The Belgian Travellers

What to do when you have 4 free days and want to train in Belgium ? Hiking in the Ardens is definitely a great option. So... that's what we did. Marie-Laure went with a group, not only for hiking, also for studying the fauna and the flora. This way, if we're attacked by a weird insect, she'll be able to tell its name! Ok, I'm joking. New Zealand's fauna and flora are definitely completely different from what we can see in Belgium. Oh, by the way, in Belgium, we don't have many snakes, but we have many slowworms. They look a little the same, but slowworms are much much slower. While Marie-Laure was studying, I decided to start the mental training. The two friends that were supposed to go hiking with me were sick. So I decided to go alone. And because the weather was so good, I decided to lighten my backpack by taking no tent and no sleeping pad. It was my first time sleeping alone in the nature without tent. And it was great. However, I must be honest ...

Just imagine... hiking 3000 km across New Zealand, in the wilderness, having to rely only on our abilities in order to find our way and make it from Cape Reinga to Bluff. That's our project between November 2017 and April 2018 : we'll hike the Te Araroa Trail. Before the departure, we still need to prepare a lot : decide the material we'll bring with us, study thoroughly the maps and descriptions of the trail (thank you Te Araroa Trust for the great website ) and... to train. We'll do it mostly in Belgium, in France and then in Ladakh, before our departure to Auckland.  If you want to keep updated and its preparation, stay tuned !