bird watching – AN AIMLESS HITCHHIKER: the diary of a vagabond woman

June 6, 2019

Birdwatching in Breizh

I’m sitting in my friend Corentin’s kitchen, flicking through my guide to Birds of Britain and Europe.

“Puffins! I want to see puffins!” I say. Continue reading “Birdwatching in Breizh”

September 4, 2018November 13, 2018

Hiking the Larapinta Trail, Australia

The Larapinta Trail is an amazing 223km hiking route in the West MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, which took us 17 days to complete.

The trail takes hikers through remote areas without a soul around, and then emerges into tourist-filled gorges. I actually liked this combination!

Hikers can walk the trail in either direction, so we opted to start from Redbank gorge (which is the official finish-point of the trail) and walk to Mparntwe (Alice Springs), therefore finishing in the city.

We hiked the Larapinta Trail in the first half of October 2017. It’s taken me a while to type my notes up!

This post is a day-by-day account of the walk, including the amount of water we carried (because I know that this was my main concern before I hiked) and the time it took us (without breaks). We pretty much followed the suggested itinerary and usually camped in the locations that the official trail notes suggested.

A follow-up post covers the logistics – how we did the food-drops etc – as well as reflections of the trail, and tips for others. Continue reading “Hiking the Larapinta Trail, Australia”

March 7, 2017September 4, 2018

Hiking the Te Araroa in New Zealand: part 3

This blog post covers the following sections of the trail on the south island:

Waiau Pass; Boyle Village to Arthur’s Pass; Arthur’s Pass to the Rakaia river.

You can also read part 1 & part 2 of the hike.

1) Waiau Pass trail in the Nelson Lakes: 115.5km, 8 days:

It’s raining. The river hurls water downstream and the track becomes part of the river. We huddle in hikers’ huts until the weather clears.

The river bursts its banks and the way becomes engulfed by strong water

I can’t remember when I last had dry feet…

And then, when the sun comes out and we start to climb away from the valley, the Waiau Pass section becomes spectacular. If you’re choosing just a few sections of the Te Araroa, pick this one! Snow-capped mountains surround us as we climb higher. Continue reading “Hiking the Te Araroa in New Zealand: part 3”