Hubby and I compromised on another hiking trip….half my usual distance and twice his! We planned to join up the popular tongariro northern circuit with the lesser known ruapehu round the mountain track, and we almost made it happen! Day 1 – Whakapapa to Oturere – 24km The advantage of starting at whakapapa is […]
New Zealand – Round the mountain with hubby in tow Read More »
Regular blog readers will recall my recent adventures with hubby* around Arizona and Utah. I posted most days, using pretty average photos taken on my phone. My hubby is an incredibly talented photographer who has finally curated down to his preferred 20 or so pictures from our trip. His photos are so much better than
Why go to the Southwest USA? Read More »
I have met many wonderful people on my travels who want to come to NZ, and have asked for my top tips on where to hike. Apologies for the tardiness, but here are my favourite places to run and hike in the worlds best hiking country The Great Walks There are nine great walks in NZ, and they
Recommended Hikes in NZ Read More »
I am pretty sure a horse was either dying or giving birth somewhere in the vicinity of my tent last night! A truly weird noise, moreso when you are alone in your tent with no humans in a five km radius. I have adopted a childlike approach to wildlife – I close the flaps
Teton Crest Loop Day 4 – Fords, rain and fried chicken Read More »
It is damn disconcerting to be woken up at 10pm, and then midnight, and then 3am to the sound of huge rockslides tumbling down the cliffs when you are sleeping in a flimsy tent in a rocky canyon. I contemplated getting up and hiking out but the fear of meeting the Bears was enough
Teton Crest Loop Day 3 – Dodging rocks Read More »
To my surprise and delight I was warm enough in my tent last night though it was between 5-10 degrees below zero. I had three layers of merino on top, two on the bottom, my divine down booties (a new and much loved post Sweden purchase), a down jacket, two pairs of gloves, woolly hat
Teton Crest Loop Day 2 – Lakes and lakes Read More »
With hubby safely returned to his natural urban habitat after our Utah adventures, I headed up through the beautiful wide open spaces of Idaho (resisting the temptation to visit the potato museum) to the Teton National Park (named by early French settlers as the mountains look like boobs – trois Tetons = three boobs). The
Teton Crest Loop Day 1 – Bears and boobs Read More »
Stupidly I ignored my own advice and we headed up to Arches National Park when we arrived in Moab at lunchtime. It was like a nightmarish cross between buying a new kitchen in ikea and trying to shop on Oxford street on Christmas Eve – a positively vile and overcrowded experience. We gave up after
Arches National Park at rush hour Read More »
If I was a bandit hiding from the law (especially pre drone and heat sensing technology) I would head straight to the Needles in Canyonlands! The terrain is bizarre, endless numbers of sandy canyons interrupted by giant red rock formations needling straight up from the ground. You could hide out (or get lost) in these
Behaving like a Bandit – Needles in Canyonlands Read More »
Given we were in the vicinity, we popped by the Grand Canyon. We first visited 16 years ago, and have been a few times since, and it hasn’t changed much. It’s still stunning and there are still way too many people. But I would still recommend going, and applying my standard advice of ‘go
Pleasant detours – Grand canyons and Monument Valley Read More »
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