A Dangerous Business

Date: 19th February 2024 Start: Arrowtown (km 2680.4) End: Queenstown (km 2709.1) Distance Travelled: 28.7 km Total Distance Completed: 2555.6 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: the sweet sound of turbofan engines roaring overhead Approach into Queenstown Airport: one of the best in the world As expected I didn’t sleep well, although I have had

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Date: 18th February 2024 Start: Roses Hut (km 2657.1) End: Arrowtown (km 2680.4) Distance Travelled: 23.3 km Total Distance Completed: 2526.9 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo Gold Discovered in Macetown: no shiny rocks today The first alarms started blaring at 6am but I had no desire to rise

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Date: 17th February 2024 Start: Fern Burn Hut (km 2640.5) End: Roses Hut (km 2657.1) Distance Travelled: 16.6 km Total Distance Completed: 2503.6 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Maroon by Taylor Swift Number of Skinks on Trail: hundreds It’s been a while since my last long but slow day in trail, the kind of

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Date: 16th February 2024 Start: Wanaka (km 2615.8) End: Fern Burn Hut (km 2640.5) Distance Travelled: 24.7 km Total Distance Completed: 2487 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Forever Young by Alphaville First Impressions of the Motatapu: I’m getting Tararua vibes (and it’s scaring me) *cracks knuckles* Yep, it’s one of those tracks. The Motatapu.

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Date: 15th February 2024 Start: Lake Hawea (km 2590.8) End: Wanaka (km 2615.8) Distance Travelled: 25 km Total Distance Completed: 2462.3 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Place In This World by Michael W Smith Thoughts on the Doughnuts in Albert Town: yes Hmm, maybe this bed is too comfortable. I hope I’m able to

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Date: 14th February 2024 Start: Stodys Hut (km 2569.3) End: Lake Hawea (km 2590.8) Distance Travelled: 21.5 km Total Distance Completed: 2437.3 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: With Everything by Hillsong United Distance My Family Managed: not even halfway (to be fair it was a gnarly track) I never thought I could sleep this

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Date: 13th February 2024 Start: Top Timaru Hut (km 2555.7) End: Stodys Hut (km 2569.3) Distance Travelled: 13.6 km Total Distance Completed: 2415.8 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: too busy panting up the climb to the hut to worry about music Time Lost on a Sketchy Ridge: half an hour, felt like an eternity

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Date: 12th February 2024 Start: Ahuriri River (km 2531.4) End: Top Timaru Hut (km 2555.7) Distance Travelled: 24.3 km Total Distance Completed: 2402.2 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: Shy by for KING & COUNTRY Hut Insulation: top notch A cold morning brought in the new day and I packed up feeling glad I didn’t

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Date: 11th February 2024 Start: Lake Ohau Lodge (km 2506.1) End: Ahuriri River (km 2531.4) Distance Travelled: 27.9 km Total Distance Completed: 2377.9 km Song Currently Stuck in Head: no song today, was too caught up in my own thoughts Temperature: too dang low Melly snuck into our room last night as it was ridiculously

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Date: 10th February 2024 Comfy beds must have some added gravitational attraction. How else am I supposed to explain the difficulty it takes to get out of one? Granted there are other things with an equally strong pull, namely the promise of a hot breakfast in the lodge. It turned out to be somewhat underwhelming,

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