Tikitimu forest to Telford Tops 26 k The morning light is appearing noticeably later each day now, and with the storm clouds snuffing out the sunrise, it seems even further delayed today. We carefully pack up the lumpy campsite, a strange initiative with feet planted in strategically selected holes, in which we only twist and …
3/11 The March of The Tussocks
Te Anau to Tussock in Tikitimu Forest 15 k Bizarrely, a van arrived and parked in our campsite in the middle of the night, made a bunch of noise with their headlights on bright, and drove away. I put in earplugs, but apparently they came back and kept Prana up a big chunk of the …
3/10 Lake Retreat
3/10 Te Anau Layover Day The morning arrives lazily, and I journal a bit in my bed before I remember how nice and warm the common areas inside are. I head in and nestle down on an overstuffed couch next to a blasting heater with coffee made from an instant water boiler. Heaven. Eventually Prana …
3/9 A Fortuitous Hitch
Wash Creek to Te Anau 16 k It is a cold cold morning. The air is thick with the chill rising off the creek, and the sun has yet to break into our hollow, even if it is already lighting the sky. I pull my sleeping quilt fully over my head, the light layering the …
3/8 Three False Starts and a Bottomless Bog
Mavora Campsite to Wash Creek 32 k It's a dampened motivation to get out of bed this morning. A late start as well - late by convention, but not too late for sunrise. The days are getting noticeably shorter each morning, no way around it that fall has arrived! We pack up and less than …
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3/7 The Lakes of Mavora
Greenstone Hut to Mavora Campsite 37 k The alarm goes off at 6:00 am, a bit tricky considering the stacked communal sleeping, and even though Prana has the ringer turned off and his headphones plugged in, the phone still jangles loudly. We try to creep as quietly as we can into the kitchen space, hoping …
3/6 The Caples and The Greenstone
Howden Campsite to Greenstone Hut 33 k The morning is soggy and blanketed with fog. For as wet as the night was, it wasn't nearly as cold as I had thought it would be. For some reason the last few mornings I have woken up with the feeling of my heart racing, so this morning …
3/5 The Routeburn
Routeburn Start Meadow to Howden Campsite 31 k We wake up to perhaps the most condensation yet on this damp trail. The fullish moon is setting over the two tier waterfall, and the stars are out in a clear sky as I light the coffee water. Today we hike the Routeburn! I have been looking …
3/4 Stereotype Down
QTown Holiday Park to Routeburn Start Meadow 0 k hiking, lots of hitching Paying for camping in town: it must be one of Dante’s lower circles. The holiday park itself is absolutely delightful in its details; it reminds me of the City Museum back home in St Louis. We have a first breakfast of leftover …
3/3 Plastic Steampunk and Chinese Polkas
609 Saddle to Queenstown Holiday Park 31 k For some reason, I could not fall asleep last night. I would try, fail, try to journal, be unable to think of words, read instead, nod off, put the book down, and lie awake. One of those nights. It didn’t help that a possum was screeching and …
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