I just want to start off by saying....no walk on the bridge, or time spent cycling in the gym can prepare you for this. I could see Panekiri ridge in the distance from where I was camping. It seemed ancient and beautiful covered in green, with the exposed grey rock reflecting in the blue waters of lake Waikaremoana. Climbing it straight up with 30 pounds of gear on your back. Not so simple. It was one of those climbs that makes you question why you ever decided to take this crazy quest on in the first place. Four and a half hours of holding on to roots as hand holds, various slips that caused bodily harm to reach a hut at the top of a mountain where you will dine on freeze dried beef pellets with instant potatoes. Go figure.
The views from the top and along the way are truly stunning, and it is quite evident already, how fortunate are they that call this place home. After leaving the four day walk, I headed back to Taupo on a road that makes Ice road truckers seem like a bunch of little girls. For two hours I drove on the left-hand side with the steering wheel on the right hand side through a narrow winding dirt and gravel mountain road. My reward was a flat tire approximately one hour in to this terrifying journey. Once on route five towards Taupo I drove through beautiful farm lands over shadowed by distant mountains and past steam vents emanating from natural thermal baths that dot the landscape.
Greg: If you didn't hear already ... the mighty bridge you practiced on in sunny, warm Charleston, South Carolina was icy this morning and ultimately shut down for several hours. You left just in time to miss the messy weather!
ReplyDeleteI did not hear that. Did they call out a state of emergency? Actually Victoria.....I would have found a way to sneak on to the bridge as I realized after my first walk, that all the training in the world can't prepare you for this.
ReplyDeleteAs a blogger I should know to check back for a response but did not until just today! It wasn't exactly declared a 'state of emergency' though there were warnings to stay off the roads. The bridge was closed as an afterthought when officials realized the severity of the ice storm, the lack of pre-treatment of roads, and the am driving results (lots of accidents). Yet, I've never seen the bridge closed before!
ReplyDeleteI'm certain that nothing here could prepare you for the physical, mental and emotional demands of your trek.