Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

The undulating premise of purpose To take time To walk A Camino A pilgrimage of contemporary yearning To walk the walk Or to talk the walk Of exploration along Spiritual time-honoured pathways Haven’t written words for a while Perhaps words have left To venture ventures Where lyrics flirt A dalliance With a sultry swirl On … More Walking an ancient pathway – Camiño Francés from León to Santiago

The cause of reflection In momentary pause Poetry in motion At Moscow’s train station Excitedly waiting With passport and bag With time to mind To watch and observe The choreographed dance A myriad of journeys’ In variant rush, A discordant crisscross To noisy applause The screech of rail The whistling guards, And off to the … More A brief sojourn in Russia and Scandinavia. Part Two

Communist Russia. The mere words bred agitation for my parents in the early 1960’s. The Cold War, the Cuban revolution, Russian involvement in Cuba, the proximity of Cuba to the United States, the possibility of another world war. Russian dominance. Russia, Moscow, The Kremlin. A time, a threat, anxiously real and reminiscant of a feudal … More A brief sojourn in Russia and Scandinavia. Part One

This blog of our last few days in the wilderness on our South Island Te Araroa trail, is difficult to put together. There is much to share in words and photos of our joy and pleasure, trials and decisions in tramping in the rugged pretty wilds. To return from days in the wilderness where pleasure … More The Juxtaposition of Tranquility & Terror…the shattering of sense of place and peaceful interlude with the upshot of evil.

  Welcome back to our next posting of trials and trails on our Te Araroa South Island journey, this section from Pelorus Bridge to Wakefield. After a day in Nelson enjoying family hospitality and trail food drop offs at various locations, our return to trail commenced with an intercity bus ride from Nelson over the … More Back on Track…more than we bargained for

With no camping overnight, no freeze dried dinners, smaller backpacks and a cool, very refreshing beer after each day’s trek,  we’ve glamped our way along the Queen Charlotte Track with our great travelling friends Dave & Kerry Lilley, from Taranaki.   Taking advantage of accommodation on offer and water transport transfers that the Queen Charlotte … More Glamping Te Araroa Trail on The Queen Charlotte

In the Land of the Long White Cloud Pewter and moody blue paint the landscape With the sea a splash of aquamarine Greeting our arrival Today, in Nelson, the sea continues to be a beautiful aquamarine. Large clouds, hopefully with rain, are skirting the ranges towards the north, a breeze dances the trees and the … More Returning to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aoteoroa

326kms to Wellington on the Te Araroa Trail; so close, so far. We’ve walked 1374kms without too many issues but we are finding our bodies these last few kms require a little more nurturing. Physically, psychologically. The trail now encompasses many more roads with some busy highways and heavy rain accompanies our journey.  Whanganui Youth … More Roads, Rain Come with Manawatu Terrain, Te Araroa Trail, NZ

Above the Devilled Stairway, Tongariro Crossing. Nancy, John, Kerry & Dave Highlights this posting: A major tourist attraction. Thousands per day climb and cross over Tongariro Crossing, drawn by the fascination of live volcanoes, the challenge of the steep climb, the strange beauty of moonscape like craters and emerald green coloured lakes. A major tourist attraction … More Highlights – Walking the Tongariro Crossing and Being Spoilt by Friends, Walking Te Araroa Trail, NZ