When weight should matter!

Those who do overnight hikes know that weight – or lack thereof – is the key.

I discovered this the hard way when, on my honeymoon, my new husband planned our first overnight hike on Stewart Island, New Zealand.  

THINGS WENT OFF TRACK when we got off the ferry, and I barely made it 200 metres up to the visitor information centre. I was carrying way too much! A change of clothes, some bedding, a warm coat and I could hardly even walk.

Since then, I have flat out refused to hike again. That packing ‘ultra-lite’ caper, it’s just not for me.

(Instead we hired a sea kayak and that became our preferred method of touring because there’s always room for a bottle of wine.)

Fast forward 20 years, and my brave husband decided to try me again with the hiking thing.

This time it was at Deep Creek Conservation Park in South Australia, along the Blowhole Beach Hike to Eagle Waterhole campground.  It wasn’t very far in distance (come on - baby steps!!) but it was fairly steep.

So imagine my delight when we arrived in camp that afternoon, and he pulled out from his hiking pack (which also had the tent, food and stove) … some cheese, glasses and a bottle of sparkling wine! It was a milestone, twenty years in the making, and we sure celebrated it.

I had done some celebratory packing of my own.  I’d brought three cans of the new Off Track Wines: The River / The Ocean / The Mountain is Calling.  We chilled the first two a bit in the creek – couldn’t quite get them down to 10 degrees C but they were delicious anyway - and we enjoyed them thoroughly over dinner.

The next day we hiked back to the car via Aaron Creek Hike with our spirits and packs all the lighter.  Out of interest, at home I weighed the empty wine bottle that my husband had carried versus the three empty Off Track Wines cans.  Both had held a total of 750ml of wine.

So, when weight matters, try Off Track Wines.  The perfect reward after a day of hiking!