Family Tramping
Family Tramping with Sarah Blair
I am Sarah, a 30 something year old wife and mother from North Canterbury. I have recently started exploring our stunning New Zealand landscapes.
The only time I had ever been tramping was with friends as a teenager. I absolutely loved it but since getting married, having children and well… life… I had wanted to try it again but it all seemed too scary. The thought of climbing a mountain excited me but also made me so nervous. Did I have the right gear? What if I get lost? There were so many doubts in my head I just kept throwing it in the ‘too hard basket’ and never got around to it, until one day a couple of years ago I just decided to attempt a local mountain. The track was easy to follow and after an hour of climbing I had the most gorgeous view and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. The climb, although small to some and big for others, had filled my cup. It had me buzzing and I was thirsty for more!
I researched and then researched again… joined a good tramping page on Facebook and was totally inspired to keep going. It wasn’t as scary as I thought and 100% doable!
Getting up into the mountains is definitely a healing experience. It’s as if I can feel my body needs to go, and whenever I do, I come home tired but also recharged.
I always knew I wanted my children to experience tramping at some stage whether it was through school or together as a family and so far they seem to be loving it. My daughters especially have really taken to it and accompany me on most of my adventures as well as some of my nieces. We are still learning but have a list a mile long that we continue to learn/work our way through.
Safety is always my number one priority when I head out, growing up in New Zealand I was used to seeing trampers making the headlines for getting lost (or worse). Because I also take my children/teens with me, that only enforces the need to plan well and do everything we can to stay safe.
Written by Sarah Blair
