The procrastination ends here
I have everything I need, placed the caches, sorted all lifes gotchas (hopefully) and have no more excuses. The pack is large and unwieldy but has everything I need to keep me afloat or walking for a year.
I have far too many doubts about my ability to complete this large mission which has taken rather a long time to plan and get to the starting line. The first objective is to hitch to Taupo and get on the Waikato and begin the journey downstream. I was told of 'the squeeze' a couple of days ago and so have a fun objective to discover in the first few days - a hot stream sounds like a pleasant find with the cold snap coming through over the weekend.
My next deadline is to be at Auckland airport on the 25th September for my flight to Invercargill. Hopefully I will have tagged the top of NZ before then!