TGO Challenge 01/05/26

Allt Aigeinn to Lochan na Saile

A bright but cloudy day with the sun appearing occasionally for today's short mostly road walk.

Looking back to yesterday's hills

It would have been better to stay up high last night but without water and too much wind it was much more sensible to camp where I did. I did consider climbing back up to do the top but decided on a leisurely stroll along the road.

Merlin identifying birds

The first part was along a very quiet road through Torrin to Broadford the bird count was increased considerably with Oystercatchers, Curlews, Sandpipers, and a good selection of birds in a wooded area as I left Torrin.

View over Loch Cill Chriosd

The views back to the hills were beautiful again as were the views over the Inner Sound as I approached Broadford.

Looking across Broadford Bay

My planning had gone slightly wrong and I had to buy an extra days food in the Broadford Co-op before retiring to a café to recharge my phone and myself.

Interesting wool shop in Broadford 

The section on a footpath beside the busy main road passed pleasantly enough and I was soon climbing the little road to Kylerhea.

View from the Kylerhea road

Tomorrow's plan is to climb a couple of hills before taking the ferry so I turned off onto some wet heathery ground and climbed up to the lochan where I managed to find a reasonable place to pitch the tent. A lovely view but a bit boggy and windy.

Pitch by the lochan

Luckily the wind died but the ground didn't get any drier!

TGO Challenge 30/04/26

 Sligachan to Allt Aigeinn

Blue skies all day but it was quite windy on the tops, perfect walking conditions.

Sgurr na Gillian from the other side of the valley 

I slept well last night despite the rather noisy road being well fed and watered at the pub probably helped.

View to the West 

I set off on the path up the Druim na Ruaige which climbed easily for a while across the moor before becoming much steeper up the ridge. The views were spectacular all day, the Outer Hebrides were just visible through the haze and Rhum, Eigg and Muck very clear as was the Mainland.

Blabheinn

An out and back down to the Bealach Mosgaraidh followed by a steep climb to Being Dearg Mhor for the first top of the day.

Beautiful day

Over a little top and down some rather nasty scree to another Bealach where I was faced by another very steep climb to the top of Marsco. I spotted a Golden Eagle nearby which added to the mediocre tally of Cuckoos and Ravens. The wind was very strong on the ridge but at the summit it was calm, strange.

Wow 😲 

A long rocky descent was followed by an even steeper rocky ascent to Garbh-bheinn with a spectacular rocky summit, lots of rocks!

Plenty of rock

A tricky descent to where I had planned my final ascent for the day but I was running out of steam and there was no water to replenish my meagre supply so l decided to give it a miss and picked my way down to the river which I followed down until I found a suitable camp spot.

Camp by the burn

A lot of ascent and descent today over slow and tricky ground and I was quite happy to crawl into my tent after dinner.

TGO Challenge 29/04/26

Sligachan 

A bus trip today to Skye where I will start my extended TGO Challenge.

Campsite with Glamaig and Sgurr Na Gillian in the background 

It was a beautiful morning but rather misty at Burghead with a haar rolling in from the sea as I got on the bus to Elgin. I had plenty of time to go to Boots and get a baby toothpaste and shower gel as the next bus would have missed the connection to Inverness by a few minutes. After a short wait at Inverness bus station I was on my way to Skye.

Amazing views of the countryside and hills, particularly through Glen Sheil before crossing the bridge to Skye. The barren hills of Skye looked strange after all the vegetation climbing the hills in New Zealand but the Sligachan campsite apart from being exposed to the easterly wind was good with the Cullin hills in the distance and a good pub to celebrate the start of another Challenge.

New Zealand 24/02/26

Raikura Track, day 3

The heavy rain didn't arrive until the evening and it poured down discouraging me from going out to look for wet kiwis.

Fallen tree but still is growing 

The morning however was perfect, blue sky and a light wind. I woke before it was light and heard Kiwi all around but I couldn't convince myself to get up and try to find one, the sound of all the wildlife was perfectly satisfying.

Kiwis to the left of me

Kiwis to the right

Here I am, stuck in the middle with none.

Sawdust Bay 

It was a relatively short walk today and I pushed on along the path that stayed close to the coast for a while before heading over the hills to Oban.

Another view of Sawdust Bay

It was all in the bush on a mainly good track and by the time I reached the road my feet were still relatively dry.

Stewart Island inlets from the Islander

My brother Allan is in hospital in London and when I got to Oban I looked at changing flights to get back to see him.

Tiny plane

It was all much more straightforward than I expected and I got a flight from Oban to Invercargill on the little eight seater Islander aircraft.

Invercargill 

At Invercargill I was able to transfer to a flight to Christchurch where I had a connection to Aukland.

One of the big rivers that I had to detour round 

A stay at an airport hotel and I fly out tomorrow to London via George Bush airport.

I will be heading for Skye and the TGO Challenge at the end of April. More adventures to come 😃

New Zealand 23/02/26

Raikura Track, day 2 

It was a beautiful morning, unfortunately I didn't see any kiwis last night but the stars were amazing in the perfectly clear sky.

Morning 

I set off late enough for the tent to dry out as it was only a short day through the bush on a mostly good path although there was some good squelchy mud as well.

Good path

Bad path

Nothing of note today, there were no views only bush of various density.

Hauling engine (new protective cover)

There were the remains of two old hauling engines that had been left in the bush when the logging stopped.

Open bush

I did get a fleeting glimpse of a deer and there were a few Fantails flitting about, delightful little birds.

Campsite 

I arrived at the North Arm campsite and had my pick of the camp spots, sandy flat bits in the bush, near the fine cooking shelter.

Inside the cooking shelter 

I got myself sorted out and had some soup before it started to rain. The warden appeared and said that it was supposed to chuck it down in the late afternoon also that I had actually picked the best spot!

Log hauling details 

There was a young German lad at the campsite who is cycling around the world and taking a trip to Stewart Island (without the bike on this part). He managed to see a kiwi last night, I'm jealous! 

If I wake up I'll go on another kiwi hunt tonight.

New Zealand 22/02/26

 Rakiura track day 1

It was a nasty night, pouring rain and very windy but it started to improve early in the day and by 09.30 there was no rain and patches of blue sky.

Leaving Oban

I decided to walk the three day Rakiura track, one of the 'Great Walks' and the only one on Stewart Island, rather than the ten day circuit of the island that I had originally thought of.

Chain sculpture at the start of the path

Horseshoe Bay 

The long route is nearly all mud and tree roots and I had enough of that in the Longwoods and the thought of starting with ten days food didn't encourage me either.

Well maintained path 

The first section of today's walk was on the road which was very pleasant after a second breakfast and coffee in the village.

Horseshoe Bay 

The birds were singing and there were some lovely views of the coast.

Sea view 

The path started through a giant chain sculpture and continued round the coast, sometimes in the bush climbing around headlands at other times on the beach itself.

Bridge at the end of Maori Beach

Past a nice little campsite at Maori Beach where there was part of an old boiler and engine that drove a sawmill and over a suspension bridge to climb steeply, aided by steps, over the next headland to Magnetic Beach and the Port William campsite.

Sawmill remains 

Campsite 

New Zealand 21/02/26

Stewart Island 

A great stay at Bluff Lodge for the last couple of days, well fed, rested and ready for more adventures.

Bluff Lodge

I caught the ferry to Oban, the only town on Stewart Island, a rather bumpy one hour crossing.

Not much of a view from inside the ferry 

The weather was good when I arrived but I thought it best to go to the campsite and set up my tent before I did anything else just in case!

Oban campsite 

Lunch first in a nice café before heading to the museum which was worth visiting but not exciting.

A 'bomb' harpoon 

I then went for a walk around the area to see the sights. I didn't have to go far before I was in the bush.

Golden bay

Good paths around Oban

Oban, Halfmoon Bay

I found a sea kayak place and may well try it out after my three day walk. There is also a stone carving workshop, looks interesting.

An interesting bit of information at the museum (click on the picture to enlarge)