Blog

6 Mar. With an easy riverside walk today into Wanaka, there was no rush, so I caught up with family over WhatsApp and the hotel WiFi. After checking out, back to Sailz for a full breakfast. I started walking at 10:45. This section today fills in the gap created in my Garmin track when I … Continue reading Hawea to Wanaka

5 Mar. With only one window in the hut, it was the small holes in the corrugated iron walls that gave away the presence of daylight. Up at 06:45, water boiled on the gas stove without making too much noise, but everyone in the hut was awake. Usual porridge breakfast, packing everything in its usual … Continue reading Stodys Hut to Hawea

4 Mar. Felt an earthquake at 00:30. Sleeping with an ear on my sleeping mat, I heard a deep ground rumble and then just one short judder. I found later, it was a 3.6 quake according to GeoNet. A quick mental check that I wasn’t sleeping near any rocky slopes, and all was well. The … Continue reading Top Timaru Hut to Stodys Hut

3 Mar. Light rain started overnight, so on daybreak about 06:30, I prepared my usual porridge and granola on the gas stove in my tent. First time I have done that in this tent but it worked fine. The rain was off and on and getting out of my tent I caught a full arc … Continue reading Ahuriri River to Top Timaru Hut

2 Mar. Back to walking. We cleared the bach at 08:30 and I walked a short distance to Cycle Journeys depot in Twizel for the daily 09:00 shuttle to Lake Ohau Lodge. Herb was driving the minibus and he had a lot of bag pickups from locations where Alps2Ocean cyclists had been staying. Their bags … Continue reading Lake Ohau to Ahuriri River

1 Mar. With a fine day forecast and a shorter distance to cover than yesterday, it was going to be a relaxed day. At 09:30 we left Twizel initially by main road to join the Ohau canal road. Biking over this section it was best to follow the Alps2Ocean bike trail as the track surface … Continue reading Twizel to Lake Ohau

29 Feb. The chance of rain and high winds was due to reduce early morning, so I booked a mid morning start from Annie’s in Tekapo. It is about a 45 min drive to Tekapo from where we were staying in Twizel. Annie had someone to drive Anara’s car back to Twizel and we were … Continue reading Lake Tekapo to Twizel

28 Feb. This was a relocation day. Up early to catch the intercity coach at 08:05 from Queenstown back to Lake Tekapo arriving at 12:25. A good day to be travelling rather than walking as it rained with high winds for most of the morning. The coach was nearly full, so definitely worthwhile booking at … Continue reading Jump Back: Queenstown to Lake Tekapo

27 Feb. Jenny’s birthday, and her roses at home bloomed today! In Arrowtown it was a fine day to take it easy with a town and country walk. Diego, Dave and Baxter were taking a rest day at the camp ground, so they weren’t striking camp like me. In the camp ground kitchen I met … Continue reading Arrowtown to Queenstown

26 Feb. Rain and wind were forecast for tomorrow, so today’s goal was to get down from the mountains into Arrowtown. 26 km with a couple of climbs again, so it was going to be a longish day. Off at 08:10, it took me 1:10 to climb the 470m to Roses Saddle. It was then … Continue reading Roses Hut to Arrowtown