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Date: 1st March 2024 Start: Martin’s Hut (km 2932.4) End: Colac Bay Holiday Park (km 2948.9) Distance Travelled: 16.5 km Total Distance Completed: 2799.2 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Fire by Peking Duk Muddiness on the Pirongia Mud Scale: 2/5 One final day through the mud, that’s all I have to do before reaching
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Date: 29th February 2024 Start: Merriview Hut (km 2904.9) End: Martin’s Hut (km 2932.4) Distance Travelled: 27.5 km Total Distance Completed: 2782.7 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Can’t Catch Me Now by Olivia Rodrigo Muddiness on the Pirongia Mud Scale: easily 5/5 I felt weirdly optimistic when I got up this morning. The last
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Dates: 27th-28th February 2024 Start: Birchwood Station (km 2877.7) End: Merriview Hut (km 2904.9) Distance Travelled: 25.9 km walked + 5.1 km hitch (31 km total) Total Distance Completed: 2755.2 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Colours by Voyager How Much I’m Dreading Longwood Forest: aaaaaagh! I was in for a rude awakening at the
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Date: 26th February 2024 Start: Lower Wairaki Hut (km 2842) End: Birchwood Station (km 2877.7) Distance Travelled: 35.7 km Total Distance Completed: 2724.2 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Conditions Of A Punk by half•alive Mt Linton Station Scenery: surprisingly beautiful I didn’t wake up in a good mood. For all I knew I had
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Date: 25th February 2024 Start: Lower Princhester Hut (km 2811.9) End: Lower Wairaki Hut (km 2842) Distance Travelled: 30.1 km Total Distance Completed: 2688.5 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Whole Again by Dadi Freyr Track Visibility: what track? My alarm went off and a sea of red lights lit up the hut. No, this
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Date: 24th February 2024 Start: Kiwi Burn Hut (km 2777.4) End: Lower Princhester Hut (km 2811.9) Distance Travelled: 13.4 km walked + 21.4 km hitched (34.5 km total) Total Distance Completed: 2658.4 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: cardigan by Taylor Swift Hours Spent Waiting Out the Rain: 4 I never learnt what the deal
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Date: 23rd February 2024 Start: Careys Hut (km 2751.6) End: Kiwi Burn Hut (km 2777.4) Distance Travelled: 25.8 km Total Distance Completed: 2623.9 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Cold Heart by PNAU, Elton John, and Dua Lipa Brief Description of Today’s Trail: easy and flat with a small obstacle course North Mavora Lake this
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Date: 22nd February 2024 Start: Greenstone Hut (km 2724.1) End: Careys Hut (km 2751.6) Distance Travelled: 27.5 km Total Distance Completed: 2598.1 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: You’ve Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman Topics Discussed by Kaka: no clue but it sounded important One thing that I’ve found surprising as I’ve
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Date: 21st February 2024 Start: Queenstown (km 2709.1) End: Greenstone Hut (km 2724.1) Distance Travelled: 15 km Total Distance Completed: 2570.6 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: hard to keep a song in my head with Oli’s constant whistling (it was peaceful) Mushroom Density: large enough to make Radagast the Brown happy 12 days. 12
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Date: 20th February 2024 It’s only been 10 days since my last rest day in Lake Ohau. I haven’t had so few days between breaks since Northland. Not that I’m complaining, I’m more than happy to spend a day chilling around Queenstown. Well I say “chilling”, but the first thing I had to do was


Well, Jono, thanks for posting your travel diary. It certainly makes interesting reading, and provides a historical record (for you,…