2025 is a wrap, and the last time I posted was Boxing Day 2024. What a jam-packed year it has been. Some general highlights and Big Things that Happened to Me:
- I moved back home(ish) after eight years in Christchurch – Very Momentous.
- My partner and I bought a house!? (The homeowner life feels simultaneously fantastic, strange and has further solidified my awareness of my own privilege)
- Starting to walk Te Araroa with bae
- I teach primary school kiddos now
- Being part of a choir again and making new friends
- Seeing more of my family now we live so much closer
I’m sure I will delve deeper into some of those things at a later dates, as I do have many thoughts, but presently I’m still riding this insane high post-tramp (that’s “hike”) for the internationals.
My partner, her family and I went bush, trekking to Te Whare Okioki and back via Ngamarama and North South Tracks in the Kaimai Ranges. The DoC hut was a 12-bed which we were lucky enough to have to ourselves. The trip itself was initially up in the air due to the wet ass weather forecast but we mentally prepared ourselves and did it anyway, and I am so glad we did.
For starters, New Zealand is fucking beautiful. Foreigners talk about this a lot; New Zealanders know this, on some level, but living typical suburban life you’re just not as exposed to it, right? Also, if you are making the effort to visit little old New Zealand at all, you are probably an adventurous, outdoorsy type, looking to pack it all in and make the most of your time here. For myself, multi-day tramping is something I have always wanted to do, but just not had the gear, the skills, or the posse to make it happen. After this experience, I am determined to make it a more regular occurrence.
There’s something so grounding about being in the middle of nowhere, immersed in nature, carrying everything you need to survive on your back. Clambering up muddy walls of roots, over eroded clay trenches, utterly enveloped by natives on all sides, it all feels almost timeless. The trees seem to say, “We’re not going anywhere, bitches”. The biodiversity alone is something special. Seeing a huge variety of mosses, fungi, shrubs, ferns and of course trees so gloriously intertwined, reliant on each other and just getting on with their lives in relative peace – it’s all a bit poetic, really. For a bohemian like me, anyway.
After climbing significant heights over rugged, muddy and overgrown terrain, battling cutty grass with exposed leg hair, bum shuffling down the steepest steps, eating our packed lunches, passing a number of small creeks (one over a very rudimentary and feeble-looking ponga log foot bridge with a rope strung along one side for support) we arrived at our destination.
First up was whipping off our soaked footwear and clothes, and cosying up the place by getting the woodburner going. Boiling/purifying our own water was a new yet welcome experience – more so than meeting a possum on my way to the longdrop at night. For dinner, Girlfriend and I shared a tomatoey chickpea pasta, which was delicious after a long, soggy day in the elements, and followed it up with a friendly family game of cards and chocolate for dessert. Which game? Up and Down the River, of course.
Here’s to many more rugged adventures and new experiences this year. Stay safe out there, and love the trees you live with. Until next time, homies x
bohemianhumanist.com 