She moved to Gisborne in January, but last year she and Sam were living in Coromandel when they decided to challenge themselves by tackling the South Island section of Te Araroa Trail.
“I also wanted to learn new skills for outdoor education, such as using crampons, being resourceful with food, checking weather reports and equipment skills in an extreme environment.
“We wanted to spend our time in nature and do something out of the norm.”
Initial preparation for the journey included dehydrating food for preservation purposes and sending the food on to collection points on the trail.
Another was to look at detailed topographical maps to get an idea of hazards they might come across — or avoid —such as big rivers and mountains, she said.
In the Takitimu range in Southland the two went off-trail and had to set up camp for the night.
When they woke up, their tent was surrounded by snow — about 10cm had fallen overnight.
“That was not the end of it as we later had to hike through a blizzard which lasted for nine hours. It was then Sam developed a knee injury and was in a lot of pain.”
But the real achievement was the fact that they were able to find their way out of the heavy snowfall, especially with her partner's injury, and hitchhike to Te Anau.
“Just having that accomplishment felt really good.”
Another weather experience was in the Nelson Lakes area when a forecast for heavy rainfall had them stuck in a hut for two days.
“It was a bit of fun imagining that we were living in a hut with no amenities and living off just our small ration supplies, which was pretty exciting.”
Ms Dick said the highlight of the walk was the wildlife.
The pair had an encounter with a territorial possum near Queenstown, which did not let them pitch their tent and charged when it felt its territory was being invaded.
“We also had two incidences of being dive bombed by New Zealand falcons — they were so vicious when we were walking through an old forest.
“At that moment it was really insane, I wanted to run to get out of their zone but Sam wanted us to show them that we were calm and relaxed.”
Ms Dick said on many occasions they met hikers and people from different places and they enjoyed exchanging stories, sometimes over a bonfire.
During their journey they met several “trail angels” — people who were willing to open up their home and hearts to travellers like them.
They also developed their knowledge about “best practice” for long-haul hiking.
They realised the need for better gear such as lightweight and waterproof backpacks since they were walking about 35km a day carrying loads of more than 20kg, which was a drawback.
They had to take a break for three months due to lockdown compliance and took up their journey again in October.
“It was a completely different hike because we had sandflies and sunstroke — all these new things that we had not encountered in the winter months.
“And because the snow was melting the rivers were higher and every month we were facing different challenges.”
Ms Dick said she would use her experiences to motivate her students to learn more about their environment.
“That's why I fundraised for the rangatahi for the bush kura as I love the idea of kids learning through nature something that I'm really passionate about.”
Trust operations manager Keelan Poi said the money raised would be used to get more equipment such as backpacks and tents for the longer courses.
“It was pretty amazing to think that the reach of our kura is starting to touch people outside our normal circles. For Bridget to actually come on board and fundraise and believe in our kaupapa feels special.”
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