We Made It! Well, the easy part...

We made it here, although it was pretty easy, I slept 8 hours on the plane. Lane didn't sleep at all. We did our first proper New Zealand training hike using the gear we will be taking and in similar terrain that we will be hiking in. It went well considering it was the thickest bush I have ever seen, and we were on a "trail". We had 32 stream crossings in a 4km stretch.
Gonna get started this upcoming Saturday the 22nd. Alice's mom is going to drive us to Cape Reinga on Friday and we'll officially hit the trail Saturday. It is hard to believe that it is here, after 8 months of planning a trip in terrain that you have never seen before, it feels good to finally be here.
Well gotta go, off to enjoy a three hour shower, a soft bed and any other luxuries (the refrigerator) I can find at Alice's house before I move into my tent for 5 months.

Dennis