Let's go on a big hike holiday!
A South Island road trip beckons. Here's the plan!
Kia ora, team of awesome, paying people! (And now all subscribers!)
The sun is out in sunny Nelson (see pic above), productivity is well down and it’s nearly big adventure trip time. I have about three videos in the mix, waiting for their final edits, and an unlimited list of other things I want to publish and do (before this life is up).
Everything’s in a bit of a muddle as we’re saying goodbye to the YHA this weekend. It’s been our home for 5.5 months. The manager’s flat has been the scene of many fun times, most recently Zoe’s 30th birthday, which we celebrated last week.
Moving out is never easy, although this one is simplified by the fact we were living on the road beforehand. Fill the bags and go!
Big hike holiday
We’re leaving as it's big hike holiday time! Here's the rough sketch of the plan, courtesy of MS Paint:
(Strewth, I hope you took a good look at that. The time that took to create reminded me why we all moved on from MS Paint!)
Hikes/huts currently booked and planned for are:
- Kelly Saddle/Carroll Hut, Arthurs Pass
- Brewster Hut, Haast Pass
- Aspiring Hut, Mount Aspiring National Park
- Milford Track, Fiordland National Park (said to be one of the best walks in the world! Also the most expensive walk I’ve ever been on, but I have a cunning plan to strip out some of those costs. Watch this space to see how that pans out!)
- Mueller Hut, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park
The rest is a loose plan consisting of #tentlife in wonder-spots like Ōkārito, Clifden, Rakiura/Stewart Island, The Catlins, Banks Peninsula and Hanmer Springs (fingers crossed, could be the first time I see the sun in Hanmer Springs!).
Any tips? Any questions?
Return of The Waka & Waewae Journey?
My packraft and hiking epic down the length of New Zealand has been paused this year, but the embers remain alight. Our planning for this roadie has brought up many memories from 2022’s North Island expedition and I can’t put them down.
From my weary arrival at Mangahao Flats Hut, after a mammoth effort on foot through the Tararua 'lowlands' through to the heart-in-mouth moments paddling across the country’s largest and most-dangerous harbour, the Kaipara: I really sort of miss it!
Planning for our journey has also got me thinking about the potential route from Cape Farewell to Slope Point, conjuring up visions of what the South Island could be like! I’m currently putting together a plan of action, so expect to be among the first to know. As usual, all ideas welcome. Particularly if you’re someone who knows about sponsorship!
Substack everything
My website got hacked last year. Actually, it was the hosting (that I was getting for free from a mate for years) that got illegally compromised. We thought we had cleaned it up, but the bacteria kept coming back. They never did anything (to my knowledge) really bad, like sensible hackers would. Instead, they kept piling up weird URLs in the backend of the site. Stuff that looked illegitimate and no one with half a mind would ever fall for.
I fought it off as best I could (deleting stuff here and there), but I knew I needed a longer term solution. Fortunately, a writer friend got me onto Substack last year. That’s where we are right now. Brilliantly, it allows the use of a custom URL on your publication, so that’s exactly what this is about: my website, duncwilson.co.nz, is now my Substack and vice versa! It was even really easy to copy all my old blogs across, so those are here now too.
Cherry picking the jobs
After our trip, I’ll head off to Blenheim for an intensive 3 week season picking cherries. I’ll earn money doing it, but I’m sure I’ll also manage to give myself the ill-fated ‘cherry-belly’. They say if you want try the best cherries NZ has to offer, go pick them. Let’s see, shall we?
I’m sure there was something else I wanted to include here, but it’s gone. Good news is, I plan to keep you all updated during our epic trip and that will be a bit easier as, while I’ve been writing this, I’ve come up with a way of waterproofing my laptop, so it can come on the hikes and not be riskily left in the car. Thanks for that inspiration, you!
Cheers for all the support,
Dx