Pub crawls in the countryside and other useful tidings
Country pub crawling, 100 adventure podcast episodes, my favourite shoes right now and chicken fungus.
Adventure outing - UK edition: Country Pub Crawl
I wrote before about my love of the humble, but well-worn English footpath. One of the other outstanding things about England for me is the pubs. As a best mate put it recently, while in a very traditional English pub: “it’s an experience that can’t be recreated. People have tried around the world, but it’s never the same.”
He’s right. Do you remember that ‘English pub’ Auckland once attempted? Was it ‘The Thistle And Cockroach’? I can’t quite remember.
The good, old pubs in the countryside are particularly hard to look past. They’re full of hundreds of years of history, woodworm and the countless spirits of drunken patrons. So, why not combine a countryside ramble with a pub crawl?
Here’s a little video about that concept:
Top Track Cutter: Abigail Hannah’s Aotearoa Adventures
Aotearoa Adventures - the Kiwi podcast full of ideas and inspiration for adventures all over New Zealand - recently turned 100. That’s old.
To be clear, that’s 100 episodes. Host and creator Abigail Hannah celebrated the milestone with a special live recording, in front of a packed crowd in Tāmaki Makaurau. The live event was also streamed live on Insta and Tik Tok.
For the previous 99 episodes, Abigail has talked to Kiwi adventurers of all stripes. Be they hikers, bikers, trampers or campers, everyone of them has a story to tell. For the 100th episode, the tables were turned and Abigail herself was the guest, revealing what encouraged her to take the plunge and start an adventure podcast and everything she’s learnt on that journey.
You can subscribe to Aotearoa Adventures on Spotify, Apple and “wherever you get your podcasts”. Actually, you can also take a listen here:
Nod to the Gear Gods: HOKA Ora
Whether you tramp, hike, ramble or walk, shoes are important, right? They’re probably the most important bit of gear for hitting the trail - they are the ones literally hitting the trail.
Last year, I did the Milford and Rakiura Tracks in close-succession, along with a bunch of other hikes around the south of South. For these, I wore a new pair of approach shoes. Great shoes, but I kept the insoles stock and didn’t switch them for my arch-supportive ones, which ward against the ghouls of plantar fasciitis. Wally.
Summer came and I was in agony. The plantar I had kept away for six years was back. Stretching helped, but the relief was only temporary. My heels needed some permanent support.
Enter: HOKA Ora. My parents and I were in Rebel Sport Nelson when I spotted these ‘slides’. They’re soft, non-abrasive and fully supportive in the arch region. In pigeon grey and styled like the footwear of an escaped physiotherapy inpatient, it would be a leap to label them “stylish”. However, when your foot is bung, fashion drops a rung.
Mum bought them for me and I have been wearing them practically non-stop ever since. They really are super comfortable. The only time I have gone without them was while working on The Traitors NZ as, well, “enclosed shoes on set”, innit.
The pain from plantar is reducing and I am wearing these on increasingly longer walks. They don’t seem to rub my feet up the wrong way and I genuinely think I could do a 30-40km day in them. So, I’m going to try. I will definitely let you know how that goes, but in the meantime: five stars.
Chicken of the woods?
Out on a micro-trek last week, I discovered this funny fungus on a log. Coloured somewhere on the spectrum between sick and ear wax, while shaped like a giant piece of popcorn, it stood out against the natural woodland browns and greens.
I could’ve jumped on Google when I got home and probably found out what it was, but instead decided to harness the awesome power of social media and throw the question out there.
My environmental science mate Jarrod - who I literally met on a rubbish dump, working as a new migrant on a ‘waste audit’ in 2008 - answered on Strava. Apparently, this puke-tinted specimen is known as ‘chicken of the woods’ and tastes great.
Have you tried it? I kinda want to get me some now. (Obvious and usual warnings around eating things you find growing on the ground apply!)