The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-01)

The Sunday Times May 1, 2022 7

CLAIRE’S EPIC

HIKE IN NUMBERS

26

15

22

2

13 2

8

most miles

covered in

one day

kilograms

carried

nights

spent

camping

pairs of

boots worn

out

wild

swims

jars of

peanut

butter

consumed

wasp

stings

snack bar

stolen by

native

parrots

1

stumbling out of the forest my tramping

companions and I were greeted by a local

who pointed at his pick-up truck: “Want

me to drive you to the pub?”

The penultimate day followed the

curve of the coast, fighting a headwind

as a trio of horse riders thundered past

through the surf. I was reminded of where

I began some months ago, on a beach at

the other end of the country.

At last there was Bluff. It’s an

unassuming place: industrial at the edges,

a hostel in the shell of the old post office,

and a couple of pubs (only one of them

open), but the regulars at the bar are

friendly and unfazed by trampers. One

of them offered to teach us some skills at

the pool table, while handles (pints) of

Speight’s — “Pride of the South” — were

enthusiastically drained. Through the

window the sunset burnt the sky a deep

gold and I realised I wanted to

keep going; to discover more

of the back country, seek

out more trails. I’d spent

months exploring

them yet I’d hardly

scratched the surface.

And all this time I

thought that New

Zealand was small. I

hardly knew the place.

Claire Nelson’s

first book, Things

I Learned from

Falling, is out now.

For information,

maps and trail notes

see teararoa.org.nz

pg

enthusiastically draine

window the sunset bur

gold and I reali

keep going

of the ba

out m

mon

the

scr

And

tho

Zea

hard

Cl

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