Why?
Why choose to walk 1400km over 10 weeks… some may ask… I do ask myself the same question. The Te Araroa Trail has been sitting quietly in my head for over 6 years. It came up on a camping holiday in Tawharanui (great spot by the way) and I loved the idea of a long walk. At that time I loved to camp and tramp, although the longest walk I had done was the West Highland Way in Scotland, over 6 days (great walk by the way). So I still wonder what makes me think I could walk for 70 days, over mountains and remote landscapes where there is a chance of not meeting another human being for days. That’s one of the challenges, and it will be a mental challenge, as well as a physical one. Physically, I do feel I have prepared well, over a similar period of about 6 years, I have found trail running, and I do use the term ‘running’ lightly. More like tramping at pace. This started, as many great things do, over a few bottles of wine with friends. Mark spoke of this thing called The Goat, a run aroun...