Since my last post six months ago I've ramped up the walking and have covered more than 800 km this year and more than 2,500 km since I started in 2012.  And I'm replacing my gear with the lightest I can find.  Regrettably this means personal imports.  On the other hand each item typically weighs about half that available locally, and often for much the same price as the local offerings.  I'm hopefull that all up (clothes, sleeping bag, tablet, tent and water) that I will not exceed 7 kg.  So no worries with carry on when flying.

My intentions when training is to do 30 km each time I go out.  As there are very few alternatives  because of the valleys that Wellington is built on, I sometimes get bored and stop after 20 km.  But most trips exceed the intended 30 km. And at rates of around 5.7 km per hour.  The purpose is to train both the the head and the body to cope.  The reality next year will be frequent stops at points of interest.

And now to start booking my travel.  The current intention is to fly from Auckland to Charles de Gaulle, Paris and immediately  train down to Lyon to pause there for a few days.  Then by slow train to my start point of Le Puy en Velay, about 100 km to the south west.

And when I start I expect to do around 20 km for the first few day least.  A key factor is the number of times one rises to more than 1,000 m above sea level only to drop down to around 500 m asl at least once each day for the first week or more.

I'm reassonably well prepared with maps and guides (both in (English and French) that I'm copying for personal use only on my tablet for the first 800 km to the Spanish border.