Let the Adventure Begin

It’s me again. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in but I’m headed back out onto the trail and I hope you will join me. Instead of the Appalachian Trail, I decided to flip it to the other side of the world and try the TA – the Te Araroa that covers approximately 1,800 miles of the north and south islands in New Zealand. It is one of the newest long distance hiking paths out there and I can’t wait to see what it brings. From what I’ve heard, it is a bit of a “choose your own adventure” type of thing. The AT is the undisputed granddaddy of long distance hikes and is truly the “Green Tunnel.” Keep your head down, follow the white blazes, work hard everyday and you will find your way. That suited me just fine – thank you.

Te Araroa (meaning the Long Pathway) is supposed to be a different beast. There is a path and markings like the AT but there are a ton of alternates, a canoe section, road walks and a few sections that can be done on a mountain bike. While I love the simplicity of the AT, I’m looking forward to a more fluid experience this time.

Speaking of fluid experiences! I kicked off this trip in French Polynesia for a week of blissful diving with my buddy Adrian. Adrian flew to Seattle from New York and then we took a direct flight to Tahiti. We crashed for the night near the airport and then puddle-jumped to the atoll of Rangiroa for the best diving of my life. We went on 12 dives with a dive shop called The Six Passengers – named for their small but fun rubber dinghies that whisked us out to the Tiputa Pass. This is an area where the Pacific Ocean flows in and out of the lagoon created by the volcanic crater that makes up the atoll. The water is fast, clear and full of amazing creatures. We not only saw – but played with giant dolphins on several of the dives. You are not allowed to touch them but the dolphins didn’t get that memo and they want to play. After they position themselves around a group of divers they will pick a lucky few and hang horizontal in the water and rub up against you. Hanging out in 100 feet of crystal clear water while a giant dolphin spoons you is just as good as it sounds. I had to clear my mask a few times of happy tears.

The dive shop crew picked us up every morning outside of our beach cottage that we named the Scuba Bus Stop and we stayed with them for three dives a day with a delicious lunch served by sweet local ladies that thought my first name was hilarious. They would roll the “r’s” in Drrrrrrrrew when I placed my order and giggled for next few minutes. I would pass by to grab a cup of tea and it would start all over again. It made me laugh too and I felt right at home.

We dove the same pass each time but it was so different on each dive. Depending on whether the current was incoming, slack or outgoing changed the scenery drastically. For the outgoing tides we saw hundreds of grey and black tip sharks commuting in and out of the lagoon, huge schools of barracuda and my personal high point – a giant TIGER SHARK! I pointed and screamed through my regulator and Adrian and I exchanged high fives. It was my first tiger shark sighting and such an immense thrill. Such beautiful and powerful creatures.

Yeah, right you saw that. So where are the pics? You’ll have to trust me on this one. Adrian and I both decided to fully immerse ourselves in this experience instead of through a GoPro view finder. We were in the moment – just feeling so lucky to have the time, money and experience to be able to do something this extraordinary. Not one second was taken for granted. I just knew how incredible it was to be in that place, at that time with such a good friend to witness together such a rich and diverse environment. The best part of the trip was my buddy Adrian. He is a perfect travel partner. Just like my friend Neil, he is easy going, friendly and polite to everyone we meet. Always positive even when things aren’t going great. Admittedly, we didn’t have any bumps in the road on this trip but they wouldn’t have phased Adrian. He’s just happy to be on a fun adventure with his friend. Also, Adrian was a bit of a celebrity in French Polynesia. Tattoos are a big part of their culture and he was showing them a few tricks. The locals were impressed for sure.

Today was a travel day from Tahiti to Auckland on Air Tahiti Nui’s 787 Dreamliner. It was a was easy 5 hour flight to New Zealand but the biosecurity procedures at customs were pretty intense. Because I am traveling with all of my hiking gear, they had to test everything that had been used. I thought I had cleaned everything really well but there were a few bugs on my tent spikes that had stowed away from a recent camping trip. They were really sweet and professional about everything and I got through just fine. So, I am waiting on my flight to Kaitaia and then will take a shuttle to start my hike tomorrow morning.

I’m nervous. I’ve done this before but this one feels different. I am so far away from Bryan and Chuck. I left my job, my swimming bestie Ruth and my new friends at Bainbridge Island Rowing to do this. I pulled all the stops to get here and I am hoping that I find that same peace I found on the AT. I trust the trail. I know I belong there but damn if it isn’t scary to say so many goodbyes.

Thanks for following along with me again.