Midpoint Gear Review

We had hoped to get this up in Wellington as we finished the North Island, but better late than never! As we said in previous posts, we consider ourselves lucky when it comes to gear. We’ve met a lot of hikers on the TA who are unhappy with their gear (mostly because they want to…

Day 66-68: Zero Days

We have THOROUGHLY enjoyed our days off in Wellington, then Picton. It had been the perfect mix of chores (resupply, laundry, blogging, phone calls, etc), rest, calorie-loading and playing tourists. Food, food and more food Our Wellington hosts, Carole and Tony, were incredible. We shared several meals with them, including homemade fish and chips and…

Ode To The North Island

As I said in my last post, we have finished the North Island (NI) section of the Te Araroa (TA), all 1686 kilometers (or 1076 miles)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a difference 65 days has made…a little tanner, bug bitten and muscular… Please excuse the excess of exclamation points. I simply cannot overstate my enthusiasm for finishing…