Posts tagged "hiking"
I love being in the mountains, or simply in nature, and hiking is the activity that allows me to spend time actively out there. These posts are a collection of some of my hiking adventures.
Te Araroa Stories: My Wet Feet and the Deceptive Charm of Deception Valley
Who would have thought that hitchhiking from the main road near Methven could be harder than scoring a ride in Rachel’s truck the day before? Not me. And yet, there I was; standing for almost an hour, watching cars pass by every minute, all pretending I didn’t exist. Eventually, one kind soul stopped, and after one more hitch, I was...
Te Araroa Stories: The South Pole Chef, the Atlantic Rower, and the Truck Driver Who Saved My Day
My goal for staying in Twizel was simple: eat as much as humanly possible. I started at the bakery for breakfast, wandered to the supermarket for a snack, stopped at a café for a pastry, had lunch at an Asian restaurant, grabbed another snack at the supermarket, and wrapped up with dinner in yet another restaurant. By the evening, with...
Te Araroa Stories: Candy, Cliffs, and a Trail That Tested My Bowels
Right after leaving Queenstown, I wanted to do a quick resupply at Pack’n’Save — the mythical supermarket of low prices. It was the one and only Pack’n’Save on the South Island section of the trail, and I had to find out if all the legends were true. Spoiler: they were! I regretted that I needed only food for a few...
Te Araroa Stories: Tuna in a Water Bladder - Backpacking Goals
Crossing the extremely muddy Longwood Forest was one of the first big tests of the trail, and I passed it with honours. The next day, it was time to continue further. Ahead of me were four days without any chance to resupply food — another challenge. Looking back now, that seems like nothing special; packing food for several days, or...
Te Araroa Stories: Mud, Magic Mushrooms, and Trail Leeks - My First Days on the trail
After spending a week in Auckland before starting the trail, it was finally time to set out on the journey. I took a plane to Invercargill, in the south of the South Island, and from there I hitched a ride to Bluff, where the trail begins. Hitchhiking wasn’t my original plan, but after finding out that I should have booked...
Tour du Mont Blanc with a Twist - Umbrellas, Thunderstorms, and Wolves
Hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) had been on my list for ages, and when I finally set out, I expected the usual: sore legs, stunning mountain views, and some epic memories. What I didn’t expect was to meet a wolf. A real, wild wolf. For a split second, my brain went straight from “wow, majestic wildlife!” to “so...
Te Araroa Stories: Stuff I Carried (and Stuff I Should’ve Left Behind) for 3000 km Long Journey
Well-packed gear is a crucial element for finishing the trail. You should have everything you need and nothing you don’t, because you’ll feel every extra gram. At the beginning of the trail, I saw many people with heavy backpacks, but as I went further, I saw fewer of them — and more hikers who were efficiently packed. My base weight...
Te Araroa Stories: What I Did to Be Ready for Te Araroa – And You Can Too
It was the end of October 2024. I officially defended my thesis titled “Searching for new physics using the ATLAS and FASER detectors” and became a doctor – Yay! Time to take a break and go on a big adventure! Right after defending, I went climbing with my friends in Leonidio, Greece, for ten days, but I didn’t plan...
Te Araroa Stories: It All Started Innocently… Then I Walked Across New Zealand
It was April 2024, and I was sitting in my office at the University of Geneva, pretending to look busy while analyzing data from the ATLAS experiment at CERN. My colleagues and I were searching for new particles called Higgsinos — tiny things that may or may not exist, unlike my social life at that time. Between writing a paper...