NINE TAKEAWAYS FROM TRAMPING BACK-TO-BACK GREAT WALKS

Last Easter I enjoyed my first school holidays as a first-year teacher. There were 17 days to play withand I went overboard. I booked the Rees-Dart, Routeburn and Kepler tracks back-to-back with no rest days in between. This meant 11 consecutive days of tramping among some of Aotearoa's most incredible scenery. It turned out to be the best tramping experience of my life and the greatest test yet for my body, stamina and gear. I came away inspired to tackle more of New Zealand's iconic tracks back-to-back and figured there is no better place to start than the Great Walks. Here's what I learned.

1 IT'S BETTER FOR THE PLANET

Though it's tougher than dehy to swallow, tramping the length and breadth of Aotearoa negatively impacts the