I miss the Trail

Wake. Toilet. Eat. Pack. Walk.

For 88 days this was my morning routine. Simple, huh?

Sure there were other things to think about, like the weather and the route and my aching body and my gear and the cashflow and the list goes on…

Yet this over-riding simplicity of ‘walking’ is something I now miss.

For suddenly I have a multitude of things to focus on:

• I’ve started an exciting new role with Total Media Magic.
• I have a manuscript to complete.
• I have a speaking career to develop and promote.
• I’m back in full swing with Scout executive board and training team commitments.

It’s proving a challenge to not feel overwhelmed by the growing ‘to-do’ list. I’m doing my best to think of it as a ‘ta-da’ list

It’s strange being back in a world dictated by the clock, having to be places at specific times instead of letting the hours of daylight be my marker.

It’s weird to know I have boxes of possessions waiting for me once I decide where to live (and can afford to do so) yet continue to manage with the bare basics.

It’s scary seeing how complicated life is for some people.

I’m going to aim for ‘simple’.

Adventure on hold

The decision has been made – I’m hanging up my walking shoes.

It’s been a fascinating (which is a euphemism for: emotional, crappy, euphoric, tumultuous, frustrating) process of recuperation. Being on the sidelines waiting for my shin to recover has messed with my mind and created some dark days and some sunny days.

I refuse to wait with my life on standby any longer.

• I want to give my leg time to heal fully with no pressure to recommence a physically demanding trek by a certain date, especially with the weather now rather unfavourable.

• I want to dedicate effort to writing the book without the shadow of “But how will it end?” looming overhead.

• I want to get stuck into another couple of opportunities (I might even call them ‘adventures’ in their own right) that have presented themselves.

• I want to get back to a financially healthy position.

Will I end up completing the remaining 700-ish kilometres to Bluff? Only time will tell, as that is another decision for another day.

Some of you will applaud my choice. Some will frown. Only a couple of people (long-distance walkers themselves) will fully understand.

Either way, I truly appreciate your support and encouragement. Thank you.

It’s certainly been an adventure ‘plus’…

Feet stop, mind races: help please!

Today is Day 16 not-walking. Well, I’m not bed-ridden but wearing a moonboot kills any chance of hiking 30km today. Or tomorrow.

Dr Mel is quietly happy with my progress. She gave me some big words to describe my shin: tibialis anterior tendinitis. That means ‘irritated tendon’.

Turns out Dr Mel’s colleague – who ranked my injury as “one of the most severe” cases she’s seen – was none other than Dr Deb, who is team doctor for the All Blacks. She was surprised I could walk at all, but when she said it might take up to four weeks to come right, I don’t think I registered the timeline.

Yet four weeks (if not longer) is now a distinct possibility. If I decide to be pig-headed and carry on regardless, I run the risk of doing permanent injury. That would mean my next forty years of hiking, dancing and tennis would be toast, which is unacceptable. Consequently, I’m following Dr Mel’s instructions.

A number of potential actions are swirling around my brain:

• I hang up my shoes and call the adventure over. I always said this trek was to “see if I can walk Cape Reinga to Bluff” and whilst I’ve walked a very, very long way, it would seem that I might not be able to go the distance. [As much as it feels like “I’m almost there” – and I greatly appreciate the supportive comments which reflect that – please remember I still have 600-700km to go. That’s a big walk in its own right, let alone in winter.]

• I press ‘pause’ and resume where I left off once warmer (and safer) weather conditions return in the spring/summer, sticking to the Te Araroa route. My intuition tells me this isn’t a good idea.

• I rest up for 2-3 weeks more and then modify the intended route, sticking primarily to roadsides (instead of going back-country) and make a bee-line for Bluff. I would need a support person in a campervan or an arranged sequence of hosts who could pickup/dropoff since I don’t see carrying a full, heavy pack to be a wise idea.

I’m curious – what would you do? Your goal is threatened. Your physical health is not 100%. Your bank balance is less than zero. The season is against you. What would you do?

Pictures that make me smile

Our planet is bursting with beautiful, memorable sights…

Cameron Hut, up the Hurunui River between Lake Sumner and Harper Pass.

Upper Taramakau River as seen from Harper Pass.

Looking down the Otira River towards Aitkens.

There's not mush-room under there!

New Zealand's very first hydro-electric power station: Lake Coleridge.

No risk of peeing in the wrong place at the 'Hamilton Hilton', Hamilton Creek.

Lagoon Saddle Shelter, along the Harper River.

Keeping on track.

Intense rest is pretty intense

And yes, the facial fuzz has been removed

For a week I’ve been sporting this stylish ‘moonboot’ to restrict the flex in my right ankle and help me with “intense rest”. Doctor Mel at SportsMed, though impressed at how fast the severe swelling has gone down, has ordered another week of this stylish footwear. Then she reckons I might need some physio to get it limbered up and strong again.

So that means my let’s-rush-to-beat-the-really-cold-weather plans are blown out the window. It’ll be June before I get close to Bluff now! Brrrrrr.

It almost feels like I need to regroup and treat the Arundel to Bluff segment (all 700km-ish of it) as a completely separate adventure. The game is changing as the season changes…

The doctor gets tough

Jonathon, David, Claire and Jack - my Ashburton saviours

Matt and Darlene: top-notch taxi drivers

If only my shin was as gorgeous as the Pudding Hill morning… instead I knew it needed rest so an SOS to Claire in Ashburton soon had me gorging myself on home baking and teaching Jonathon (Scout) and Jack (Cub) the finer points of practical joke etiquette.

Three days of not doing much apart from eating (a much-needed 2kg managed to stick to my skeleton somehow) and I felt I could hit the trail again. According to Matt and Darlene, who deposited me back at Pudding Hill, I looked fine as I disappeared into the afternoon sun.

But trouble loomed. The longer I walked, the sorer and more swollen my right shin became. A decent pause at Staveley helped a little yet by the time I reached Mt Somers I was hobbling. Uh-oh…

Treated to a barbeque dinner and plenty of Easter eggs by Phillippa of Mega Advertising (she didn’t seem to mind me crashing her family weekend) I had crossed fingers, toes and tonsils for a miraculous overnight recovering.

Phillippa and her folks, shivering in the Easter air.

The season is changing! Brrrr...

My heart sank when I woke to find it raining and my shin still rather tender. Determined to reach Geraldine, or at least get closer, I gritted my teeth and plodded on. The road was dead straight and chock full of campervans, caravans and trailers heading home from the long weekend. I was walking face-first into the raindrops and cold rain. For the first time this adventure, the thought “I’m over this” started to skirt the periphery of my mind…

Rescued from the looming darkness, Brian (Group Leader for Geraldine Scouts) had arranged me a shower, food and pillow with next-door-neighbour Austin (Cub Leader) and Anna. Compared to my left ankle, my right was gigantic. Cold ice wasn’t making much difference. I needed help.

With Brian planning to drive to Christchurch the next day, I arranged a physiotherapist appointment at SportsMed. It was soon decided that my ailment wasn’t muscle/bone so I got passed to the GP team. Once again, I managed to raise the eyebrows of medical professionals…

It would seem I have a rather impressive case of inflamed tendons in my shin. To continue walking would have been a limiting move if I want to be active for the next 40 years. The end result? I now have a compression stocking (very fashionable), a ‘moonboot’ to stop my heel from flexing, anti-inflammatory pills plus the instruction for “severe rest”. Joy joy.

Doc even mentioned “at least two weeks” when I asked about expected recovery. Joy joy again, yet for some reason I’m not freaking out about the delay. I wonder what that means?

Why I love my sponsors

I’ve been asked several times along my journey whether I managed to secure any sponsorship. Whilst I was unable to find a “here’s a tonne of cash” benefactor (and hence very appreciative of everyone who has pre-bought my book to help fund this trek!) there are a lot of people who assisted in other ways.

Here’s a quick summary of why I like them all sooooo much:

Mega Advertising has given me online credibility – when newspapers and magazines and future sponsors check out my activities on this blog, they find my adventure ‘looks good’.

MapWorld‘s GME Accusat GPS emergency locator beacon is my very economical insurance policy should (touch wood) anything go wrong. Even a hunter I met up the Taramakau River was impressed I had one. The freshmap digital mapping software will be most useful as I write up the book and calculate exactly how many kilometres I strolled. The Garmin GPS has actually been more useful than I thought it would be, even when strolling through urban areas!

My Pacerpoles have become my two best friends on the trail. I credit them with supplying me the power to walk further each day than if I didn’t have them. I have not had one blister on my hands from holding them every single day and they are the perfect ‘how deep is that mud really?’ testers. Plus, they’ve given me rather defined triceps…

The Aarn Design Natural Balance bodypack from Invercargill’s Southern Adventure has generated the most interest from fellow hikers. The twin balance pockets at my chest mean I look different from a traditional walker but there are three distinct advantages in the design: 1) My centre of gravity is over my hips, so I feel balanced and even gazelle-like as I hop over streams and from boulder to boulder. 2) My posture is upright, so I breathe more fully and don’t feel as tired at the end of the day. 3) Within easy reach is my camera, snacks, water-bottle, sunscreen, maps – I actually have to remember to take my pack off for a breather every now and again!

I have been thrashing the Earth Sea Sky clothing. It’s still all going strong. My long-sleeved shirt in particular is not quite the same colour as I started, but even now it can pass as ‘tidy’… just.

The powermonkey-eXplorer portable solar charger from Tightlines in Napier has come into it’s own in the South Island, since I’ve been far from electricity for days on end. It means my mobile phone can be fully charged when I really need it.

I feel sorry for the Formthotics Shock Stop insoles Podamo gave me – they have been subjected to a couple of thousand kilometres of pounding, days of sogginess from wet grass and river crossings, loose shingle and grass and twigs. They’re still rocking, treating my feet with love.

Thrashed. It’s the only word I can use to describe my poor old socks. For over 80 days I’ve walked in just three pairs of LifeSocks from The New Zealand Sock Company, sometimes for a week at a time without washing (unless you count a river crossing). The cream coloured pair aren’t really cream anymore, but the black pairs can still pass as ‘new’. They’re awesome.

Jennifer Manson has been donating $1 from the sale of each of her ‘Tasha Stuart Interviews…’ novels – if you haven’t checked out this brilliant read, you need to.

Now as much as I love chocolate and sweet things, I’ve been super impressed with how tasty and filling the beef jerky and steak bars of Jack Link’s have been. Full of protein and energy, they keep me going until dinner time. My favourite is the BBQ flavour steak bar! M-mmmmm…

Now that the temperatures are dropping, I’m very glad I have a merino GT Velocity Crew tee from Icebreaker to sleep in each night. Toasty! And their Hike Lite Crew socks are perfect for an evening in a mountain hut.

The Pacer1 tent from Aarn Design was the smallest tent at the Scout Jamboree in Hamilton in January. But that’s a good thing, because I wouldn’t want to carry more than it’s 1.3kg! It keeps me warm and dry and safe from all the creepy crawlies I’ve encountered along the trail.

Meals from Back Country Cuisine have been a godsend at the end of a long day walking. Fast and easy to prepare, tasty with a wide range of flavours (Chicken Tikka Masala rocks!) they’ve been handy to have in my pack if I need them.

    

Of course, Bluebridge and L.A.Fitness teamed up to help me walk across Cook Strait. Without them, I’d have spent 3.5 hours just sitting down, relaxing. Now when I reach Bluff I’ll be able to say I’ve walked ALL the way from Cape Reinga!

Huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me so far on this journey: sponsors, friends and unexpected Trail Angels. You’re all awesome…

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[Oh, and remember, being super-clear, these people and companies are supporting my walk of Te Araroa and thus MyAdventurePlus. They don't have a direct connection with SCOUTS New Zealand. And any donations via the 'Donate' button at the top of this page go to me, Stuart Fleming, for use during the trek.]

That said, if you would like to enquire about how you can support SCOUTS directly (yes, achieving sustainable funding is a very high priority for our National Office!) then please contact National Fundraising Manager, Tony Hickmore on +64 (0)4 495 8675 or tony@scouts.org.nz. Thanks!