Walking Stick

It was a trip down memory lane today when I decided to haul out my trusty walking stick and my back pack.  If you look very closely you will see the walking stick is engraved with the following: 

Milford Track - Group 6 - 1992 and the words Glade House. 

Glade House is the first hut you stop at on the guided walk and these Beech sticks crafted by a local fellow were for sale at the hut.  One of the guides very kindly offered to engrave the stick with details of the walk, he even found the rubber stopper for the end of the stick which made it a lot easier to use on the slippery rocks. 

I had a lovely chat to Cycling Granny and Snowy in Wanaka this afternoon.  We were just catching up on what has been organised for the "Big Anzac Blip Meet" in April.  I was delighted to learn that two of Cycling Granny's daughters were working at two of the huts on the Milford Track in 1992, I would no doubt have met both of them.  It's a very small world!!

New Zealand Image No 4

The photo that I've blipped today shows the same walking stick as the one in this photo.  It was the first day I had used it and it helped me traverse a very difficult section of the track.  There had been a major rock slide and we had to pick our way across a long section of the rockfall.  There was another sign saying "No Stopping" Avalanche area - of course we ALL stopped to have our photo taken right next to that sign!!!

The walking stick went on to do four Milford Tracks, the Routeburn Track, the Abel Tasman Walk and the Akaroa Peninsula walk, and that was just in New Zealand.  It has gone everywhere with me, including the Kimberleys, Margaret River, Cradle Mountain, and all of my walks since that Milford Trek in 1992.  It's very, very special to me.

PS - I hope the kiwi blippers acknowledge that I knew a good back pack when I saw one!!  Macpac is a very famous NZ brand in outdoor gear.  It will last me a lifetime.