Hello and farewell all

Hi all,

I thought I should actually take the time to sit down and post something on this blogsite before we head off. Rions written something about his motivation for doing this epic. Mine is fairly more simple, Rion asked me if I wanted to go for a walk so I said yeah OK sounds cool, why not walk up the south island. And I like climbing, so why not go up the Southern Alps. And then told work I wouldn't be starting until March.

I have just arrived in Queenstown and there is heaps of snow on the peaks. I have found myself a sweet new flappy sun hat lest the sun tarnish my fair skin and can't wait to get into it. Looks like the weather will be calm and sunny to start off with which is nice. The pack is a little scary, the final packing will be done tonight and I don't really want to know, but at least when it's on my back I won't be able to see how heavy it is.

Cheers for all the help we've had in the preparations and to all those that are dropping off or bringing us food in the coming months. Hopefully all goes to plan.