Days 84-89: Wellington and South Island Planning

Hooray, we've finished half of the islands! We arrived in Wellington, and have spent the last few days planning for the south island.

Days 78-83: The Tararuas

We made it through the much anticipated Tararuas! They were tough, dangerous for the unprepared, and amazing.

Days 72-77: Back To Walking

We're finally back to what we came here to do: walking. We spent about a week walking from Whanganui to Levin, the last resupply point before the Tararuas. Most people are not very excited about this stretch of trail - there's a lot of road, and much of it is not particularly scenic. However, the entire stretch stays pretty close to civilization, and the terrain is not very challenging, so it was a great section to use to get back in shape and go easy on Liz's foot.

Days 64-71: Whanganui River Journey

Finally back on the trail! The river journey was a perfect place to pick back up on the trail - we spent 5 days paddling about 160 kms down the Whanganui River, ending in Whanganui city. We went with a group of 8 people - 6 TA walkers, and 2 people crazy enough to hang out with 6 TA walkers for a few days - so it was like a big party most of the way.

Days 56-63: Christmas In Wellington

We took a detour to spend Christmas in Wellington, the capitol city of New Zealand. There's quite a bit to do there, and we welcomed all the distractions around the holidays.

I'm waaay behind on blog posts, so I'll try to keep this one short and sweet.