Aotearoa New Zealand 22-3

As we begin to move into the early days of autumn here in Aotearoa I realise it has been well over a month since my last blog post and, as both adventures and big announcements are starting to stack up now, I think it's about time to set pen to paper and get back to posting.

First up - and probably most significant - is a long overdue trail update, and it's one that - despite a lot of soul searching & reasoning - I'm still finding tough to state publicly, but here goes: I've decided to come off Te Araroa. This wasn't an easy decision, and I could comfortably blame weather, track condition and/or injury for my choice, but although all of these were significant factors - particularly the latter, realised best by a spectacular fall straight onto my tailbone in the Richmonds - ultimately I have to own that this trail just wasn't for me. I have still had over a 1000kms of unforgettable adventure and met some incredible people on the TA, and this decision won't stop me from jumping on and off the trail if the opportunity arises, but I am decidedly now more of a section-hiker, and happy to be considered so!

Since I'm no longer full-time tramping, life has naturally changed a little. For starters, cars have come back into play, both in the form of hitchhiking and roadtripping - shout out has to go in particular to Sarah for offering me a ride in "Van Solo", which became two days of walking, wild swimming and almost drowning in a waist-deep underground river, and to Al and his 1979 Jeep - the perfect vehicle to tour Canterbury and Otago in. There have been adventures to Tekapo, Queenstown and Glenorchy as a result, plus hiking and cycling at Roy's Peak, Arthur's Pass and Lake Dunstan, and there was even an escapade to the Orange Stadium in Christchurch, for an impromptu Elton John concert (in full costume of course). But despite a *lot* of journeying around, there has also been the massive privilege of stopping for a while, of being able to unpack my bags, have a shower, a bed and my own space and to finally earn a little money - and it is this that constitutes the second big update of this post, because I am now - for a few weeks at least - based in one place: Wanaka, and perhaps even more excitingly, seem to have stumbled upon the dream job: working in a local indie bookshop. I'm not sure I could have landed on my feet any better - daily lake swims and as much reading material as can be mustered are hard to argue with - and the views of the mountains are everchanging and incredible: this is a pretty spectacular place to call home, even for a little while.

As for this blog - the plan with FindPenguins is to go back and retrospectively add some steps to my trip, and there are still future adventures on the horizon - Blue Pools, Milford Sound and hopefully Invercargill at the very least - but for now, this update should add a little clarity for anyone who was trying to puzzle out quite what was going on!Baca lagi