The Backcountry hiker

Saturday 10th of June 2023

• Drive time from Christchurch – 2 – 2.5 hours.
• Walking time – 2-3 hours.
• Weather – Cold with blue skies.
• Hikers – Myself, Antonia, Barry & Nick.

It is another excellent weather weekend for a hike so I messaged a few of my hiking buddies to see who was interested in joining Antonia & I. Barry & Nick reached out to say that they were keen.

We planned to leave our house at 8:30am on Saturday, Nick was picking Barry up on the way & they got here slightly earlier.

We were all packed and in the vehicle before our scheduled departure. Stopping at BP Ravenswood for a coffee on the way. We drove to Culverdan & stopped at the bakery for breakfast & to grab a roll for lunch.

Arriving at Lewis pass car park just on 11am we could see at least another 15+ hikers (adults and children) getting ready to start walking. After Barry & I asked where they were heading (so we could avoid the masses) they told us that they would get to Cannabal gorge hut & see how they go. Leaving us with an unclear decision on what we are doing.

We started off just after 11am, walking initially on boardwalk & then descending through the Beech forest on a well graded track to the Cannabal gorge swing bridge. At this point the big group of 15 & two other ladies were just behind us.

After the bridge it was a gentle climb up to gain 100 metres before reaching the viewing area. The rest of the track was undulating from here crossing numerous slips & side creeks through permafrost before reaching the next swing bridge 600 metres shy of Cannabal gorge hut.

We then had a short sharp climb up through the beech forest before arriving into the clearing where the hut was in plain site. We could see the two ladies who passed us earlier sitting there having a late lunch. We also took this opportunity to have our lunch.

We then decided that since it looked like a nice spot to camp down by the river in front of the hut that we would. We set up camp, cut & gathered firewood from the dead trees down in the river (I had my electric chainsaw) & by 3pm after the sun had lowered enough for our spot to be in the shade we seen frost forming on our tents & gear!

It was a cold afternoon & evening, I managed to talk Antonia into claiming a bed in the hut & I would sleep in the tent alone, but also join the other 2 in tenting outside. We were all in bed by 7:30pm after hanging out around the fire trying to maintain warmth.

It was a long & cold night! I felt like I woke every hour from my cocoon with numb toes & cold knees. Ice had formed inside the tent & even on the outside of my sleeping bag. I would periodically check the temperature & it was generally around -5 to -6 degrees Celsius!

Once my alarm went off at 7am I got up & out of the tent glad that I had survived the night without it being too miserable.

I had left our cooking gear out on the picnic table overnight & it had formed ice crystals. Antonia joined me not long after from the hut & we had a coffee & breakfast before packing up & walking by 9am.

It was a cold walk out & it took until around 11am before the temperature had reached a toasty 0 degrees. We were at the car around midday & set back off towards Christchurch.

It was the coldest night in a tent I have experienced! What an adventure & definitely a memorable one at that. I’m actually looking forward to the next winter camping trip!

Monday 17.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2962.5km
• Official kms: 0 (bypass/detour)
• Garmin kms: 25.24km
• Total time: 5:05
• Calories burned: 1842
• Body battery: 7/10
• Accommodation: Airbnb Riverton.
• Tent nights tally: 19
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Today I’m all about getting it done as I have a zero tomorrow which my body is begging for. I have more aches & pains than ever at the moment.

I left not long after 9am & it was a cruisy walk on footpath for the 1st 1.5km, then it ended & I was walking on the side of the road.

From here I put my headphones in & listened to some upbeat music to set my pace. It worked well as I was averaging about 5.5km per hour.

Today was similar to yesterday, just sealed road through farmland. I didn’t stop until I pumped out a half marathon, at that point I stopped for a banana & some electrolytes. This was just outside a huge amount of river huts alongside the Aparima river, I’m assuming they are for whitebaiting.

After leaving it was only 4km to go but seemed very slow as my legs, ankles & my right glute was very sore!

Upon reaching my amazing accommodation, with a nice little note & some chocolates I sat down for 10 minutes, then emptied my pack.

I then set off with my empty pack to walk the 1.5km into the supermarket to get the next few day’s supplies. I then had to walk my newly loaded pack the 1.5km back.

After getting back I ran the outside bath & lay in it for a good hour to soak my sore muscles. It’s a relaxing evening with hopefully an even more relaxing day off tomorrow.

Sunday 16.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2902
• Official kms: 0 (bypass/detour)
• Garmin kms: 15.31km
• Total time: 3:12
• Calories burned: 880
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Otautau Hotel
• Tent nights tally: 19
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

This morning I said goodbye to the hikers I had been walking with for the last few days. Manun was the first to leave followed by Coral at 7:20am.

I sat around chatting and having coffee with Brooke, Scott & Hamish before they took off just before 9am.

This left me alone at the hut so I packed, swept the hut & was on my way just after 9am.

Very short day today as I’m only walking just over 15km to Otautau where I have accommodation booked at the Hotel.

The whole 3+ hours was on sealed road & I just walked in my thoughts. No music today. I did receive an awesome message from Mike King & the crew doing the Due Drop Hope challenge which gave me such a good boost!

I arrived in Otautau just after 12pm & stopped at the 4Square for a pie & a coke (classic kiwi lunch!). From here it was only 800 metres to my accommodation & I was lucky they checked me in before 1pm!

After arriving I had a hot shower then went to the pub for a well deserved beer! The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in the nice room that I’m staying in!

25km tomorrow & then a zero at Riverton. It’s all road walking as well but hopefully no longer than 6 hours.

So close now……

Saturday 15.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2902.5km
• Official kms: 0
• Garmin kms: 18.66km
• Total time: 4:10
• Calories burned: 1216
• Body battery: 7/10
• Accommodation: Merriview hut.
• Tent nights tally: 19
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Even though I wasn’t in a rush today, I was the first to wake up. I was out of bed at 5:30am as I couldn’t fall back asleep.

Today I am doing a detour as I’m still doing one continuous line from top to bottom but detouring around the Longwoods as I have a few little injuries that I can’t afford to aggravate & the way to do that is to walk the road on the west side of the official TA trail. Otherwise I would be doubling back tomorrow.

This is only going to be 18km where is the official to my destination is 27km which I will pretty much be adding on tomorrow.

I was the last to leave along with Scott, Brooke & Hamish. We walked together for the first 500 meters before I turned right & they turned left.

From here I put in my headphones & blasted music for the 4 hours ahead. Nothing special today, just sealed road & farmland. Although the view further west of the mountains looked spectacular with today’s clear blue sky.

I reached the 5 bed Merriview hut at 12:30, just in time to dry everything out as my water bladder had burst & started leaking about 1.5km before reaching the hut. Luckily I should be able to do without it from this point onwards.

One by one everyone started showing up & we have 3 in the hut tonight & 3 opting to sleep out under the stars. This is my last night on the trail in a hut! From this point onwards I have accomodation booked all the way through to Bluff.

Friday 14.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2875.3
• Official kms: 27km
• Garmin kms: 29.32km
• Total time: 8:10
• Calories burned: 3871
• Body battery: 6/10
• Accommodation: Birchwood hut
• Tent nights tally: 19
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Man there was a mouse problem last night. They kept trying to break into my tent! At about 9:30pm I pulled my pack into the main part of my tent to safe guard it from the mice.

Needless to say it was a fairly crappy sleep. I woke early packed my wet tent away, put on my wet hiking clothes & was off at 7:30am.

Today is basically all farm trail which Is undulating & about 30 kilometres. It started off with a theme that would continue most of the day….mud.

After the first kilometre I had to cross the main river which was flowing fast & was dirty from the last few days of rain. It wasn’t too bad here though.

On the other side the 4wd track carried on for a short while before suddenly turning right & climbing 200 metres over the next few kilometres.

About 10km in I had to Ford the now Wairaki river which had merged with the Telford further upstream, this time it seemed faster & deeper, almost reaching my hips at the deepest point. It was manageable though & I made it across fine.

The rest of today was either on farm track or going through paddocks with livestock & over stiles, there seemed to be a lot of stiles!

At 20 kilometres in I sat down for my first & only break, this was for lunch & I sat there for nearly an hour, as there was cellphone reception I organised my next few days of travelling & working out what I needed to do & where I needed to be.

Just over 8 hours & I had made it too the Birchwood private hut. The first thing I did was have a shower, then hang things out to dry.

I got to call Antonia & talk to her for a bit & then our shuttle that we had prearranged turned up to take us to the pub for food & beer.

There is 10 of us here tonight with at least 6 of us aiming for the 5 bed hut tomorrow. I should be there first considering I’m taking a detour to Riverton over the next 3 days.

Thursday 13.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2848.5km
• Official kms: 8km
• Garmin kms: 8.29km
• Total time: 3:40
• Calories burned: 1940
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Tent at campsite
• Tent nights tally: 19
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Last night I had over 10 hours sleep! Although I woke a few times to hear mice scurrying around the hut.

No rush this morning as it’s only a 8km day, it does involve a 500+ metre climb & then a 600 metre descent though.

Coral left about 10 minutes before me just after 9:30am. I soon caught up within a couple of kilometres. It’s was fairly easy going for the first few kilometres & then the climb began.

Another overcast day with a bit of drizzle. It was a bit of a slog getting the climb done. It was only just over an hour and a half & I had reached the top of the climb. Apparently there is pretty good views from here. Unfortunately visibility was poor.

I stopped for a good 20 minutes up here as there was cell phone reception so I checked emails & text Antonia.

It started getting cold so I started moving again, Coral had also stopped for a bit but left about 10 minutes beforehand.

This exposed ridge reminded me of the Richmond’s. It was similar to some of the stuff I had done there.

It wasn’t long before I had descended down towards the campsite, just before dropping the clouds cleared & I got my first glimpse of the South coast!

As I arrived at the campsite I caught up to Coral. It was just before 1:30pm so we set up tents & had lunch etc. I spent the afternoon watching Netflix & trying to charge my phone but there was no sun so my solar charging wasn’t doing a very good job!

Looking forward to getting back into some form of civilisation tomorrow.

Wednesday 12.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2840.7km
• Official kms: 13.2km
• Garmin kms: 13.76km
• Total time: 4:29
• Calories burned: 2434
• Body battery: 7/10
• Accommodation: Lower Wairaki hut
• Tent nights tally: 18
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

This morning I was up early & the first to leave at 7:30am. It was a wet start with the rain off & on. The first 2km or so were in the open then after this it was into the bush.

The rest of the trail would be like this all the way until the hut. Mainly flat but with some climbs.

Today my plan is just to walk all the way to the hut without stopping for a break as the weather is pretty crappy & it should only take 4 hours or so.

It was probably one of my worst days for slipping & falling over as I fell more times today then I have in the last month.

It was a beautiful forest but treacherous with the mud & the last 2 days of rain that we have had.

I reached the hut right on 12 noon. I was the first one there so claimed a bunk, got out of my saturated clothes & had lunch.

It wasn’t long before Felix & Laura turned up & then Patrick & not long after that Coral. Coral & I are the only 2 staying with the other 3 carrying on to the campsite 9km away.

The 9km does have a 500 metre up & then a 500 metre down though, also through the mud to get there. That will be our day tomorrow. Since it’s only 9km I’m not too worried.

Tuesday 11.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2827.5km
• Official kms: 0
• Garmin kms: 0
• Total time: 0
• Calories burned: 0
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Aparima hut
• Tent nights tally: 18
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Today I am sitting out the bad weather. There is supposed to be a lot of rain coming through so I am just going to hang here & watch a whole lot of Netflix that I downloaded when I was back in reception.

The day was spent doing just that with even an afternoon nap. At about 4:30pm I had my first hut mate turn up. Patrick is from Sweden & has walked the crap weather today.

Not long after him Coral from Wanaka turned up, she is section hiking at the moment.

Half an hour later Felix & Laura turned up. They met on the trail & are a couple.

We sat & chatted for the afternoon, sharing out trail stories. It’s been nice having another rest day & although this is all coming to an end soon I am glad for it as I feel like I’m almost done physically & mentally.

Looking forward to hitting the finish line next Saturday!

Monday 10.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2827.5km
• Official kms: 21.7km
• Garmin kms: 22.88km
• Total time: 8:12
• Calories burned: 3749
• Body battery: 7/10
• Accommodation: Aparima hut
• Tent nights tally: 18
• Zero days had so far: 31

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Today I’m going back on trail & have mixed emotions about it. I’m starting to feel over it & just want to be home but I also want to complete this challenging journey.

I was up way before my alarm & was down at reception at 7am ready to catch my bus that I had booked a few days previously. For $27 they drop you back at the start of the trail on the way to Queenstown.

I was dropped & ready to go not long after 7:30am & started walking just before 8am. The start of the trail is about 6 kilometres of farm road to Princhester hut.

It didn’t take long to reach this hut & there were quite a few cars parked here from Easter weekend trampers & hunters. Surprisingly no one stayed in the hut last night.

After signing the book I started off again into bush this time where I needed to climb over a saddle 400 metre above me. It was very muddy & lots of roots to navigate but I got there in about an hour from leaving the hut.

From here the trail dropped down through the bush over a few kilometres before i emerged out into the open tussock, this had its own challenges as you couldn’t always see where your feet were going or where the next pole was. But it was mostly easy.

Today I bumped into a few people coming the opposite direction as they were coming out from their long weekend hike. I would stop & chat & see where they had come from & how their weekends were.

Before long I sat down in the shade of the bush for lunch. Most of today would go in & out of the bush & tussock. It felt like a long day & my feet were sore by the end of it.

I was glad to reach the hut just over 8 hours from when I set out. It was a challenging day & when I arrived I was the only one here. There are 2 huts here, the main one has 2 platforms & 8 mattresses & the older historic hut has 3 beds & seems just as nice but with more room!

About 20 minutes after arriving a family of 3 turned up & joined me. They are from Dunedin & it’s the 1st time their daughter has done an overnight hike. Hopefully she enjoys it & does more! We are all staying in the bigger hut. 2 TA hikers turned up about an hour later so fairly full hut tonight.

We all did a big firewood run to get enough wood for a few days. I’m expecting to spend all day here tomorrow as there is a lot of rain forecasted for tomorrow.

Another zero in a hut. Hopefully very relaxing.

Friday – Sunday 07.04.2023 – 09.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2806
• Official kms: 0
• Garmin kms: 0
• Total time: 0
• Calories burned: 0
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Lakeview holiday park Te Anau.
• Tent nights tally: 18
• Zero days had so far: 32

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

After arriving in Te Anau I’ve spent the last 3 days off mainly relaxing but preparing for the last 200 kilometres.

I am also up to date with my videos & blogs (there’s a lot of work that goes into these).

Chapter 18 below & chapter 19 will be available on Friday.

I’ve been chilling in my little room with a bed, table & a chair for 3 day’s really just having a mini holiday from the trail.

I’m back on trail tomorrow & I see there is some bad weather coming through. Luckily I have time up my sleeve so I can afford to wait out a few days in a hut if necessary.

I catch the bus at 7am tomorrow & should be starting before 8am with a big day ahead to Aparimu huts. If the bad weather coming through Tuesday doesn’t change I will probably spend Tuesday there also.

Wish me luck!

Thursday 06.04.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2806
• Official kms: 29km
• Garmin kms: 28.19km
• Total time: 6:37
• Calories burned: 1953
• Body battery: 6/10
• Accommodation: The village inn hotel Te Anau.
• Tent nights tally: 18
• Zero days had so far: 28

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

I set the alarm early this morning, the plan is to leave at 1st light which is around 7am now that daylight savings has ended. I need to get to the main state highway early enough to hitch the 30km+ in Te Anau.

I was on time, this time joined by Jen. We thought we would pair up incase we need to cross the main river together.

It was about 1.5km to the main river but didn’t get more than knee deep. After we both crossed we followed the trail along a fence line for about another kilometre, it was quite overgrown & we had read on the notes that it is advisable to walk the gravel road out.

We decided to do just that & once we found a gate went through it following a row of trees all the way up to the road.

Nothing exciting here just a quiet gravel road. Once we got to about 14km in we stopped for a morning break in a run down tin bus stop. There were inscriptions inside calling it the TA Hobo tin lol.

After this Jen & I carried on. Jen stopped for lunch about another 9km down the road but I decided to keep going as there was less than 6km to the main road & I wasn’t feeling too hungry. About 3km before the highway I hit the next milestone. 2800 kilometres completed!

I reached the main road just before 2pm & managed to conjure up a ride into town where I was dropped at the hotel I’m staying at for tonight (I booked this while walking along the gravel road). I thought I would treat myself to nice accommodation as the next 3 nights after are in a lodge with just a bed & a desk.

It’s going to be awesome to have the next 3 days off to just relax, catch up on videos & blogs & resupply etc. it’s like a mini holiday off the trail. Only 200 kilometres to go……