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The Audacious Path, Havelock (2026)

03/09/2026

I didn’t know how bad today would be when I woke up.

In fact, I was jolly.

The weather was beautiful and the bike ride was easy.

Owen and I were having a great time!

It wasn’t until we arrived at the lodge that things turned for the worst.

We checked the weather and saw that a big storm was brewing.

If we didn’t get over a big river crossing early tomorrow morning, we wouldn’t be able to do the next section.

I wasn’t sure if I could do it. The amount of rain I saw coming seemed huge, and it just seemed above my skill level.

Owen and I chatted about it, and I said I’d ponder what to do.

But then I got a call that changed everything.

We’d heard a guy had drowned on the Deception River the day after Christmas.

No one knew who he was or if he was a TA hiker.

I had been watching the hut book to see whose name had disappeared but I still wasn’t sure who it was.

But Ruby called and she had just found out.

It was Adam, a guy I’d met just after Paihia.

We had walked on and off together for 3 weeks, with the last time being together at Waitomo caves.

He was only 25, and one of the most keen hikers I’d met. He loved the TA trail.

I didn’t even know him that well, but I was shattered.

Owen and I chatted, and we both felt I was too much of a liability in this next section, especially with this connection to the drowning.

And he admitted he would feel responsible for me, and that he was feeling a bit worn out from this responsibility.

I was so thankful he felt safe enough to be honest with me, heartbroken to lose my hiking buddy, and worried about him going in alone (though I gave him all my spare food and the guy grew up solo hiking in the alps!).

And so, feeling the saddest I’d felt in a long time, we had one last celebratory dinner.

When I went to “sleep”, I spent all night nightmaring about Adam drowning.

His poor young soul, taken too early.

It wasn’t worth it to me to do this next section.

Right now, I needed to take care of myself.

31/08/2026

We shoulda known the night before that today wouldn’t end up as planned.

When we finally got out of the mountains, we checked into the Lake Tekapo holiday park where they had an overflow area for TA hikers.

We paid for two nights with the intention to take a rest day and head to the hot springs.

Except when we woke up in the morning, there was a line of RVs lined up to empty their toilets right next to us.

Turns out the overflow area was also the dump site.

YUCK.

There was no where else to go, and after insisting on a refund for the extra night, we booked some bikes for an afternoon start and quickly ran our errands.

The biking was overall easy peasy, albeit into some headwinds.

It was nice to have the change of transportation type, and fun to make some distance quickly.

When we arrived at the campsite, we realised we’d forgotten the Yahtzee dice on our packs which we’d only get the next day at the final stop.

Yahtzee had become a nightly tradition, so we used our creativity and found the means.

I didn’t know it at the time, but tomorrow would be my last day with Owen.

We spent something like 2.5 months together every day.

It’s so interesting how quickly our lives can be turned upside down.

Editing this day definitely reminds me not to take anything for granted. 💜

23/08/2026

I knew today would be a good day.

I just didn’t know how good it would be.

There were 4 of us leaving the same hut headed in the same direction.

The young girl (14 years old!) flew ahead.

So did Anna, who we met on the trail.

Then me, and then Owen.

We all meandered at our own time, settling into a steady pace of walking through the beautify countryside.

It wasn’t spectacular to start with, but certainly pleasant.

Then came the climb up to Stag Saddle.

It wasn’t the most direct mountain I’d hiked, but it was certainly the longest climb I’d done.

I was at the back at this point - never very good at the ups.

I was amazed they’d all waited for me at the top though!

We had a mini celebration and I forced them all into a photo with me next to the Stag Saddle sign.

Down was tough.

I cried like five times as I just found myself in awe of the beauty around me.

Hands down, this was the most stunning part of the hike.

The mountains are SO impressive, and then the beautiful blue Lake Tekapo is like the cherry on top!

Apparently Owen had the same idea, because as I finally made my way down (hours later), he was sat there staring at the beauty too.

Turns out we both had the same idea to head to the road and hitchhike into town.

It was a bit of a gamble and would mean bypassing the last 10kms of road walking.

But would mean we could potentially take a rest day in town before biking our next section (the TA is a multi method trail).

When we got to the road though, we weren’t having a lot of luck.

I think we waited over an hour before someone picked us up.

Unfortunately, our stay for the night was not very nice, but all in all, today was one of the best days on the trail.

19/08/2026

I was just over 3 weeks out from having to go back to work, and the pressure was on to complete the rest of the trail.

It was a fine balance between watching my body closely and paying attention to any signs of injury and over fatigue while also pushing myself to walk bigger distances and higher elevations every day.

Just that sentence alone makes me feel the acute awareness I had to constantly have (it was fun though!).

On this day, we would start out with heaps of river crossings, many of which were among the deepest I had done so far.

Despite the trials related to rivers in the previous week, I was at my most confident.

I was getting better at judging where to cross, where the biggest dangers were, how to safely step, how to choose my exit points, and most importantly, how to stay calm.

The rivers weren’t easy, but they were definitely manageable.

Today, I think we crossed the river back and forth 40+ times. The entire first few hours, we weaved back and forth across the river until finally, we made our way up the mountain to the first hut.

If I wasn’t in a hurry, I would have stayed there.

The views were spectacular!

At this hut, there was a young couple leaving their 14 year old daughter alone to compete her first solo backpacking trip in training for a bigger solo trip she would do in the USA.

Apparently, she had come a few days prior, and the rivers were uncrossable so this time they came to help her get across the rivers.

The daughter was a trooper. After the parents turned around and left her alone, she wizzed her way ahead of me to the next hut.

When I finally joined her and 3 others who were staying there, it ended up being one of the most pleasant spots on the entire trail.

Sweeping hills, running water, and a beautiful sunset over the hill while I ate my dinner.

To top off the lovely day, the girl’s parents swept overhead in a little plane to check on her and make sure she arrived safely.

Well it was certain we would all be keeping an eye on her until we got to Lake Tekapo, where this trail would end.

14/08/2026

It was the last day on the section between the Rakaia and Rangitata Rivers.

The Te Araroa Trust requires hikers to bypass the rivers by car due to the dangers of crossing the braided rivers over the course of several hours.

The rivers have risen fast in the past, and due to their width, it’s impossible to outrun the rising waters.

We didn’t want to pay the $200 for a transfer around so we opted to hitch.

The first ride was easy peasy.

I saw a guy driving down the road about a km out from where we’d start hitchhiking, and decided to try my luck.

He took us all the way to the bottom of the road where we’d need to catch a ride across the river and then another ride back up the river, essentially making a giant U shape around the river.

Ride number two took a bit longer.

We ended up climbing into the back of a van with some foreigners visiting New Zealand.

But they only got us halfway across.

Ride number three was a young Austrian family in a campervan.

They took us to the road that would take us back up the river.

We were over three hours into hitching and finally on the final road that would take us to our campsite for the night.

We started walking the ten kilometres and then decided not to.

I figured the time it would take us to walk that length is about the amount of time it would take us to get a ride.

And it was getting late.

Owen said no way would someone pick us up.

It was a tiny road. No one was passing us.

Lo and behold, a woman comes along and offers us a ride all the way to the campsite!

When we arrived, we discovered 3 other hikers we’d met on Christmas Day.

Turns out they had bypassed the section between the two rivers as people often do.

Side note: it’s an awesome section which I don’t recommend bypassing.

Anyway, tomorrow we were all headed into the same section.

And as if we hadn’t already had enough luck for the day, the campsite ranger was a former TA hiker, and offered to take us all 20kms up the road to the trail head in the morning for just a bit of cash each!

That would save us heaps of time and help us to be able to go farther tomorrow! Yay!

10/08/2026

Today I fell in the river… twice.

So far, I had been doing fine in the rivers.

Always a little nervous, but generally fine.

I’d learned a lot over the last few weeks about how to cross safely.

But I slipped on a rock and got pulled down river about metre or so before getting caught on a bigger rock and being able to hoist myself up.

When it happened, I screamed for my life. Pure panic.

You see, just a few days earlier, I had learned a hiker had drowned on the section we just finished 4 days ahead of us.

I didn’t know who it was, but it instilled fear in me.

No one came though.

Owen was too far ahead and I guess so was the other hiker.

I finally got myself up and out of the water and sat for a second, shaking wildly and still recovering from the sheer panic.

I walked slowly onwards, but the panic must have been there still, as I slipped once again in the river, this time in a much more shallow spot.

But still, I fell in the river.

I didn’t want to go on alone and keep crossing the river, but no one was near me. I needed to catch up to someone.

Well you can imagine my surprise when I rounded the corner and there stood another hiker who asked, “are you ok, I saw you slip in the river.”

WTF!?

You saw me slip in the river and scream in sheer panic and you didn’t instantly drop your bag and come running?????

What the actual F**K!?

Shocked, I mumbled something, and then they turned around and went ahead.

Owen must have sensed something was wrong because he was up ahead waiting for me.

As they passed him, they told him what happened.

The good friend he had become (and a hiker who knows the hiker rules!), Owen didn’t leave my side the rest of the day.

Before you eat me alive for walking the river alone, this river was seemingly easy compared to others I had done.

I think that’s the thing about fear out here. It isn’t always rational. Even an “easy” river can feel terrifying when you’ve just heard someone drowned on it.

And sometimes, you just need someone to notice you’re not okay.

So thank you, Owen, for not leaving my side for the rest of the day. 💜

And hikers… if you see someone scream and fall into a river, RUN! 🤣

05/08/2026

We just finished stocking up our food supplies in Methven, and we needed to head back to the trail head 40+ kms away.

But first… coffee.

Always coffee. Especially when it’s so rare!

Luck must have been in our favour, because who did we happen upon but someone we’d met on the trail: Anna.

Her parents had driven to town to give her a ride back to the trailhead, and they offered us a ride!!!

Woohoo!

20kms in, a gravel road began, and soon we came across a washed out part of the road.

The car couldn’t make it.

Still 20kms from the trailhead and we had to start walking.

For a while, we had hopes that we could hitch a ride, but no cars came up this road.

Eventually we decided to change plans for what hut we’d aim for and we put our heads down to cover some kilometres.

Just 10kms in, lo and behold, a car!

A car that excitedly took all three of us to the trailhead!

Still feeling behind on the day, we decided to head to the first hut on the trail and call it a day.

But when we got there we still magically had energy.

Onwards we decided!

But Owen was far behind and I was unsure if he’d join us in jumping ahead one more hut.

🤷‍♀️

When we finally made it to our final hut we’d sleep at, it was filled with smoke and I could hardly see.

4 older guys had apparently lit a fire of wet wood and hadn’t read the sign saying the fireplace was blocked.

I could hardly breathe!

Smartly, Anna slept outside but I persuaded the guys to open the door and put out the fire.

Seeing the prospect of 4 snoring old men in a room and just me, I was grateful when I saw Owen on the horizon headed our way.

Awesome! He’d decided to join.

He said it was because the last hut was full, but I felt like there was high likelihood we’d continue to walk til the end together.

We only had 26 days left until I had to be back at work, so it wasn’t like there was much more time for Owen to suffer my dad jokes. 😆

03/08/2026

We had a big choice to make.

We woke up at the beautiful Hamilton Hut and set off bright and early as always.

…despite the very loud trampers who arrived at midnight and proceeded to have a dinner party despite 4 of us attempting to sleep. 🤣

Owen slept through it all.

Today we were headed to the Trustpower Campsite, which sits right before the Rakaia river and Rangitata River bypasses.

These rivers are HUGE.

They are some of the biggest threaded rivers in the world and can take hours to cross.

Only a few years ago, one experienced hiker got stuck in the riverbed during a 3 hour walk over the 9 km wide Rangitata River.

Over the time he was walking, the river changed from clear blue to brown and rose more than two metres, making the last braid impossible, despite there being no rainfall in the immediate area.

He was saved, but the TA trust now requires TA hikers to bypass the river by car.

Many hikers bypass the two rivers and skip the next 70kms altogether.

There are very few cars in this area and we were quoted a shuttle for $180 NZD just for the first river, so you can understand why.

But we are stubborn.

Neither one of us wanted to skip the section if we could avoid it.

So when we got into camp ridiculously early after powering through the day, you can understand why I used all my convincing powers to get Owen to wait beside the only road out of the area in hopes we might catch a ride.

Owen said I was nuts.

We waited for two hours snacking and napping, but one of us always awake and ready to stand in case someone were to pass.

We probably saw a dozen cars in total.

8 of them headed the wrong way, 3 full to the brim with stuff, and 1 which went out to play, and told themselves they’d pick us up if no one had grabbed us by time they were done.

They were heard into Methven - the exact town we had on our radar to restock and hopefully catch a ride tomorrow back to the other side of the river.

Sooo soooo happy and content, we got ourselves a room, ate some food, and had the greatest sleep on some real mattresses.

I had to be home in just over three weeks. Time was ticking !

28/07/2026

It was New Year’s Day 2026.

Feeling older every year as I near 40, I opted to only drink one cider and gave the rest to Owen, who somehow managed to find a free keg.

The next morning, I was thankful for my decisions.

Somehow, he was too.

Damn 22 year olds taking advantage of their metabolisms.

Anyway, despite the entire keeping in due to the rain (and hangovers?), Owen and I opted to make our way to a hut 15kms away.

I had no choice but to keep moving when I could, otherwise I wouldn’t finish the trail before returning to work.

I was saddened that Maddie had to leave us, but so so glad that and I were still walking together.

The familiar face every day meant a lot.

Except today.

I got it in my head that since he was hungover, I’d be able to beat him.

I spent the first hour or two well ahead of him as he slowly slogged along.

To be fair, he didn’t complain, but he looked miserable.

And then…!

In the last kilometre, who do I see marching along and asking to pass me but damned Owen!

Arghhhhhhhh!

I worked so hard to stay ahead and I barely even drank.

He smiled at me and proudly announced his hangover was gone.

Then he continued to whoop my butt at Yahtzee.

I almost traded him in. 🤣

Haha, but for real, this man probably is the reason my fitness improved so much!

By the way, just a side note… one of the things I am most happy about in my relationship is my partners complete trust of me. After being in a very jealous relationship for over a decade, it’s not something I take for granted, and I protect the hell out of my relationship. The fact that I was able to spend three months walking with a young guy and not have any issues is something I was told I couldn’t have, but I’m telling you ladies, once you learn to trust yourself… it all changes.

24/07/2026

The day started out with loud scratching and scurrying on the roof.

Freezing cold and putting off the inevitable need to p*e, I finally made my way outside where I was surprised by two Keas, the world’s only alpine parrot!

They are known for their extreme high intelligence, and their cheeky, destructive mischief toward human property.

I couldn’t believe how responsive they were!

They followed me around as I circled the hut, and when I went inside and came back out, I literally heard them running to me when I called them my way!

Owen was not so pleased with the cheeky loud birds, but eventually we got him to crawl out of his warm sleeping bag and we got ourselves ready to go.

It was COLD!🥶

And wet.

But omg it was beautiful!

Pretty much the entire day felt like we were walking through a made up world.

It was incredible.

But alas, as we approached Arthur’s Park village, Maddy let us know she was probably going to catch a bus to Christchurch and jump on an evening flight back home.

The last few days had been hard on her gear (lost tent, broken poles, and leather boots which didn’t like the wet).

Saddened as I was, I was also pleased Owen and I got to be a part of was she said was her most incredible hike ever.

(Certainly memorable!!)

It was only a short week, but I felt I’d gained a friend.

Tomorrow, it’s just be Owen and I again.

As we scurried to find a place to sleep for the night, we remembered tonight was New Years Day and almost everything was closed!

Massive shoutout to the Mountain House for connecting us to the Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ huts!

We were so thankful for a bed to sleep on as rain poured overnight!!

The Audacious Path

03/09/2026

31/08/2026

23/08/2026

19/08/2026

14/08/2026

10/08/2026

05/08/2026

03/08/2026

28/07/2026

24/07/2026

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