Gear, gear, gear

Tomorrow is Day 0 (travelling to Invercargill, but not walking from Bluff until the next day).

So what gear do I have? 

That's pretty much all of it.

It's a mix of tried and tested, and new gear bought because it's a better fit for a long walk.
Originally I had intended to tramp with a pack which when fully loaded would have touched 30kg.  Having bumped into and talked to numerous people on my trial walks who have walked te araroa, there was one piece of advice every single one of them gave me:

Every gram counts!

So I have recently undergone a process of whinnying down what I am taking, and replacing heavy over-specced equipment with lighter weight options.  This has got me down to a base weight (without food and water) of ~16kg, with ~6kg in food for 12-14 days, and a couple of kilos for those dry sections where I'll need to carry a lot of water.  Not accounting for damp and wet gear (which quickly adds to the weight), this gives a tramping weight of 23-24kg maximum - noting that I won't always need to tramp with the maximum allocation of food and water.  Given I'm used to tramping with kids, this will feel featherweight to my shoulders - although perhaps not after a couple of weeks!

So here's a (rough) list.

• 90 litre pack.  An old Kathmandu unit - there aren't many packs around this big, and a pack breakage is the last thing you want.  So this is a big, old, heavy unit I've used for years and can trust implicitly.
• 2 man Macpac tunnel tent.  This was one of the first things I upgraded for the track - my old tent is a 3 man, weighing 4kg+; this new one comes in about 2kg.  I could have saved a lot of weight here by going with a 'coffin' tent or bivvy bag, but I want to be comfortable while waiting for rivers to go down so I'm not tempted to cross prematurely, so have upsized.
• Inflatable half length ground mat
• 2 x walking poles.  A bit of thought was given to only taking one, but I find they help to prevent jarring of my back while descending hills.
• Electronics.  Ironic given this trip is a break from IT, I'm taking a lot - it'll all be stored in dry bags.
• Cellphone - also acting as my mapping system and GPS (I'm not taking any maps)
• Suunto watch - to track my walking and also to provide emergency GPS location if something happens to my phone
• Kindle - contains backups of route descriptions, again in case something happens to the phone, and lots of books!
• Satellite phone - I'll be using this to report my location every evening so Karen can see I'm OK.  Jakob will also be posting these locations to my facebook in case you want to see where I am.
• Waterproof camera.  I'll generally be using my phone as a camera - this is more a backup than anything.
• USB Rechargeable head torch
• 10000mah battery as a powerpack to charge everything off
• 7w solar charger that will sit on the top/outside of my pack and recharge the powerpack as I walk on fine days.
• Recharging cables
• 240v USB adapter for when I'm in a town
• PLB (personal locator beacon)
• Clothes
• Gortex jacket
• 2 x merino top base layers.
• 1 x full length merino top
• 1 x collared merino t-shirt
• 1 x windproof vest
• 1 x lightweight down jacket (for hut/tent use, pillow at night, auxiliary sleeping bag warmth when cold)
• 1 x long sleeved shirt (to keep the sandflies/mozzies off at night
• 1 x pair tramping shorts
• 1 x togs (I'm planning to swim a lot)
• 1 x long lightweight trousers (again to keep the insects off)
• 3 x underwear (technical, moisture wicking etc)
• 1 x thermal leggings
• 2 x pairs technical tramping socks (merino mix)
• knee length gaiters
• tramping boots.  These are fairly heavy duty - lots of te araroa walkers use trail shoes, but I think that's nuts given some of the terrain
• Lightweight gloves
• Warm hat
• Lightweight teva sandles.  Hut/tent footwear.  Again a recent purchase - I was going to go with crocs, but at 300 grams these are almost as light, and can also function as auxillary walking footwear if I have an issue with my boots.
• Expedition sunhat (one of those one's with a flap to protect my neck)
• Net hat (It makes me look like a total dweeb, but sure keeps the insects out)
• High-vis vest (for the day one walk Bluff to Invercargill - will biff it after that)
• Old shoes (again only for day one, Bluff to Invercargill)
• Really old day pack (again, only for day one. I'm leaving my large pack in Invercargill).
• Pack liner.  Also can function as emergency bivvy bag
• 3 season sleeping bag.  Recently bought to take instead of my ~2kg 4 season bag.  This one is ~700 grams and is using newly developed waterproof down (it'll give warmth even if it gets wet).  The 4 season bag is too warm to use 95% of the time in summer.  If it gets cold, I'll use my down jacket as an auxiliary second bag.
• Silk sleeping bag liner.  This is to either sleep on top of using my bag as a duvet, or to sleep inside using my bag as a mattress, depending on temperature.
• Pillow case.  I'm soft.  So shoot me.  I'll be filling this with my spare clothing at night.  A down jacket makes a fabulously soft pillow!
• Smallish pot
• Cup.   Note, no plate - I'll be using the pot for this.
• Titanium spork.   (plus a plastic backup in case I lose it)
• Lightweight knife (thanks Eli!)
• Titanium propane burner
• 2 x 250gram propane cannisters (for what I'm doing this should last 2 weeks.)  If I'm not happy with my gas usage I'll put in a third before I get to the really long sections.
• 2 x 1.5 liter bottles
• 1 x filtered 500ml bottle (so I can use water from doubtful sources)
• 1 x hip belt - will store the 500ml bottle and some food as I walk so I can drink/snack without having to stop
• Food
• Porridge for breakfast
• Soup/noodles/dehydrated/pasta for lunch
• Dehydrated for dinner
• Salami
• Carrot
• 300ml cream (this'll only last a few days but will be great for porridge, coffee)
• Hot drinks assortment
• Brown sugar, salt, pepper
• Raro sachets (if I'm having a low energy day and feel like a pep up)
• Museli bars
• Cashews.  Lots of cashews.
• Banana chips
• Biscuits
• Dehydrated loo paper (it's a thing, look it up).  Thanks Anna!
• Soap slivers
• Pot scrub
• Quick-dry towel
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen lotion
• Dimp
• Monoscope (for spotting track markers)
• First aid kit (recently greatly augmented, thanks Colleen!)
• Medicine.  Largely to keep my back going (anti-inflammatories, along with acid neutralising tablets, because voltaren is terrible for your stomach), panadol, anti-histamines, anti-biotics. 
• Tape for protecting my feet from blisters
• Emergency repair stuff.  Sewing needles, twine, boot laces, spare straps

Man that's a lot of stuff when you write it all down!