Episode 4: Through the River and Over the Woods | New Zealand's Te Araroa Trail NoBo
Christmas came early for Jeff and Sarah on Te Araroa when they received their new, lightweight packs from Fiordland Packs. They soaked up the sunshine and showers in Wanaka and made their way towards Lake Hāwea. The combination of hitches and hiking allowed them to enjoy dinner in town and relish the views of Lake Hāwea which is more untouched and less touristy. Hiking from Lake Hāwea, they became well acquainted with the Breast Hill and East Ahuriri Tracks and ended this section at Lake Ohau. Along the way, they enjoyed 360 degree views on Breast Hill Track, slipped up, down, and into the Timaru River, and discovered the meaning of every rose has its thorns. The cherry on top was the 25 mi / 16 hr hike from Tin Hut to Ohau Lodge that included night hiking on poorly marked trails (even if it was during the daytime), fording through their biggest river yet (Ahuriri River), and enjoying, you guessed it, more rain. While hiking till nearly 1:00am was not the original plan, that grueling day was worth it given the storm that rolled in and how slippery and more miserable the trail conditions would have been. Last but not least, they were able to enjoy Ohau Lodge’s legendary nachos.
Check out the links below for more info, enjoy! More technical videos for future TA hikers will be coming out, stay tuned!
Number of trail days: 6
Start: Wanaka, NZ
End: Ohua, NZ
Spreadsheet of our schedule including distances: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Blog article here: TBA
Song Credits:
The Beths - Little Death
Against Me! - Cavalier Eternal
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II
The War on Drugs - Thinking of a Place
Misfits - Where Eagles Dare
The National - 90-Mile Water Wall
Our packs: https://fiordlandpacks.nz/
Disclaimer: we tried our best to pronounce names and places as accurately as possible. Alas, we are Americans and have our shortfalls. If we mispronounced anything incorrectly or got our facts wrong, please feel free to kindly let us know by sending us an email at adventuresofjeffandsarah@gmail.com, and we will do our best to fix it. Thank you!
