Leaving on a Jet Plane

It started with an idea. A thought, really. We didn’t just wake up one day and have it all figured out. We didn’t whip out a 50-page proposal plan on our first day and know that that was what we were going to do. How it was going to go. We didn’t buy endless amounts of mapped out trails and highlight the route we wanted to go. Instead, nine months ago a thought passed through my head. An inkling of something to be. Something amazing. Something that would grow like ripples in the water from a stone skipping the surface of a glass lake. [Read more]

It's official. Alex and I have our first published magazine article. Thanks to NZ Multisport who has allowed us to be included in their most recent magazine (Issue 77). It's a little surreal to think that our plans and preparations for Te Araroa have brought us to this point. Something that has started so small has begun to grown into something bigger than I ever thought it would get to. And yet it is real. It is happening. And we haven't even started trekking yet. I can only imagine what adventure awaits us once we make our first steps along the trail in October.

Time is rushing past us as it is though. Our proposed start date for trekking (October 15) seems a world away, yet it will come soon enough. I have less than a week left in Broome before I head off cross-country to make my way to Auckland. It's hard to think about all that has brought me to Broome, all that has happened in Broome and know that in a few short days it will all be over and I will say goodbye. I have met so many incredible people here in this place - people I will never forget and hope that we will always remain in touch. But even still, soon I will have to leave them all behind. Yet another home I leave behind. My friends. My family.

But the new adventure awaits me and Alex in New Zealand and I couldn't be more excited for it. Alex and I have been madly making our last minute preparations before we meet up in Auckland in less than 2 weeks time and things have started to really fall into place. We have received word of our newest sponsor, Biovac, who will help us in providing a few more items to gear us up for the long distance trail. I have been pursuing the production of a promotional video within my spare time, railroading through all the obstacles modern technology can present while making such a product. Alex, still at home in the UK, has been sending out last minute emails and such to possible sponsors and people of interest that still may be able to help us out for our journey. And all the while we have been receiving great help from so many people in helping us reach our goal of $10000 for Indigo Foundation!

And even through all of this, there has been the day-to-day living experiences. My friend, Kirstin has recently performed in Broome's very own Worn Art production of which she was the MC and a performer in the show. There's been countless goodbyes from friends all around as people one-by-one drop off the radar to go on their own  next big adventure. I have started learning how to make feather earrings thanks to my friend Amanda (USA) and yoga has become the newest craze among those of us at the campsite as we roll out of bed each morning to stretch our limbs in positions we never thought possible. Even through all of that there has still been the beach days where my feet worm their way under the soft sand and I stare out blissfully at the Indian Ocean in it's rich torquoise blue color. If only I had my paints and canvases with me to capture all the colors Broome has to offer.

And so with that all in mind, time continues to tick on. Each day I wake up to make the most of it as I realize I am nearing the last. Pretty soon I will be leavng, leaving on that jet plane and I just simply do not know when I will be back again.