have any expectations for the run. That also meant that I didn't place any pressure on myself other than completing the trail. The chances of beginning the trail let alone finishing it looked pretty slim this morning. Around 400 meters from our house, we managed to get a flat tyre. We put the spare on as quickly as possible, and were about to head off, only to find that we'd managed to get a flat battery too! I think we both considered giving up there and then, but the prospect of returning home was miserable. We decided to give it a shot with the spare tyre, flagged down a random car for a jump start, and managed to make it to the run just as the first set of runners were heading out on their 13.8km run. (I'm so glad we did!) The 6.4km tr...

Over the past few weeks I’ve had an increasing desire to write. I’m going to embrace that desire and see where it takes me. I’ve often tried to write a few blogs before, and only really committed fully to one of them. But at the moment, I feel like crafting a space which I can use for myself. A space where I can document and reflect on what I’m enjoying and pursuing at the moment, the journeys and challenges I want to complete this year. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished over the past few years. There’s been a great deal of change, and I’m sure there will be over the next few years too. But I am gaining an increasing interest in a few areas and I want to reflect on those. In August 2015 I went to Norway for two weeks. I’ve always been incredibly lucky with the opportunities I’ve had to travel, and I’ve always been relatively active, but Norway was probably the first outdoorsy holiday I’d been on as an adult. I only did a couple of day hikes and a two day bike ride but it ...