Never a Dull Day

Though the idea of setting off into the wild  with a piece of tarp and a toothbrush does appeal to me, when trekking an entire country over a 5 month period with more weather changes and types of terrain than you can shake a stick at, I like the knowledge that we are fully prepared.

When the idea of trekking Te Araroa was first born Shalane and I agreed that we would need to start from scratch with clothing and equipment. Up until this point both of us have made do with what we had so instead of proper trekking boots, Shalane used trail runner shoes to trek 1000 kms and instead of quick-dry, light weight trekking trousers, I’ve used fashion combat trousers.  When planning to carry our wardrobe, bedroom and kitchen on our backs, we had to at least make sure we had a few practical, light weight items.

Having said all that, there was no way that we would be able to buy everything we needed and still have money left over for food and other essentials. So we put our heads together and decided that since we are doing the trek to raise money for Indigo Foundation, it would only make sense to try and get some outdoor gear companies on board through sponsorship.

We now have a complete gear list which was purchased through a mixture of sponsorship, shopping or  the reinventing of old faithfuls. It is safe to say, I have learnt a few things about what amazing products there are out there.

After ticking off the essentials, e.g. first aid kits and emergency kits, we have then made decisions based on comfort, fit and purpose.  Weight and price were a toss-up, depending on what item we were referring to. We definitely had to take into account durability for such a long journey.

I decided that boots and socks and anything that we were going to use and rely on the most would take priority and money would not be an issue.  I luckily had some very well broken in trekking boots and good socks from previous treks. I have a good enough pack that, although not ideal (as I was sold the wrong size 3 years ago) will do.  This item is essentially one that should be a perfect fit and I should ensure is a great fit but finances just won't stretch that far.  Luckily the guys in the store gave me new, larger straps and did they best they could with what they had!  I also had a good sleeping bag from a while back, and although it sheds a few hundred feathers a night, there are still one or two left in there.  My nickname bigbird certainly has a new meaning every morning.

We had a few teething problems with the tent.  The tent we were planning on using was put up in a hostel garden and turned out to no longer be water proof.  Shalane had the tent sent over from Canada and although it worked well at first, we believe that the sun in Australia may well have damaged the outer shell and the hard floor worn down the bottom, resulting in a couple of soggy (not so happy) campers!  After a bit of research and realising that plan B (spraying it with waterproofer) just wasn't going to cut the mustard and plan C (getting it exchanged via Canada) wasn't going to fit our time scale, it was reluctantly on to plan D -  A new tent.  Luckily Macpac had some amazing sales on, and we managed to get a light weight tent, fitting our fussy criteria with an extra added bonus of being suitable for 6 ft me!  The best bit was, it was half price.  Problem solved.

The rest of our shopping would have made my mum proud!  We went into each shop and found everything we needed, tried it on, wrote down prices and sizes and brands and then sat down to compare them all over lunch, before going round to each shop again and purchasing the best of each item based on weight, fit, price etc.  Needless to say we know each store member by name in Newmarket, Auckland.  It was pretty exhausting and with a few more trips back and forth for the odd item I felt well and truly shopped out!


Once our lists neared the end, all that was left was to pack it all up and go on a trial trek. We chose Hillary Trail in the Waitakere Ranges as it offered a variety of terrain and conditions that would maximize our ability to sort out which of our gear we’d keep and which we’d leave behind when we officially set out on Te Araroa.


We definitely learnt a lot after adding food and water to our packs and we have both removed a few, not so essential, items since.  I think that if we had the finances, it would be a lot easier to pack lighter, with some really great light weight materials and items on offer.  I have now managed to get my base weight down to 17 kgs.  I think I could probably have found lighter sandals for crossing rivers and a lighter coat but apart from that, I feel that I have pretty much the bare minimum.  My gear list can be found below.

There are some items that are shared between me and Shalane so please feel free to visit www.onelifeadventures.com to see what Shalane is carrying. The list below is just what is in my pack:

Essentials

First Aid Kit
Sleeping bag

Sleep sheet

Sleeping mat

Headlamp
Swiss Army Knife

Water Bottles 1L (4)

Osprey water bladder 2L
Gas canister
Tent
Sunglasses

Toothbrush/toothpaste
Sunscreen/Bug spray


Clothes

Trekking boots

Sandals

Socks (3)

Underwear (2)
Sports Bra
Shorts
Waterproof Trousers
Thermals (1 set)

T-shirt (2)
Long sleeved Thermal top

Fleece
Rain jacket
Beanie

Extras

Camera (includes spare battery and memory cards, charger, memory sticks)
Journal/pen

Food (we'll vary carrying anywhere from 4-14 days worth of food depending on where we are)


Breakfast

Oatmeal
Dried fruit
Dried milk

Tea

Lunch

Muesli power bar

Dried fruit/veggie fibre bar


Snacks

Trail mix

Dinner

Freeze dried meal

 Ready for the Off

My Uncle once said to me when I was living out of a van and travelling around, while he reminisced of his own amazing road trips - "there is never a dull day on the road". 

So it's off into the wilderness we go.  These boots were certainly made for walking and all this talk and preparation has gone on long enough.  We start with 4 days of beach walking along 90 Mile Beach, which is 60 Miles long (?????), and as we wave goodbye to Kirsten, who has come to visit us and see us off, we'll be looking forward to the 5 months, 150 days of steep mountains, stunning valleys, beaches and rivers, farmland, villages and a variety of weather conditions.  Living out of a tent with the beautiful things in life all around us.  Back to nature. Cooking on a camp stove or fire and washing in the rivers, listening to the birds while we sit and rest in the afternoons and write about the days events.  Meeting people along the way and testing our strengths on whatever New Zealand has to throw a us.  Never a dull day!