Congratulations, you've made it through the week!

Eliza writes: New Year's Eve.  New Plymouth to Invercargill via Christchurch. Distance travelled: just over 1,000km, but it doesn't count because Air New Zealand did all the work. By random coincidence, sitting next to us on the plane down here was another trail walker, someone who Vaughan had even messaged with about the best ways to get to Bluff in the morning. We all ended up walking into Invercargill from the airport together - somehow, a 30-minute walk when you're about to embark on 5 months of walking doesn't seem so long. Karen has done the TA before - only last time she did it the other direction, starting at Cape Reinga. She tried to use her trail notes from last time to plan her trip this time, just flipped around, but realised just how much faster (and longer) she was going toward the end, and decided that maybe she today could not keep up with super-fit her from 3 years ago, and she might need to rethink that plan... She also shared with us her trail food, w...

Eliza writes Last night we drove to Paritutu to check out the sunset over the Tasman Sea. Truly counting down the sunsets now! Since Auckland's barbers and hairdressers weren't allowed to work for much of the past five months, we had both gotten a bit shaggy. Rather than rushing to make appointments in mid December when the restrictions eased, we decided to just wait, continue to look unkempt for family over Christmas, and then get just a final tidy up before going perhaps another 5 months without seeing a haircut. Afterwards, with both our ears feeling the breeze a bit more, we went for a walk on Vaughan's childhood stomping ground, Fitzroy Beach, for the last time for 5 months. Tomorrow: Flight at 0630 to Invercargill, for our last day before starting the trail. That's where we'll do the final food shop, in time to start off 2022 at Bluff!

Vaughan writes: We're getting close to the start date, and the closer we get, the more nervous both of us are getting.   I know this is probably very common for through-hikers* to say, but we are **not** as prepared as we think we should be! Between Covid-related lockdowns of Auckland, work, and general laziness/procrastination, we have definitely not put in the training kilometers, nor the time in boots, that would prepare our feet and legs for this journey. Worse, we even stopped doing our strength and conditioning workouts which somewhat replaced hiking during lockdown restrictions. This, in combination with the uncertainty a new challenge creates, means we have both been having doubts and dealing with low-level anxiety. Of course, there are moments of excitement in between. The things which have helped are;  1. the peer pressure which comes from having told everyone  2. having booked flights and transport to the start line  3. packing and re-packing our pa...

Eliza writes: We drove down from Auckland today, leaving at just before 8am. We expected maybe not normal traffic for a long weekend, or even normal for Christmas Eve, but what we found was... pretty much no traffic! LIke a completely smooth ride out of the city. Our only guess is that most people that were going to leave Tamaki Makaurau for the holidays did so back on the 17th or last weekend, as soon as they were able. This meant we weren't tired from the drive when we reached the coast, to get the gorgeous views of the Tasman Sea and Maunga Taranaki: On arrival at the house we were reunited with our cat, although not entirely sure how much he's missed us really, he's found several comfortable places around the garden here. He may be a little hopeful in this location if he thinks he's going to make new friends though... The plan from here is: Christmas with the whanau here in New Plymouth. Then we fly to Invercargill on Dec 31st, early in the m...

(Eliza writes) Today is moving day! We had arranged for movers to come to our flat in Grey Lynn, pack up all of our things and put them into storage while we're on the trail.  A few things are staying with Vaughan's parents (thank you!!) so we'll have easy access to them; and of course we're staying with Vaughan's parents for a bit after we get off the trail in May, until we find our metaphorical feet in society again. Hurdle 1: sorting our stuff into four groups: 1. Trail gear 2. Things for the next week, until we hit the trail (i.e. my last week of work, Christmas with the whanau) 3. Things we will want for those first few weeks(?) off the trail (i.e. work-appropriate clothes, winter clothes) 4. Things to go into storage Hurdle 2: the movers showed up with the wrong instructions, not knowing that we'd paid for them to do all of the boxing up (this was simultaneously lazy and sustainable of us). Vaughan is dealing with that as I type this... Can we all just not...

  Have a Happy Thought:  Reindeer eyes, which in the summer are a beautiful gold, turn blue in the winter. (Okay okay, if you’re a big Game of Thrones fan, learning that something’s eyes turn blue as Winter is Coming is maybe not a happy thought, but stick with me here) Reindeer, and many other animals, have this layer in their eyes called the tapetum lucidum , which helps to reflect more light onto the retina. If you’ve ever seen a cat’s or owl’s eyes shining a bit green at you at nighttime, you’re actually seeing the reflection off of this layer, which sits right behind / under the retina. Humans do not have this layer in our eyes. The other thing that animal eyes do, ours included this time, is expand or contract the size of the pupil, to let less or more light in. (Side note: pupils are not actually black. They’re actually clear. It’s just that the inside of our eyes are dark. This is why pupils can look red sometimes in photos, it’s actually that there’s enough light shin...

Here's what we'll be carrying! If you have questions want to know brands, or want to see anything up close, just ask in the comments :) Eliza's pack. Base weight (not including food, water, and what she'll wear) is 10.3 kg.  Picture includes what she'll be wearing, too. In no particular order: 2 full sets of hiking clothes. Warm bottoms, 2x warm tops +puffer jacket and raincoat. 3x undies*. Hiking boots, 2 pair hiking socks. Hut shoes and comfy socks. Sun hat, warm hat, gloves, buffs, handkerchiefs (aka cleaning cloths). Towel, toiletries*, mug, spoons/forks/knives. 2L water bladder, water purifier. Sleeping bag, mat. Entertainment: book, notepad, binoculars, playing cards, phone charger, knitting. Dry bags, pack to carry it all, hiking poles to carry me 🤣 Vaughan's pack. Base weight is 12.5kg.  Pretty much the same as her, + also the tent, Cookstove and pots, and loo paper (essentials). I'm not going to list everything, but if you s...

  Have a Happy Thought:    TIL (Today I Learned) that when trees lean, and as tree branches grow, gymnosperms (evergreens) add wood to the compression side of the trunk. Angiosperms* (broadleafs) add wood to the tension side. * some “primitive” angiosperms add wood to the compression side as well   This is called Reaction Wood. (mind out of the gutter, you!)   This is what it looks like when you cut a tree down and look at the rings: From < https://woodlot.novascotia.ca/book/export/html/462 >   Anyone who has worked with wood probably already knows this, since tension wood is less dense, and weaker, so more prone to breaking/cracking. Meanwhile, compression wood shrinks a LOT more than other types of wood as it dries, so it too can cause odd-shaped lumber.   Here’s some photos of Reaction Wood in live trees:   Image: David Humphries https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/62463-compressive-amp-tension-reaction-...

Have a Happy Thought:  Today I bring you a story of hunter and hunted, already told so perfectly by amazing science communicator and biology professor Dr Jen M that I will just share her words: Fungi are some of the best track-and-ambush predators of animals on the planet. Oyster mushrooms (yes, same ones you can buy in the grocery store or grow at home) are vicious predators of nematodes. For the uninitiated, nematodes are little worms (much smaller than earthworms) There are two major components of fungi: the mycelium, or the "vegetative part" (think of the majority of your body), and the fruit body aka mushroom or the "reproductive part" (yes, mushrooms are the fungus' naughty bits on display!) Oyster mushroom mycelium has special cells that produce microdroplets (so small they are essentially impossible to suck up with a pipette to characterize chemically) of nematode neurotoxin. As a nemotode is wriggling through the substrate (rotting...