Lessons from the North Island

We’re currently on a ferry to the South Island! We’ll arrive in Picton this evening, then we’ll take a water taxi to the start of the popular Queen Charlotte’s Track in the morning where we’ll begin Part 2 of our journey.
This morning in Wellington, we met up with the crew we’ve been hiking most of the North Island with to finish the final 12 kilometers to the official southern terminus of the North Island. It meant a lot to finish with our little trail team because all of our plans are starting to take us South at different paces. Once we reached the terminus, we said a few “see ya laters” and Ben and I were off to finish our last-minute errands before catching the ferry.

We thought it might be fun to share some of our most valuable lessons from our North Island adventure!

1. Always say “Yes” to hospitality.

2. Don’t fret about where the trail is going or where we’ll be tonight or tomorrow.

3. Just go through the fucking mud. The more you try to avoid it, dance around it, or jump over it, the more likely you are to fall in it.

4. Take time to stop and look at where you are, and where you came from.

5. Always eat a pie whenever the opportunity arises. (Pies in New Zealand are meat pies, and they are SO good).

6. Just say no to shortcuts. 

7. And one guest answer: “Don’t have expectations, because the TA will never be what you expect.” -Sietse, the Netherlands (aka Simon)

While we’re sure these lessons will come in handy on the South Island (and in life), we’re expecting a very different experience on the South Island. We’ll find ourselves really in the middle of nowhere much of the time. We’ve even sent food boxes to points so we likely won’t go through a town now for nearly a month.

My 30th birthday is in just a couple of weeks and I have no idea where I’ll spend it other than somewhere in the mountains. I think it’ll be pretty special. ☺️