The Kahurangi Experience

Following our adventures tracking the possum on Arapawa island, our group loaded up the van and drove to Nelson. After spending a couple of days relaxing, including an amazing dinner hosted by Pacific Discovery's founders Scott and Rachel Sanson, it came time to prepare for our backpacking trip.

On the surface, packing for the trip seemed simple enough: buy some light food at the supermarket, throw your clothes into a backpack, grab a trangia (cooking stove) and a tent and go hiking, right?  Unfortunately, in practice there were some complications. Everyone was a bit nervous for the coming expedition after struggling on the shorter hikes on Arapawa Island. The group nervously packed the night before, making sure that they had everything that they needed for the days to comewhile fearful that they might not have the stamina needed.

These fears persisted until we met Mark, our group's hiking guide.  Mark explained to us that the hiking trip was going to take place along a trail through the forest as opposed to scaling a mountain as some members of our group had envisioned.  This news calmed us down and gave us a collective confidence.

The hiking trip stretched over the next four days without much of a hitch (there were a few wasp stings here and there).  Along the way, we learned whittling, wilderness skills, and how to to start a fire. Many creatively named spoons were carved throughout the journey like "Red Bone", "Spoondonickle", and "Boone's Spoon". For many, the highlight of the trip came when we put our confidence to the test and scaled Gordon's Pyramid where we ate lunch while enjoying an amazing view of the Kahurangi National Park. For our group, hiking Gordon's Pyramid served as a symbol for how we had grown over the course of the hiking adventure.

After several days in the wilderness, we returned to Nelson, reunited with the remaining group members, and continued on our journey through New Zealand.