Invercargill!
Eliza writes:
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.
And probably more snacks than we need; we had a bunch of gels and left over Christmas treats that we will finish off quickly, and then replace with more sensible trail snacks.
Things especially Americans will note: There is no security. At all. You don't have to take your shoes off, or go through a metal detector. You do have to check in and show proof of vaccination, but you can do that online, and never even show an ID to get on board the plane, just have your boarding pass ready. And all of the airport and airline employees are quite friendly.
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, what works for her and what doesn't, and we picked up some good tips.
For those that have asked, here is six days of food:
Basically:
* Breakfast: oatmeal and coffee
* Lunch: option of peanut butter on tortillas; or salami & cheese & carrot on crackers
* Dinner: dehydrated meals or pasta quick serve meals.
* Snacks: Oat breakfast bars, One Square Meal bars, honey roasted peanuts, energy gels, and chocolates. And possibly coffee.
I also wanted to share the regional airport experience here in New Zealand. This picture is in Christchurch, although the setup in both New Plymouth and Invercargill are functionally the same. The glass doors on the left of this picture are to the outside world. If you zoom in just a little bit, just over the heads of all of those people sitting, you can see the gate we walked through to our plane.
It's like the "good old days" of flying, back pre-9/11, pre-D.B. Cooper.
We're now checked in to a nice, comfy hotel, going to buy the last bits of food (Karen gave us some good tips on that front, more on that to follow), maybe arrange campsites for a few nights from now, and probably have a good feed tonight :D
I once met a through-hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail who ate nothing but cold instant mashed potatoes for the entire trip! He thought he was in heaven when we gave him hot water. He wouldn't accept any other food from us. Just remember to eat the heavier food items first! Are you carrying a stove?
ReplyDeleteWe are definitely carrying a stove. At this point, the extra kg is more than worth it, for the ability to make coffee.(!!) I really don't see that ever changing. Also, neither of us are 20 any more, we are actually trying to eat somewhat healthily on the trail. We'll see how that goes.
DeleteYum! Breakfast lunch AND dinner in bed! Happy new year, New youse!
ReplyDelete