Slow travel can offer so much
Ihad never really thought of myself as an outdoors girl before I left New Zealand. I loved the beach as much as the next Kiwi, and preferred jogs around the neighbourhood to gym sessions, but I hadn’t done much hiking since I had been forced to at school.
Once in the United Kingdom though, I quickly realised that hiking – and other forms of slow travel such as cycling and kayaking – are great ways to get to know a place.
Joining hiking groups, I found myself exploring moors, dales, ancient woodlands, fields full of wildflowers, and cobblestone villages in the company of other weekend warriors keen to add some outdoor adventure to their largely sedentary indoor lifestyles.
Some of the locations we visited (such as the white cliffs of the south coast and Mt Snowdon in Wales) were well known. But most were random treks close to London with a particularly nice pub at the end. Despite the ofteninclement weather, I was hooked.
Moving to San Francisco later, my hiking adventures continued. Highlights from my time there were the trips I made to Yosemite, although my first one ended up being much more than I had bargained for. I had signed up for a 12km return hike to the top of the national park’s eponymous waterfall but, mistakenly joining the wrong group, I wound up on a nearly 40km fight for survival.
Dressed for a low-altitude spring trek in a T-shirt and shorts, I found myself on an epic trek though the capricious microclimates of the Sierra Madre mountains, following bear footprints through the thick snow that eventually buried the track. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that if I didn’t keep moving, I may never move again. That and the fact the pizza place in the park village closed at 9pm.
The good bits were so good they were worth the leaden thighs and blistered, blood-stained feet. Standing atop the waterfall, a perfect panorama of the pine-carpeted canyon at my feet, I had the strong sense that this was what life was all about – enjoying this big, beautiful world while we have the chance.
Since returning to New Zealand, I’ve done my best to make my weekends and holidays look like a Kiwi girl’s answer to Bear Grylls’ Man vs Wild. I’ve hiked my way from Northland to Otago and, in an effort to diversify, biked the Alps 2 Ocean trail.
Jennifer Parkes’ piece on South Island backcountry huts on pages 38-39 has inspired me to diversify further still and, if I have a chance to return to the United States, I will definitely be taking Ashlyn Oswalt’s advice on how to plan a trip to one of its national parks on page 43.