Returning to Te Araroa Trail, stepping onto the South Island path:
New backpack ✔️
New hiking boots ✔️
New clothes ✔️
New trekking poles ✔️
Only I’m old 😂
“Mom, why is there a backpack with arms and legs over there?” “Shh! Kids shouldn’t say things like that!”
(Flashback to diary entry from 2017/3/8)
The Te Araroa Trail on the South Island begins with the trail known as Queen Charlotte, which marked the start of my South Island trekking journey.
It was already quite a popular leisure trail, with many people coming to do three to six-day hikes. The elevation changes throughout were minimal, the trail ran along the bay with beautiful scenery, and there were beaches where you could just lie around and do nothing.
Could there be a better way to start the South Island than with such a trail? And for me to be walking on such a trail was nothing short of bliss.
You create your own happiness, don’t you?
(Flashback to diary entry from 2017/3/8)
Hiking Te Araroa Trail was my introduction to New Zealand’s trails, which was quite different from the neat, well-paved ‘trails’ made of concrete and flagstones I was familiar with.
But now I love walking on these dirt trails, preferably with fallen leaves and twigs scattered across them. The friction between the soil, leaves, and my feet creates a soft rustling sound—like a rhythm. Sure, it gets muddy where water pools, but that gentle feedback from my feet is my conversation with the earth.
Now when I see concrete trails, all I think is ‘your feet hurt after walking too long,’ ‘it disrupts the original animal habitat even more,’ and anyway, why would you cut yourself off from the land like that?
It’s a process there’s no going back from…
My heart can’t go back
Neither can a paved-over trail
(Flashback to diary entry from 2017/3/9)
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📍 Te Araroa Trail | A 3,000 km trek through New Zealand| Return to complete series
