Golden sand beaches, rugged cliffs, sunsets and sunrises over the sea, lighthouses, cakes with lashings of icing, seals, red squirrels, and the occasional paddock with a cute looking cow – those are the highlights of the Anglesey Coastal Path. This long-distance walking trail and adventure delivered (check out the photos below). Over 11 days, my … Continue reading Five mindset lessons from hiking the 229km Anglesey Coastal Path, Wales
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Volcano number 30 – Mt Taranaki
Mt Taranaki looked beautiful in the golden dawn light, its 2,500m high volcanic cone brilliant against the morning’s clear sky. I hadn’t done enough training really for the 1,600m ascent of the New Zealand volcano but it had been on my bucket list for years. Reaching the summit would mark it as volcano number 30 … Continue reading Volcano number 30 – Mt Taranaki
Volcano number 28 – Rarotonga
When your tour guide gets out of the car in the middle of nowhere holding a machete there are several thoughts likely to flit across your mind. For me, it was: S*&! is this guy going to murder us?? AND Jeepers creepers, this hike might be wild and hard core. Thankfully, the latter thought was … Continue reading Volcano number 28 – Rarotonga
Day 60 of #WalkNZ – WTF was the Mangaokewa River Track?
Day 60 of #WalkNZ didn’t start well – and it didn’t get any better. What with a terrible night's sleep and then being shadowed for a kilometre by a greasy-haired, gap-toothed cyclist out of Te Kuiti, I guess it didn’t bode well for what was to come – the Mangaokewa River Track; a 15km riverside … Continue reading Day 60 of #WalkNZ – WTF was the Mangaokewa River Track?
#WalkNZ – highlights from the first 49 days on the Te Araroa trail
Forty-nine days of walking (up to my festive five-day rest break), 773.5km walked. Here’s the highlights from the first quarter of the Te Araroa trail down the length of New Zealand. Walking the whole of Ninety Mile Beach (boy it was hard and an introduction to Te Araroa) Spending 12 hours wading through … Continue reading #WalkNZ – highlights from the first 49 days on the Te Araroa trail
Almost a month into #WalkNZ: A review
According to the Te Araroa website, the 3,000km trail down the length of New Zealand can take 180 days at a "leisurely pace". This is the politically correct way of saying the trail will take 180 days for those people passed their prime, who haven't done enough training/aren't fit, and who have to take lots of rest … Continue reading Almost a month into #WalkNZ: A review
Volcano number 12: The last-minute volcano
After a wet day with thoroughly uninviting views, we awoke in the little French town of Mandailles to what promised to be better weather. There were pockets of blue in the sky (hurrah!) and while the tops of the higher mountains were still shrouded in cloud it looked like it was only lingering like a … Continue reading Volcano number 12: The last-minute volcano
Kit review: How to have a “sardine experience” in a tent
The label clearly said “two-man tent” but I was dubious about that definition. They were two bloody small men by my calculations. Maybe the manufacturers were basing it on men who had trekked for a hundred days and nights through brutal extremes, living off foraged food and who had lost half their body weight – … Continue reading Kit review: How to have a “sardine experience” in a tent