Cath

Soooooo, we
had a lovely few days off at Lake Ohau Lodge and a further couple relaxing in the posh YHA in Tekapo and we’ve had time to reflect. We’ve come to the realisation that after 500+km (40% of the South Island) we’re burnt out, physically and mentally and not really enjoying our time any more. I was way out of my comfort zone on some of the last sections. Lake Hawea to Lake Ohau was particularly rough, tough, poorly maintained and poorly marked with more of the same to come. We were very fortunate to have had good weather. After a lot of soul searching, we have decided to stop walking the TA, not least because we value our joints! Although it is on the mend, I can’t afford to twist my knee again and I also bumped my coccyx. Trouble is, the older you are, the slower you walk, hence the more food you carry, which makes your pack heavier, which slows you down and so on. We are looking at the options but will probably reschedule our flights and return home late Jan. Looking at hire car relocation which is free or additional days are reasonably priced. We looked at hiring a car to do edited highlights of the TA but hire car prices have become craaaazy since the pandemic. Anyway, we’ve walked the equivalent of London to past Newcastle; or the length of the island of Ireland. Added to this we walked 1400km of the North Island, from Cape Reinga in the north to past Whanganui in the south, in 2019; a total of 1900+km or 63% of the whole trail, not bad for a pair of old fogies, I hope you’ll agree. Thank you for following our journey.