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The final count down

  
Project 40 is now in full swing with last minute checks and logistics being squared away from Te Araroa mission  control (read, our spare room). After 12 months or so in the making, having gear spread about, starring at maps and dreaming of life on the trail, it is finally upon us. Less than one week to go and the final count down is on. We head to Melbourne next weekend to catch up with my family before I jump on a plane to Auckland, leaving my very understanding and patient partner Jacinta at the airport for what will be the longest break we’ve had apart after close to 16 years. Te Araroa has occupied my mind for far too long and I’m sure she can’t wait for me to get going either at least to get a break from “Te Araroa this….Te Araroa that…” But Jac will head over to Queenstown in a few weeks for a mountain bike adventure of her own and I’ll push to get to a airport so we can catch up at the end of the month. 

All my gear has been checked, rechecked and packed; and resupply boxes are ready to go. It’s just a matter of tidying up loose ends now. So very, very excited to get going and make a start on this journey.

Final weigh-in for my gear is 11.5 kg base weight plus food and water which will put me around 17kg. A little heavier than I would like but things are sure to change as I find out what gear is working, what is not and picking out items that I can do without. 

There are a few people starting from Cape Reinga either side of my start date who I’ve been in contact with and will likely meet up with in the near future. I’m really looking forward to catching up with like minded souls doing the same trip and who are bound to share similar passions for life. 

So the plan now…. finalise things at home and hand over at work this week, travel to Melbourne Saturday, fly to Auckalnd and onto Kerikeri on Sunday; complete odds and ends in Kerikeri like buy a sim card and set up my ipad and do my first shop for trail food; get to Kaitaia; then travel to Cape Reinga to kick this thing off on Wednesday 11th Nov. 

I’ll leave you with these quotes that really sum up the essence of what Te Araroa is all about; and words that have kept me going on this very long count down towards what will be a journey of a lifetime:

“We travel not to escape life but so life doesn’t escape us.”

“Because in the end you won’t remember the time spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that god damn mountain.” John Kerouac

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” Beverly Sills (I have this tattooed around a compass on my left shoulder)

“When you’re in the mountains, every day is Friday.”

There are so many more words that I could write they would occupy a book. I’ll leave it at that.

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Icebreaker arrives

  
Less than four weeks to go now and I’m very, very excited. I was even more excited to arrive home from work to find a package waiting for me at the door from Icebreaker, a sponsor of this trip.

What initially started as a small conversation about possibly recieving some assistance with replacement socks has cacsaded into quite the package of goodies. My initial thinking was that with constant wear on the trail I was likely to blow out at least 10 pair of socks along the way, and while I’d start walking with my own purchased Icebreaker socks, baselayers and t-shirts, I would have to replace them at some stage. Straight away Icebreaker were very supportive of my Te Araroa plans and were keen to see their products put through there paces over a long distance with continous use. 

I’ve been an avid user of Icebreaker merino clothing for years and reckon their products can’t be beat. Soft against the skin, light and breathable, Icebreaker merino is unrivalled for the low stink factor after persistant wear. Warm in the cold and cool in the heat, what more could you want. When you have weeks between a proper shower and a clothes washer Icebreaker socks and base layers keep you comfortable and  smelling OK for town.

It’s a win-win situation really. Icebreaker is an iconic New Zealand clothing company which goes hand in hand with an iconic New Zealand trail. But nothing is for free right… As an ambassader to the brand I’ll be putting Icebreaker products through their paces and reporting back on things like wear, tear and how long different items are lasting. Plus lots of photos to go along with all this. What better way to do that on on a long distance thru hike on the Te Araroa trail.

And just to put it out there….anyone who has used merino products for a while will be aware that the material can wear thin and develop holes right?….Wrong – check out Icebreakers new corespun technology and products, where merino fibres are spun around a nylon core. All the benefits of merino clothing as you know it, only 40% stronger than the industry standard.  The future has arrived. Awesome!

I would very much like to thank Icebreaker for their sponsorship and proudly promote them. 

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2015 Te Araroa Gear Shakedown

If you are a gear junkie like myself and you can watch someone talking shit about gear for 25 minutes please watch my latest Youtube clip. If you are just not that way inclined perhaps skip this one. I have seen many similar videos on online for the triple crown trails in the US (Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Trail) but very very few for the Te Araraoa Trail. The principles behind this video are the same, just with a different accent and talking in grams/kilos instead of ounces/pound. I hope you get something out of it. If you see improvements that I can make to my gear or ways to lighten the load be sure to leave a comment.

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Post Restante

Along the trail I’ll be using a ‘bounce box’ as described in the logistics section. Basically it’s a box of supplies & gear that I send ahead to myself to collect on the way in order to keep weight down. To do this I will be using New Zealand Post’s ‘Poste Restante’ service and will be regularly hitting up post offices in major centres to pick it up. Anyway, you can keep in contact with me or send packages using the same service if you like. The odd hand written note with words of encouragement, letters, postcards or surprise care packages will be well received and are sure to keep my motivation up. Just shoot me a quick email (mickbeckers@yahoo.com.au) to let me know which post office to stop by. Keep track of this blog to gauge where I am at any point along the way to ensure you leave enough postage time. Note: A couple of the mail drop points on the South Island use standard post and not the Poste Restante service.

Address anything like this: Name, Post Restante, Town, Postcode, Country.

For example:

Mick Beckers

Poste Restante

Levin 5510

New Zealand

The main towns and post office addresses that offer this service in order that I’ll walk through are:

North Island

  • Paihia, 2 Willams Road, 0200
  • Auckland, Ground Floor Bledisloe Bldg, 24 Wellesley Street, 1010
  • Hamilton, Waikato Box Lobby, 536 Anglesea Street, 3204
  • Taumaruni, 47 Miriama Street, 3920
  • Wanganui, 115 Victoria Street, 4500
  • Palmertston North, 328 Church Street, 4410
  • Wellington, 2 Manners Street, 6011

South Island

  • Picton, 72 High Street, 7720
  • St Arnaud (not poste restante) c/o Alpine Lodge, 74 Main Road, St Arnaud, 7072
  • Arthurs Pass (not poste restante) c/o YHA, West Coast Road, Arthurs Pass Village, 7654
  • Lake Tekapo (not poste restante) c/o YHA, 3 Simpson Lane, Lake Tekapo, 7945
  • Wanaka, 39 Ardmore Street, 9305
  • Queenstown, 13 Camp Street, 9300
  • Invercargill (The Finish Line!!!), 51 Don Street, 9810

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Not that anyone is counting….

Untitled Not that I am counting….of course I am…but I’m super excited by the fact that today marks 100 days to go before hitting up the Te Araroa Trail. So, where are things at? My airfares are booked and paid for – more incentive to lock in a date than early planning – and another one for the bucket list, upgraded to business class (fist pump!) – it’s only a short flight across the ditch but I’ll take it. I have my gear sorted which has changed a little to what is shown on my gear page. I’ll have to update my full gear list soon and I’m hoping to do a video blog of my pack shakedown. I’m really happy with the gear I have and have tested it on a couple of occasions including a jaunt across the Western Arthurs range in Tasmania and more recently in my own backyard traversing Track 96 from Cobbannah to Briagalong over two days to iron out my gear chooses. Training is in full swing and includes loads of gym work, grinding out kilometers on the stair walker, swimming and hitting up the local mountain bike tracks for trail running and general leg conditioning up hills. Over the coming weeks I’m looking to increase my long walks out to 15 km and build to 20km while slowly adding weight. I have a few sponsors secured which is massive considering I’m not raising money for any charities. Essentially I’ll be a gear ambassadors for a couple and will provide product reviews and testimonials from the field. I am very appreciative to all sponsors and can’t thank them enough. I’ve been in contact with a number of class of 2014-15 trampers to hit them up with tricky questions, confirm trail notes and talk gear of course.

What is left to do? Continue to mark off the remaining 99 days and train hard. I’ll have to wait until September for the 2015-16 trail note and map updates from the Te Araroa Trust, get them uploaded onto my kindle and print off hard copies as well. Sounds like there are a number of new sections opening during the 2015-16 season which will be great to. Finally, a couple of meetings with sponsors in September to finalise arrangements.

Class of 2015-16 is expected to be the largest to date based on the Facebook and blog chatter, and it’s been fun making contact with people I’ll see along the way.

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer……..

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Putting it out there

One of the keys to success for finishing any long distance thru hike is knowing very clearly why you are there in the first place, what your intentions are and understanding what you want to get out of a thru-hike. Walking aimlessly will not see you to the end. A thru-hike has be pleasurable but also purposeful. There will be bad days, guaranteed. There will be obstacles and hardships to overcome. I will get lost (more than once); there will be rain, sleet, maybe snow, possibly for days on end; I will run out of food; I will think about quitting and Bluff will seem so far away. But I will not quit. Being able to reflect back during those hard times, reminding myself of why I am there, will be one way to push through whenever doubt creeps in. I thought it would also be imperative to document my reasons, my ‘whys’, so I have something firm to look back on. So here are a few of my main reasons for walking 3,000km on foot across the length of a country:

• To do epic stuff. I read a book last year by Jimi Hunt in which he describes his rules for living a happy and fulfilling life. It was a great read and I really liked the concept of rule number No.1 ‘your life is only as interesting as the stories you can tell’ so get out there and do more interesting and epic stuff. I have found this to be very true and there is always room to add more adventure to my life. Life is too short, so pack in as much fun, interesting and exciting stuff as you can. Give it a go and don’t be afraid of failing. Set your ambitions high and do more epic shit!

• To take a summer off and enjoy it. Since starting my career some 17 years ago I have had forest fire fighting obligations each and every summer that precluded taking large chunks of time off over summer. Up until now I have never taken a summer season off. Generally, leave has been over winter where I’ve headed away to chase the sun. Finally the opportunity is here to take a full summer (and some) off. I will enjoy it!

• To be more spontaneous and live in the moment. Planning forms a large component of my work life. Things are highly predictable and well thought through at work because if they are not then lives are a stake. For this trip I’m looking to throw planning to the wind. I have the first week locked down but basically after that the following 5 months are wide open and fluid. I have no idea of how far I’ll walk each day, where I’ll stay at night, who I will meet along the way and what opportunities lay ahead. I am adopting an attitude of “Yes” for this trip – basically saying “yes” to any opportunity that comes my way (except for hitching around sections), particularly where ‘trail magic’ (unexpected assistance from strangers) is on offer. If dinner is on offer, a place to stay provided or a side trip recommended – yes will be my answer.

• To see it through and get to the end, walking every step. Having set a massive goal I am determined to test myself and see it through to the end. I’ll tackle Te Araroa like any major goal in life – aiming big but breaking it down into manageable chunks, setting clear objectives, and working at taking concrete steps to achieve them. It’s important for me to make my goals public so I can be held to account in bring them to fruition. Without goals, things will only remain dreams. I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other on Te Araroa and get there in the end.

• Minimalise life. Increasingly I’m looking at ways to simplify life and following minimalist principles. How much simpler can life get when you carry all your possessions on your back and your main concerns each day are walking, eating, drinking and finding a place to stay.

• Escape society (if just for a while). I am bored of what ‘society’ has to offer a misfit like myself and getting far too cynical about everything that surrounds me. I’m sick of constant grabs for my attention, particularly those that waste my time – I feel like they are slowly murdering me by taking away time that I will never get back. I’m sick of the media (all forms) shouting at me, telling me what should be important in my life. I’m sick of politicians selling the same tired policies that are not really aimed at changing anything except to further restrict our freedoms and choices, continuing to tell individuals what is best for us; and continuing the game of thrones of ruling ‘elite’. And I’m sick of the false sale of the necessity to live a normal 9 to 5 life that has been drummed into each of us since birth (ie. get born, go the school, get a job, get married, have kids, retire and die) – it is not for me. Heading bush for 5 months will go a long way to escaping all of this, if only for a short amount of time. Time away will allow opportunity for me to reassess my priorities and meditate on what is really important in life.

  • and the scenery of course. What better way to spend 5 months on foot than walking through one of the friendliest and scenic countries on the plant. I couldn’t think a better way to scope out my future country of residence.
Te Araroa Useful Resources
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Te Araroa Useful Resources

If your planning on tramping the TA or are just keen to find out a bit more about it I fully encourage you to check out and support these sites:

  • tawiki.org: another useful forum to supplement the official site
  • Facebook Te Araroa Group: handy forum for current walkers to keep in contact and post updates
  • Te Araroa Supertramp (Loïc Jaffro): You have to check out Loïc’s Youtube clips. Insightful, funny and great video.
  • Restless-kiwi’s blog (Kristine Collins): Very detailed blog with daily updates, handy hints and track notes.
It’s coming together
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It’s coming together

Well I’ve officially put in my leave request at work now. With potentially 4 months off work it is better to get in early on these things not only for the expected time that a long service leave request will take but to enable advertising and sufficient handover for my backfill. Things are coming together and I’m forging ahead with planning and logistics. This trip has been in the making for a few years now and started to really take shape as I budgeted and put money aside each week. To date I have daily living expenses covered, have all my gear and now just need to save for the flight across the ditch. It’s been great reading class of 2014-15’s blogs as well. The really fast walkers finished in late Feb and others are just finishing now. All blogs have been informative on gear choices, route conditions, timings and tid bits on where to find much needed good coffee, beer and food along the way.  I have a good idea on how long this journey will take and have a starting date in mind. I’ll start off from Cape Reinga in the 2nd week of Novembe 2015.