The Dead Man's Hand.....

No more New Zealand Bush Adventures...

If you are reading this post then I was finally dealt the 'Dead Mans Hand' and I am no longer with you. I don't know what it was that finally did me in...I'm writing this in 2023 so maybe it was the Covid's...perhaps I never made it home from a trip...or old age got me...maybe I fell fighting the Snegghhhrh-Klorgh Empire when they invaded Earth in 2028...

Herchhhhh 'knararr lethnarghhh (eat my death ray) you Klorghean bastards!!!

...Aces and 8's...the dead mans hand!!!

Regardless of what else was happening in my life I have always enjoyed tramping and the utter joy of being in the outdoors. Wither trekking across a flat South Island tussock valley, stoking the fire in a beloved hut, fording some serenely musical river, stopping to chat to some other tramper or crossing a high mountain pass I loved it all.

'...Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake..'

John understood how it was....

Nothing quite like a blazing fire at the end of a days walk...

My favorite destinations...well...there are too many to single out a particular place. Rakuira was a well loved destination over the years as were the tracks around Fiordland, Lewis Pass, Hakatere, Abel Tasman National Park and Nelson Lakes.

Awesome Stewart Island mud on the Rukuira Track...

My home park is Arthur's Pass NP...the first place I tramped and somewhere I continually returned too over the years. You are not a tramper from Canterbury if you have never slogged over the gravel to the head of the Waimakiriri Valley. I hope it was the last place I visited before departing the mortal coil..

The Upper Waimakiriri River from near the Anti-Crow River

Anyway...here are some photos of me out tramping over the years...notice the gradual grey coloring the hair in direct correlation to the expansion of the body. Getting old is a bitch as someone once said...its was Phil Collins BTW at his Christchurch concert back in 2019...

One of the first modern tramps I went on ...East Howdon Valley, Arthur's Pass NP in 2013

Hanging out in John Tait Hut in Nelson Lakes National Park in 2016

On the Milford Track in December of 2018...

One of my favorites Otamahua/Quail Island in Lytellton Harbor, 2020

At the lovely Packhorse Hut, Kaituna Saddle, Banks Peninsula in 2018

On the Lakehead Track in Nelson Lakes

So all that needs to be said is thanks for being a part of my journey over the years its been a real pleasure to have you along for the ride. 

May your lunches be dry...your woodsheds ever full...and your huts empty!

Adieu.....