Exactly a week ago I said goodbye to Ben up in Wanganui and hopped on a bus, leaving him to recover from his wrist surgery and headed off to do some solo tramping. I stopped over for a great couple of days in Wellington with Charlotte and Cody and then boarded the ferry for the south island.
As soon as I got down to the South Island I started walking on the Queen Charlotte Track. It starts way up at the very northern tip of the southern island out on a sound that stretches into Cook Strait. The whole walk then goes back down the sound towards the mainland, skirting around coast and every once in a while cresting a low saddle to a viewpoint before heading back down to the coast. It was a gorgeous track and also silly easy.
The water in the sound was a turquoise blue, about 70 degrees and perfect to take a brisk dip in after a long day on the trail. The whole area looked tropical with overgrown ferns and exotic birds everywhere. I wasn't expecting that; I had been expecting something much more similar to the forests of the West. Pictures to come.
On the walk, I met up with the group of Americans I had met in Wellington: Jeb, Amy and Robbie. They hike way faster than I do but I would catch them up each night at our campsite. I lost them yesterday because the track ended and we both kept heading south to different landing points.
I ended up hiking 38 k yesterday (my longest day ever, with or without a pack) and just as I was pulling into the town I had been aiming for, a man caught me up and said that I looked exhausted and had to come in for tea (dinner) and stay the night with them. It didn't take much convincing. So, now I am here with Greg and Jenny, an amazing couple, that have been generous enough to put me up for two nights, feed me heaping helpings of wonderful food and tell me all about their travels and New Zealand. I could spend an entire post on my time with them, but this small snippet is all for now.
Tomorrow, I am headed out again for 10 days in the backcountry. It's my longest trip ever. Jeb, Amy, Robbie and I have some plans to try and meet up so hopefully I won't be solo the whole time. I'll be walking the Pelorus River Track and the Richmond Alpine Track. I have absolutely loved the walking for the last few days. I get plenty of solo time to think, or not, and then get to meet up with people at camp. I feel like I've been thoroughly unwinding from a good deal of stress I managed to accumulate over the past few years.
It's odd, you don't tend to notice stress piling up, but you do notice when it all starts to lift. For me, things have been clearer, I haven't been as worked up about things, and I just generally feel good in a way that I haven't for a very long time. I think contented is the best way to put it in one word. That said, I do still feel like I have plenty of unwinding left to do, so I am looking forward to the long days and many, many kilometers in front of me still.
All for now, but I'll put another post up in another week and a half or so.
Until then,
G
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