This "city break" is coming to an end, plus I updated my mission map
Time to fly, hike and paddle. Te Waipounamu: I'm looking at you.
It was May 2024 when I rocked up back in Aotearoa New Zealand’s biggest city without much more of a plan than “tread water financially and go overseas”. That time in China, the UK and Gibraltar stretched my finances thin and I returned to the country a fiscally-downsized human man. But I did have a hefty adventure plan: let’s get the South Island done on the raft!
From Cape Farewell to the Nelson Lakes I voyaged in my little blue boat, often tramping overland between the waters of Te Waipounamu. 17 days at sea, mentally. However, feeling the lure of the Supercity’s chequebook, I called it and headed back to work: producing radio for Sport Nation over summer, then helping launch NZ Herald’s new morning show Herald NOW over autumn, into winter.
It’s been an incredibly busy bunch of months, but I have poked my head above the soil and see now is the time to get back out there. Living in Metropolis, surrounded by scenes of at least 70% concrete, has given rise to an endless slew of daydreams. Many centre around that short, but incredible rafting journey of last year: the anticipation of that first crossing over the Whanganui Inlet, followed by a same-day jaunt into the pure, isolated bush by the Kaituna River; paddling down Golden Bay; the float-and-drag around the back of Moturoa/Rabbit Island; and the community of cool folk I met trekking the challenging and wholly unique Richmond Range. These dreams all lead me to conclude: we aren’t really meant to live in Metropolis. We just do because it appears convenient and comfortable; the same convenience and comfort that renders many of us incapable of escape.
I updated my mission map! This is a job I constantly put off, due to its complexities and having to relearn how to do it every time; you can’t just dump .gpx files onto Google Maps and walk away! You can see my route so far here, since the very beginning back in January 2022. Yes, that’s right, coming up on four years ago. Let’s get this thing done.
From early November, I am planning to pick up the route from Coldwater Hut, at the head of Lake Rotoiti. From there I will cut a route through the central lakes - they all need a paddle. From Wānaka, I will head over the pass to Wakatipu’s headwaters, Greenstone it to The Divide, before taking on Te Anau. It’s the South Island’s biggest lake, so would be rude not to.
A brand new 2026 Durston X-mid 2 Solid tent is en route. Gear and pack weight has been a constant hurdle in this mission and I’m hoping the new portable hotel offers a suitable volume reduction. The wilder parts of the South Island don’t offer resupply options on every street corner, so if I can carry more kai (food), I’ll be diverting less. Expect some kind of first impressions of my purchase soon.
This journey to Bluff has been anything but the through-journey it was dreamt up as. Injuries, running out of season and other life distractions have all made it drag on. It’s been a good reminder of the changes you can go through in life and how these can dramatically alter your immediate goals. However, every time I’ve pressed pause on the remote, it’s never once been an easy decision and it’s always come with the caveat that I will continue at the next opportunity.
That paragraph I just wrote also reads like a caveat, haha; “I’m leaving on this thing, but I also might not finish again!”. We will see. Perhaps, I need to be fundraising? All the longest sections that I’ve completed previously were in aid of three charities, so maybe that’s been the missing driver all along. Okay, if we do this for a charity - which should it be and why? Answers in the comments.