I climbed a mountain. It's fair to say I'm exhausted.

Today we did what I think is probably the most difficult physical thing I've done in 8 1/2 years.

Ben Lomond is a mountain just outside Queenstown (in New Zealand) and its peak is 1740 metres above sea level.

Given that Queenstown is only 310 metres above sea level, as you might imagine, hiking up Ben Lomond is slightly epic.

It's so epic, in fact, that my watch was set to run out of battery after 3 hours of almost entirely uphill climbing.

This post is supposed to be short because I'm waaaaay tired, so let me share some stats with you before my eyes refuse to stay open any longer.

✓ Highest elevation gain and loss in a single day (for both Brad and I)

✓ 18.59km total distance covered (as per Brad's watch that made it to whole way 😁)

✓ Total elapsed time - 6 hrs 59 mins

✓ Estimated time spent having breaks to eat, to breathe, to take photos, to toilet and to just take it all in - 45 mins

✓ Starting point - our accommodation on the other side of the (small) town CBD

✓ Finishing point - a café in town where I promptly ordered multiple things 😄

✓ Number of bars consumed while hiking - unknown (at least 6 each!)

For the record, I've called it both a hike and a climb, and both are true but we did spend far more time upright on two feet walking forwards.

But on the way down we did somewhere between 30-50% of the total mileage running. Why? Because it was kinda fun and because it was kinda easier 😂

BTW, did I mention it was stunning?!