Arnold gets straight into it. She is \u201con trail\u201d by page 10. I enjoyed the short exchange between her and husband Doug at the trailhead. It\u2019s only a few snippets of dialogue, just enough to convey that they are both wigging out, have given this undertaking a lot of consideration and are keenly aware it is going to be very hard. He\u2019s worried, she\u2019s worried. He shares some last minute \u201cAlpine Fault could just \u2026 go\u201d anxiety. She considers her own mortality. And then sets off.<\/p>\n
The way Arnold has managed to condense nine months and 3028 kilometres into bang-on 300 pages is impressive throughout. From the nature descriptions, to the meal recaps and interactions she has with other walkers \u2013 the story includes many small but perfectly formed vignettes \u2013 like that chat with Doug \u2013 that illuminate more than their page space would suggest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no upfront promise of personal transformation or revelation in this book \u2013 and I liked that. It\u2019s not a pre-ordained hero\u2019s journey. But why did Arnold even want to undertake this massive tramp? And in a way that is not really recommended? She only needs one line to explain \u2013 \u201cThe trail was haunting me\u201d \u2013 she\u2019d come across the TA literally and metaphorically so many times it was just time for her to walk it herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The book\u2019s full title is \u201cNorthbound: Four seasons of solitude on the Te Araroa\u201d. But even the solitude part isn\u2019t forcing some overarching lesson from the start. It\u2019s not a silent walk stunt, although Arnold does meet someone along the way who is kind of doing that. Because Arnold ends up being a NOBO (northbound walker) she just doesn\u2019t come across that many fellow walkers. Most walkers are SOBO and have finished up when she\u2019s only half way through.<\/p>\n
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Arnold\u2019s writing throughout moves at a perfect clip \u2013 it kept me entertained, wanting a little more in some places, but always on the line for whatever came next. She wrote most of the book on trail, with literally 1000 voice notes and her iPad. She ends up writing a good chunk while sheltering in a random woolshed for multiple days during a \u201cdemonic windstorm\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no rose-tinted retrospect here, and this lends the book a nice feeling of immediacy. You feel very in the moment with Arnold as she walks \u2013 it reads less like a memoir and more just like a great story. And it is a roller coaster. There are awe inspiring moments \u2013 a rainbow, delicate hoar frost<\/a>, native bird song, Magellanic clouds<\/a> and many stunning vistas. But there\u2019s also a lot of cold and a lot of mud. There are primal screams, injuries and a lot of swearing. Snow has begun to fall before we even reach page 100.<\/p>\n I enjoyed how Arnold makes the roller coaster real for the reader. In one moment things are light, airy, funny \u2013 there are \u201cwhio ducks whistling far down the river below, sounding exactly like the foot pump on an air mattress\u201d. But just a few pages later she\u2019s scared, afraid, then \u201cso high [she\u2019s] crying over a pair of whio whistling in a lonely river at dawn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The nature descriptions throughout the book feel like little gems. I wanted more of them but also appreciate that Arnold didn\u2019t lean too heavily on the beauty of the trail to carry the story. I underlined her encounter with carnivorous snails \u2013\u00a0\u201cBronze whorls of their shells glinting in my lamplight and their oily muscular black bodies searching, searching like a tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n Food descriptions throughout Northbound are entertaining but also a clever tool. They help you understand Arnold\u2019s environment and mind along the way. There\u2019s overly tart homemade fruit leather at the start. Later there are tears shed over a chicken broccoli bake and a meal that consists of short dated gummy worms, hot chips and raspberry Coke. So many little details, never overwritten, indite you into the world of Arnold\u2019s walk. By the end you\u2019re speaking her hiker language, breezing through lines laden with TA lingo.<\/p>\n While most of the walk is solo, the few trail friendships Arnold does strike up are tender, intimate and a little bit silly. Like those crazy tight friendships that come out of summer camp \u2013 they spring from nothing, mean the most for a short time, then end just as suddenly. Arnold\u2019s relationships along the way \u2013\u00a0with herself, her partner, family, friends \u2013\u00a0are probably what got me thinking most. It\u2019s curious to consider what it would be like to zoom out on all of those, all at once, like she does.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arnold is a fantastic narrator to journey with up the trail, and Northbound is a great read for outdoor adventure seekers or readers who like stories set outdoors. Arnold\u2019s account of the TA is often delightful and always honest. It\u2019s a window into what you could expect to get out of any thru hike \u2013 munted feet, but also meaning. These moments of meaning unfurl naturally: Arnold leads them to you deftly, suggests them, and this makes Northbound a deeply satisfying read. <\/p>\n