adventures
blogposts
A Tappy kind of tale – ‘The foot of the rainbow.’ New Zealand.
Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku is like your great aunt. She must be treated with respect at all times, there’s no point in arguing with her, she’s moody, she knows lots and has been around a while. And she doesn’t always give you what you want. But when you’ve had a great...
Mt Tappy, attempt #1. (Tapuae-o-Uenuku). Marlborough, New Zealand.
December 2013 - Never under-estimate a river. Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku, New Zealand's highest peak outside the Southern Alps. Standing at 2800m, its grandeur can be seen from all over Marlborough. A best bud Bridget and I decided we'd conqour it one early December weekend....
Parachute Rocks, Nelson Lakes. NEW ZEALAND
February 2019 - Nelson Lakes, especially Lake Rotoiti, is one of those picture postcard places that people pilgrim to from all corners of NZ, and from all over the world. It is instantly identifiable in a photo, the 'ah THAT wharf' moment. Parachute Rocks shadows this...
Mt Robertson, North Canterbury. NEW ZEALAND
January 2020 - Where do you take a mate from Botswana and a mate from South Africa exploring, when they've just mountain biked from Auckland to Christchurch? Your back yard... of course! A fun hike/run up Mt Richardson, one of the cool peaks around the Oxford Okuku...
Very Vivolicious. NEW ZEALAND
January 2020 - Colourful shorts are fun. Loud shorts are fun. Being loud and colourful is.... fun. I stashed a few pairs of Vivolicious tech shorts in my bag when I returned from South Africa last month. My kiwi adventure buddy Hannah and I took off to a few fun spots...
No elephants in Maun. BOTSWANA
December 2019. WORDS FROM MY MAUN BUDDY MARK- thanks mate!!!! 😁🤙🏼 @markvanzyl A change of scene from last nights 38 degree high humidity run, this mornings trot was more forgiving towards the “the Kiwi” who is having a blast checking out my home town of Maun for a...
A couple of days in the Okavango Delta. BOTSWANA
December 2019 It’s a really good thing to keep your promises. So when I promised the Air Safari pilot I wouldn’t touch any of the controls if he let me co pilot the last leg in the Cessna back to Maun from the Okavango Delta, I kept my word. There were lots of...
Victoria Falls – a true wonder. ZIMBABWE
December 17, 2019. Back to the mighty Falls - So Dr David Livingstone thought these Falls were pretty cool too, when he was transported to the very edge of them in a canoe by the local Makalolo people in the November of 1855. So cool in fact, he named them after the...
Bushman Rock Safaris – the final farewell. ZIMBABWE
December 2019
The heart wrenching reality of visiting an adored place again, is having to say goodbye again.
Bushman Rock Safaris, goodbye for the third and final time. Never an easy task.
In some broken Shona for the stable crew; maita Basa tatenda chaiezhu stable shamwaris, from your stable musikana. Chokwadi I’ll miss our tamba time. Tunana time time, nda kuenda kumba, unless you guys find me that plot of land you were talking about, for me to come back and grow some tobacco. Zvakanaka!!!! ***thank you very much stable friends, from your stable girl. It’s true I’ll miss our horse rides. See you again, in a long while, for now I’m going home, (well soon…). Unless I come back sooner and become a tobacco farmer – it’ll be fine!!!!! #bushlife #zimbabwe #bushmanrocksafaris #with_belles_on
Family Time. ZIMBABWE
October 2019 Hanging out with my dad the last couple of days on the turf he grew up on has been damn awesome and special. And listening to stories about school life in the Rhodesian Days from him and his cool school mates, while sitting together around a table at the...
Road tripping. BOTSWANA TO ZIMBABWE
October 1, 2019. And…… we made it to Zim!!!! A bit of a mission, but not too bad for a plan that was shaped up just 15 hours beforehand. After leaving the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana at the crack of dawn today, with achy legs and a satisfied belly after...
Sani Pass, Drakensberg Mountains. SOUTH AFRICA
September 26, 2019. So I’m really pleased the baboon didn’t thief off with the freshly baked scones when he snuck into the kitchen on Monday afternoon, and hooked into the fruit bowl. But he didn’t take the bananas - how weird… It’s been nine years between innings,...
The Richmond Ranges, Marlborough Region. NEW ZEALAND
The Richmond Ranges is one sky line that once you've seen it, it never leaves your thoughts. Standing grandly in the Marlborough region, it is stared at with absoloute awe no matter what time of year it is, or what the weather is doing. It's the most wonderful...
Mt Tappy attempt #2. (Tapuae-o-Uenuku). Marlborough. NEW ZEALAND
February 2018 If you’re going to be late to work on a Monday, make it a good story! Didn’t quite do the day hike up Mt Tappy that we’d wanted, but a solid effort of 17 hours hiking yesterday, a quick 5 hour kip in the hut as darkness fell, and 7 more hours hiking this...
Mt Arthur, Tasman Region. NEW ZEALAND
June 2017 - For a few Queen’s Birthday weekends in a row, (early June) my dear friend Bridget and I would take off into the mountains for a couple of days of adventuring. Adventure is never hard to find at this time of year in New Zealand in the mountains either; over...
Monks Cowl, Drakensberg Mountains. SOUTH AFRICA
October 27, 2019. Another weekend up in the clouds - mountain stomping in the mighty Drakensburg, which revealed yet more of its treasures. Tearing around Champagne Castle, higher than 3300m, isn’t for the faint hearted but gee whizz we had fun. Tarrin, thanks once...
Lake Powell, Arizona. USA
October 2015 - The end of a grueling, fun, exhausting, hot and very rewarding winemaking harvest in Arizona – time to treat yourself at Lake Powell. Bordering Arizona and Utah… what a place.
May Day Madness. Marlborough. NEW ZEALAND
May Day Madness Brevet, Marlborough. April 2018. A story about pedaling for a long time, for about 23 hours, covering 260km, climbing 2193m. MayDay Madness, 2018. Tick. Mandy I had no idea you are a bit of a Marilyn Manson fan?! The scene on the first day. Lunchtime....
Golden Gate National Park, Free State. SOUTH AFRICA
August 10, 2019. Another kief lekker South African mountain mission. There’s a wee bit of explaining involved when you receive two GPX Routes from your hiking buddy, to download onto your watch for the pending weekend of mountain adventuring. ‘Ummmmm.... sorry Tarrin,...
Easter Weekend. Swaziland.
April 24, 2019. Getting pulled up by policemen twice in one day, in two different countries in Africa, is what I like to classify as ‘niche tourism.’ It went something like this: “Get out of the car, bring your driver’s license and your cash.” “How much?” “60 rand.”...
Cape Town Adventures. South Africa.
October 2019 The Cape showing off... Watch your mate run a very long way in the mountains and come third, (⭐️👣) go wine tasting and running in between support crew duties, enjoy some good chats, eat giant burgers, then enjoy more wine land exploring and chat to more...
published articles
Finding her happy pace
Marlborough Magazine, March 2020.