Well it all fits into the pack (okay, possibly not all the food but hey I’m sure I’ll work something out there – maybe just eat three days worth in one go and then ‘intermittently fast’?!!!)

Spent a happy afternoon playing floor Tetris with all my gear, and packed three drop bags of food for Birchwood, Ohau Lodge and Mesopotamia. That’s a LOT of food!

Here is what it all looks like:

Once packed it looks like this…

I also threw it all into a Lighterpack spreadsheet for those with a slight OCD bent (which appears to be half of Facebook having seen the number of comments when I posted it) Link below:

Lighterpack details

Then I took myself and ‘Packie’ for a slow run in the Hunuas. Left out the food as I wasn’t feeling THAT confident but kept all the gear plus 2L water. 15k of hilly gnarly trail in parts (Ernie’s for those who know the area), so was pleasantly surprised that not only did I not, in fact, die. It wasn’t even heavy! Even took it off at the end and lifted it up and down in case half my stuff had fallen out somehow! Clearly the Salomon folks know a thing or two about making comfy-as packs.

Here are a couple of shots to prove I really did take the pack, plus how scenic it is out there (blatant Hunuas marketing plug)

So, next weekend is hopefully 15-30k on Te Henga with full pack AND food. We’ll see how that goes eh?!

Okay, so the October term break was supposed to be my opportunity for a strenuous kit shakedown involving a multiday tramping expedition somewhere in remote North Island to trial my ultralight tent, pack and sleep system. Unfortunately the appalling weather for what feels like the last three months meant that I bailed and headed off to Sydney for a week in hostels doing day runs in the sun! I am a bad TA tramper already…

On the plus side, I now have an ultra-ultralight poo trowel, a titanium long-handeled spoon, trashed quads and a suntan!

Plus, found several great little trail runs all accessible by train AND completed the 45k Six Foot track from Katoomba to Jenolan caves in two days – good as the second day was 30k of constant hills yet I still managed it (almost all walking, not running) in six hours. That gave me a lot of confidence for TA, where 30k is about average for most days.

Photos below of some of the high points of the trails. If you’re in Sydney I thoroughly recommend the Train Walks, Citymapper and NSW Parks apps. Oh, and the Six Foot Track Eco lodge!

End of section at Brooklyn

Six Foot Track (45k)

Start of Six Foot track, about 2k outside of Katoomba

Fire trail. Lots and lots of fire trail!Did I mention it was HOT?!!

Finally some singletrack – about 3k of it down to Cox’s River.

Highlight of whole route – Cox’s River.

Second highlight : Eco Lodge with cold beer and a bunk! End of day 1 (now why doesn’t the TA have these?!!!)

Evil 10k start of day 2: relentless steep uphill fire road. At least there were cute jumpy animals for distraction…

Second half of day 2 and weather reminiscent of NZ! At least that bloody fire road’s gone.

Downhill finish to Jenolan. That’s my awesome WAA pack btw – gutted that it’s not quite big enough for a 30k trip. ☹️

Jenolan blue pool and caves at the end.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

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