Tena koutou e te whanau!
Well it's been an amazing life changing 4 days in the Andes mountains, hiking the ancient pathways that the Inca people laid to reach the city of Machu Picchu.
The journey from the beginning, pushed our boundaries in so many ways and levels physically, mentally and spiritually.
Tu and I have come closer together (if that was even possible!) after sharing this life-changing experience with each other. Profound respect for each other and appreciation for who we are, where we come from, our heritage, culture, language, whanau and friends.
The journey itself was physically gruelling in parts, and in other parts surreal and unbelievable as we came eye-level and face to face with clouds, snow capped mountain tops, Inca ruins, ancient (like years before Christ, ancient) ruins all through the trail. This was all possible because of our amazing guide from the Quechua people, Percy. As well as our 26 porters and chefs who travelled with our group of 14 through the 4 days (they were amazing! preparing all the meals and campsites)
Most of the trail is in its original form that was laid by the Inca themselves, so he honore NUI tenei te hikoi i nga ara o enei rangatira. One part in particular, we climb a mountain that is 4,200 metres above sea level, which is 800metres HIGHER than Aoraki. This was the hardest day of them all... but we got to the top, which was one of the best feelings ever.
Day 4 (yesterday), we awoke at 3am to prepare for the final hike up to the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu where the sun passes through this ancient ruin (ko Tama nui te ra te tino atua o ratou).
We reached the top of the Sun Gate just after dawn... moments of celebration and appreciation were shared as we had finally reached, Machu Picchu after 4 days of a very difficult (but hugely rewarding) hike.
As our group gets into a circle, our guide Percy asks Tu to speak. Tu turns to me, asks me to go into the circle...
He then got on one knee and asked me to marry him! Of course, I said YES!!!
Extremely happy, it's still sinking in... We're off to the Amazon Jungle tomorrow for a few days. Feeling very blessed, happy and excited for the future!
Arohanui, Tu & Dee
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Goodness me what an emotional journey you both took me on, thank you so much can't wait for the next instalment xoxo
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