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Wānaka, home for now

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Will and I have been living in Wānaka for almost two months now and it has been a refreshing change to our months of travel on foot. For one, we have a consistent income, both working full time. Our community is also consistent, forming friendships that will undoubtedly last long after our kiwi adventure ends. I have been working at the ski field which has allowed for time on skis and pretty new to me, a snowboard!! Most of my friends on the mountain are boarders and they have been trying their luck on skis as well. As much as I hoped, the snow has not yet fallen in feet like the dumps we get back home on Mt.Hood, but rather in centimeters with a few here and there. I have not given up hope yet, though! Taking the sunny weather as an opportunity to hit the mountain bike trails just meters from our house, and (slowly) getting back in to trail running. As soon as we moved out of the van and into to a house, I picked up my baking hobby, making loaves of sourdough, banana bread, and croiss...
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Hiking in pajamas

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  Yesterday we made it to the northern end of Te Waipounamu on the Te Araroa. Will and I woke up around 2 am to go pee and see the phenomenon of bioluminescence in the water. Tiny plankton lit up as I walked through the water like electric sparks around my feet. I bet it is even more fantastic in the summer. We fell back asleep for a few hours then I was wide awake. "Want to start hiking now to see the sunrise?" I whispered to Will around 5:15 am. "Uhhhhhhh, mmmmmm, sure.." was not the most enthusiastic response but I took that to mean yes and soon we were packing up. There was a morepork or ruru (New Zealand's native owl) calling in the distance, like a watchful guardian in the night.  My alarm set for 6:45 went off just as we reached the saddle and there was just enough light to turn off my headlamp. A view of Schoolhouse Bay, where we spent the night, was yet to emerge in the dark. To our east, there was a stunning view of Motuara island and what we guessed w...
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The Mighty Wairoa

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Her force can be heard before it is seen. A feeling washes over my body, reducing it to flesh and bone. My mortality is felt in each step. One, two, don’t look down, three, four, heart pounding in my chest, five, six, I take a moment to ground myself. She doesn’t care how strong, how cunning you are. A thunderous roar echoes off the narrow walls carved deep into the gorge. Sparks and flashes of water transformed to mist fly through the sky. A place few choose to venture, a hundred or so feet below, a waterfall cascades into a perfect clear blue pool of water. A tumultuous current swirls, in stark contrast to the still, ancient cliffs, fungi covered trees and bearded moss hanging off the ferns. A deep breath to fill my chest, oh the feeling of being alive! 
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Tuna Fridays

By: Will A common question Katie and I get when discussing backpacking is "what will you eat?" This question is posed in a more strained voice when we discuss the idea of a long trail. In this case, we're hiking for two months. While I've spent plenty of time backpacking before, I've only ever been out for 4-8 day hitches. So this 2-month idea made me nervous, as well. That was until Katie reminded me that we would pass through towns every 3-8 days and never carry more food than we needed for those stretches. This is also how I reassure concerned friends and family.  With that said, there's a careful calculus to meal planning that soon becomes second nature for backpackers. Perhaps it's less like calculus and more like algebra. I'll try to lay out the considerations before I get in to what we've been eating lately. 1.   Weight, esp. water weight: First and foremost, backpackers want to reduce the weight of their bags. The pressure to shop light gro...
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