- It is NOT the Department of Conservation that is creating the Te Araroa Trek. It is, in fact, the Te Araroa Trust who has been developing New Zealand's newest long distance trail.
- The Te Araroa Trail's official opening has been adjusted to the beginning of February 2011, NOT the late part of 2010 as I originally stated.
Outside of this, I have officially uploaded my website and it can be viewed at: http://www.onelifeadventures.com/ - This blog has also been linked to the main website and, as such, you can reach the site through clicking the "Home" link on my blogsite. On my website you will find information regarding my plans for trekking the Te Araroa Trail, how you can help out, pictures of former adventures and so much more! Please feel free to pass on my website link to whomever you like as I need to gather as much interest in this project as possible!
So now that all the "boring" stuff is out of the way, I suppose I should get on writing about life again. Life in Broome. Life with 2 jobs. Life in a tent.... Just life.
The past few weeks have been flying by. Each day blends into the next as I have had my bike stolen from the McDonald's parking lot during one afternoon of attempting to contect to their free wireless network. Yes, I had it locked up - but apparently bike theft is the biggest issue in Broome to date and as I had only spent a whopping $20 (plus $6 for the lock) on it, I wasn't completely heartbroken... only a little disappointed that I had to walk an hour to get back to the caravan park.
After that minor mishap I decided to invest in an USB internet stick. I needed it bad as it allowed me the opportunity to now be able to access the interenet whenever I need and not have to cycle (on the bike I no longer have) into town and hope that Mackers (McDonald's) has a good internet connection that day. Since I got the USB stick I have been hibernating in my tent during all my spare time to try and bring things together for my website and such so that everything is in working order. Doesn't sound like much work - but considering I have had no formal training on website creation, it takes a while to sort through every little situation so that the website is created the way I envisioned it.
Through my internet progress, I have been able to get in contact with the Te Araroa Trust in order to get questions answered regarding the trail being made as with it not being officially done, things such as detailed maps, conditions of the trail and what to expect and prepare for are limited. They have also graciously offered their support towards my project and I hope that in the coming months we will be able to collaberate with some creative ideas on how we can promote New Zealand's newest long distance trail.
I have also made contact with the Indigo Foundation of which we are now discussing options on how to best go about raising the $5000 I intend to pull in for this project. It's exciting to know that other people are excited about what I am doing, but it also makes things interesting as it's no longer just me that I am thinking of. It's no longer just about what I want, how I want it and when I want it - there are so many more factors involved than when I did the BC trek that it is almost overwhelming at times. And I have just begun. I can hardly wait to see what is around the next corner.
As such, while chatting it up with some people around the caravan park, I connected with one of our newer tenters, Alex (UK), who upon hearing my plans for New Zealand, though that she might like to be a part of the journey. And so today I come at a cross-roads. There is a possibility of doing this trek as a team of 2 females, rather than just a solo journey. There are many things to consider with this - good and bad - and so Alex and I have decided to take our time in making a decision as to what the best one would be. 5 months is a long time to be travelling with someone in any situation. Let alone if you have just recently met and the travelling happens to be in the more remote regions of a country. So we will see what happens.
All the New Zealand preparation aside, I have been working a lot of hours at both my jobs. Housekeeping takes up most of my time as I am there 6 days a week and because it is starting to be the busy season, our shifts are going longer into the afternoons. And then there is Zanders Restaurant. At this point I have mostly been a "Runner" (serving water, drinks, food and clearing tables) and that's pretty much all I do. Run. By the end of the shift I am in a full sweat and regularly down a litre of water when I head home as though I haven't tasted water in months. But I love it.
Anyway, there's lots going on. Lots of everything. Lots of nothing. Delphine is going back to France for a month. Kirstin is moving out of the tent sites to room it up in the caravan. Gerwin has found a sharehouse. Marissa (USA) and I have chatted it up about the reasons many people resent the States. Hannah and I see each other at odd hours in passing and are contemplating going halves on a hammock to hang between our sites. Yuri and Andrew are practicing poi and fire twirling by night. Dean and I are going to try the bootcamp at Cable Beach. I am trying to learn some Mandrin from my Taiwanese co-workers at the resort. And inbetween all of this I am trying to keep up on sleep.
So - I guess through all of this, I can say check out the new website and pass it on to whomever you think might be interested. Thanks to everyone who is supporting me in this journey and is as excited as me to see what happens next.
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