When I was researching writing retreats for my book on Te Araroa, I was completely overwhelmed by the quantity and variety of retreats offered. Some lasted just a weekend. Some more »

I have something a little different on the blog today … it is an interview with someone about their first-time trip to the good ol’ ’Merica.  Can you imagine coming more »

Sadly, I am bidding farewell to New Zealand today. I am extremely pleased with my book-writing accomplishments and plan to write a full post about the retreat, etc, but for more »

Greetings from New Zealand! I am doing well … busy writing, practicing yoga, writing, writing, biking, hiking, writing, practicing yoga, writing … you get the picture. And if you don’t, more »

Hello from New Zealand!  I didn’t want to make any promises about posting, but I thought I’d chronicle my time so far. My retreat starts Monday in Wanaka, but I more »

If you’ve been reading this blog for a long time, or if you are my “real-life” friend, you would know I am a writer. I have a degree in English more »

After tucking 2015 into bed, J & I realized we’ve had quite a year. If you are a long-time reader, you know I love me some stats. I’m also quite more »

Te Araroa is trending.  While the Te Araroa Trust estimates there were 200 hikers on the trail last season when we were out there, those numbers are surely doubling this more »

We stayed in 25+ different hostels/holiday parks along Te Araroa and most of them were great, but they do vary. We thought a review post might be helpful for anyone more »

We made the most of our 5 days in Sydney, taking all modes of transportation to get around (including walking of course!) and seeing a variety of sights and tourist more »

Well, our 5-month New Zealand grand adventure has come to an end. We flew out on Friday morning and are now are in Sydney, Australia. This was after a brief more »

Dunedin was never a planned destination for our post-Te Araroa travels. Dunedin was the Plan B when Mother Nature decided New Zealand should have the shortest fall ever and go more »

We spent the weekend in Te Anau, gateway to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound. We stayed right on the lake, which is gorgeous in itself. Te Anau Lake is more »

We scheduled in a little R&R during our post Te Araroa weeks in New Zealand and decided the perfect place to recharge our batteries would be at our favorite hostel, more »

I plan to write more about our overall impressions and feelings about the Te Araroa, as well as some tips for people considering it, but for now, it’s just the more »

A second priority in our post-TA exploring was Mt. Cook National Park and we ended up spending 2 days/3 nights there over the Easter weekend. More than one third of more »

Stewart Island (Rakiura) is New Zealand’s “third” largest island. Most of the island is protected as Rakiura National Park. It boasts unspoiled wilderness, as well as cranked up birdsong … more »

Before we leave for Stewart Island, I wanted to give you a few statistics. I will do a grand summary of the entire trail shortly, but here’s the South Island more »

It is done. We have walked the entire length of New Zealand from Cape Reigna to Bluff. (If you would like to start from the beginning, click here.) Thank you more »

Hello from Invercargill! We are at kilometer 2962, which means we are one single day and about 30 kilometers from Bluff, the southern terminus of the Te Araroa. Holy cannoli. more »