Backpacking 3,000 kilometers on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand
A complete guide to resupply in trail towns on the Te Araroa Trail 2024. Includes information on bounce boxes and resupply box.
Backpacking 3,000 kilometers on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand
Cosmo's Te Araroa stories and gear guide after hiking the 3000 km trail as a solo female hiker in a little under five months.
FarOut's Te Araroa guide helps you navigate the length of the 3,000-km TA. Download the most popular map smartphone app for TA hikers!
Te Araroa Trail Guide | TA Blog | The North Island and South Island daily trip journal, blog, gear list, costs, hiking tips.
If you’re reading this, then you’ve probably decided to thru-hike the Te Araroa. If you’re on the fence, and trying to decide if the Te Araroa is right for you, I suggest you read my Te Araroa Thou…
Cosmo's Te Araroa stories and gear guide after hiking the 3000 km trail as a solo female hiker in a little under five months.
Where to shop, what to eat, and how to send resupply boxes ahead on New Zealand’s long-distance trail.
Te Araroa Trail Guide | TA Blog | The North Island and South Island daily trip journal, blog, gear list, costs, hiking tips.
Te Araroa Trail Guide | TA Blog | The North Island and South Island daily trip journal, blog, gear list, costs, hiking tips.
A complete Te Araroa Trail Gear list below 6kg (13lb) for 2024. What is the best tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, cooking gear & rain gear
When I set out on New Zealand’s 3,000km Te Araroa Trail, the longest walk under my belt was the 65km Overland Track in Tasmania. At six days, it was a world away from the five-month epic I was about to undertake.
Te Araroa Trail design on a unisex comfortable cotton tee, the basic staple of any wardrobe. Soft, snug, and stylish - the perfect gift for anyone who has hiked this challenging, scenic New Zealand trail or dreams of doing so. Or buy it as a special treat for yourself - you deserve the best! .: 100% cotton (fiber content may vary for different colors) .: Bright design .: Medium fabric (5.3 oz/yd² (180 g/m²)) .: Classic fit .: Tear-away label .: Runs true to size
Te Araroa (TA) was the trail I had chosen to kick-off my new full-time outdoor life back in 2012. For various reasons it turned out no...
Te Araroa Speaking Tour: Coming to Your Local REI!
The muddy forests. Three Northland forests made of nothing more than a jungle of trees and mud. It’s an introduction to bushwhacking more than anything else, with rivers to replace eroded tracks but mostly, it’s a cruel initiation to mud.
Discover the natural wonders and hidden gems that make Aotearoa New Zealand so unique. Explore Trip Ideas to plan your next New Zealand trip.
Te Araroa - New Zealand’s Trail - is growing more popular for long-distance hikers every year. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic will limit how many trampers can get on the trail this year, the hiking season for the Southern Hemisphere is still right around the corner! After tramping the route last
in just a few short days, Margaret Hedderman will begin an 1,800-mile hike across New Zealand on the world’s newest long distance hiking trail, Te Araroa.
From navigation to drinking water and camping spots, what you need to know from our on-trail experts.
Discover New Zealand’s ultimate long-distance trek - the Te Araroa Trail - covering 3,000km and stretching from the tips of the North and South Islands.
Backpacking 3,000 kilometers on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand
Te Araroa Speaking Tour: Coming to Your Local REI!
Te Araroa Trail, spanning New Zealand's North and South islands, is the world's newest thru-hike. Here's why it's a challenge you should consider!
Up for a challenge? Here are 10 of the best hiking trails in the world that are naturally breathtaking and perfect for every adventure seeker.
Basic mountains and sun design featuring New Zealand's scenic but strenuous Te Araroa Trail. An ideal gift for a through hiker or someone who wishes they could walk the trail. Or buy it as a special treat for yourself - you deserve the best! .: 100% cotton (fiber content may vary for different colors) .: Bright design .: Medium fabric (5.3 oz/yd² (180 g/m²)) .: Classic fit .: Tear-away label .: Runs true to size
After Hamilton, the TA made its first strides towards the sort of trail I’d been waiting for. There were more forests and mountains, littered with just a few sections of frustrating farmland to ensure the typical North Island TA experience.
After more than 48 hours I made it home to New Zealand. I left DR Congo mid afternoon on Friday and arrived into Christchurch, NZ just after midnight on Sunday night (technically Monday morning). The first part of the journey was crossing the border from DR Congo into Rwanda and then a 4 hour drive to Kigali Airport. While I have been in Africa for a while and am used to the amount of people I was amazed at the number of people on the roads. During daylight there was a maximum of 5 seconds without seeing someone walking on the road. There was a continuous stream of all ages walking, pushing carts, cycling with massive loads or just standing on the road. Interestingly my driver would not slow down for any of the people but the minute he saw a goat immediately he slowed down and gave them room. I am assuming there must be a bigger payout for a damaged goat than for a person. He also slowed down for the numerous Police checkpoints and we were only stopped twice. I was pleaseantly surprised that both times there was just a warning and no bribe needed to clear the checkpoint. When it got dark 2 hours after we started I was expecting the number of people to reduce and they did marginally. It was now a maximum of 15 seconds of empty road before seeing someone. Tea Plantation in Rwanda People Everywhere, Rwanda Once at the airport I was refused entry into the terminal building for check in. They would only open the building when a flight was 3 hours from takeoff. Unfortunately due to the DR Congo Border closing at 5pm I had to cross early meaning I had 3 hours to fill. Luckily there was a cafe within walking distance and I had a fantastic coffee, something I had been desperately missing in Goma. From there the journey to Johannesburg, via Burundi for 30 minutes and Nairobi for 2 hours was fine. Unfortunately my bag did not appear in Johannesburg but before I had time to panic the Kenya Airlines staff approached me and told me my bag was on the next plane arriving in 2 1/2 hours. As my flight wasn't for another 6 hours there was plenty of time. My bag arrived on time and I still had to wait an hour before I was able to check in. The rest of the journey, via Sydney, was smooth and I touched down in Christchurch just after midnight on Sunday. I had made the decision to spend the day shopping there as I knew where all the outdoor shops are. Monday was a good day drooling over gear in the Outdoor Shops. Somehow I managed to maintain my discipline and only buy the gear on my list, though I was severely tempted by some new technology. As I achived my aims early I switched my flight for an earlier one and got into Dunedin at 5pm. From there my Parents drove me home and I was reunited with my gear which they had been storing for me. My packages waiting to be played with It was great to finally see all of the gear I had ordered but never got to play with. I didn't last long catching up with my parents before cracking and playing with the gear. The next day I headed into Dunedin for final shopping and an appointment with a Podiatristto get new Orthotics. He proceded to tell me all about my many biomechanical issues which did not inspire confidence at the start of a 3000km walk. Luckily I am well practiced at ignoring things I don't like to hear so I disregarded all the potential issues and left happy with my new orthotics and some exercises to do to try and fix some of my issues. The next few days were spend sorting out my gear and weighing everything. Unfortunately to my horror the first time I put my pack on my back with about 10kg in it the strap broke. I was in shock thinking in 5 days I was starting my walk and now I would have to find a new pack. On closer examination I saw the strap had not been fully folded under before being sewn so only had one thin layer of stitching. The other strap seemed fine. After firing an email to ZPacks explaining the issue I started the repair. Luckily my mum has waterproof cord which was ideal for the repair so for the next 20 minutes I sewed the strap back on and thankfully it looks pretty solid. A 1 hour full dress rehearsal walk gave confidence that the repair would hold. ZPacks appologised and gave $25 towards sewing costs and said they would replace the straps at the end of my walk when I had time to send the pack to them (at their cost). The fantastic view from my room - no people! I got my maps printed onto waterproof, tearproof paper and was really happy with the speed they were done, the quality and the price. I think having the trail notes and resupply notes on the maps themselves will make navigation much easier. If anyone wants copies of this format I have downloaded them onto the Facebook Te Araroa 2014-15 Files page and also on www.tawiki/wiki/navigation. I used some precision digital scales to weigh all of my kit and it was exciting seeing my estimated weights being slashed. I did some slashing of my own to reduce weights such as reducing the size of my sleeping bag liner and cutting off the handle of my toothbrush. I also modified some fluffy slippers (by removing all of the fluffy parts) and adding a velcro strap to make some fantastic and super light camp shoes. And the final result of the weigh in ..... (drumroll) ....... 6955g (15.33 lb). Fantastic I managed to get under the 7kg mark. While this is not Ultralight it is still much lighter than I imagined when I started planning. I have put my final gear list on the Gear Page. All of the gear in my pack My gear packed into drybags And packing completed This is what I will be wearing And this is my clothing layering system The next couple of days will involve a test Tramp with full weight, setting the tent up in the paddock, sorting food and finalising resupply packages. On 28th I fly up to Kaitaia where I stay the night before taking the Sandrunner Bus up 90 mile beach to Cape Reinga and the start of the adventure.
Backpacking 3,000 kilometers on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand
Hiking for 5 months and 3000km from the northern tip of New Zealand to the blustery south. Here's how Laura did it.
Te Araroa Trail Guide | TA Blog | The North Island and South Island daily trip journal, blog, gear list, costs, hiking tips.
I followed the ridge into the fog that thickened and lifted again, while I continued to take pictures of every angle around me. Gina soon sped past, agile and fearless, while I carefully placed every single step in front of me. At this rate, this mountain range was going to take me all week to get through...
Te Araroa Trail Guide | TA Blog | The North Island and South Island daily trip journal, blog, gear list, costs, hiking tips.
Each step afforded a small but significant difference in the view of the lake behind. It was a marvellous sight, the blue alpine lake surrounded by mountains. It was the best single view I’d had so far. In fact, the single best view I would have along the entire TA...
There are things you somehow hope to do one day, but keep putting off for whatever reason. Then on your deathbed, very cliché, to think “I wish I had”… That’s how I’ve dreamed of walking the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand for years. This more than 3.000 kilometer long trail crosses my favorite country in the world from north to south and is perhaps a bit like the famous Pacific Crest Trail, but then different. A month or two ago I made the decision that it is now finally time to do this trail. I’ll be leaving in October 2022 and in this blog series I’ll take you with me on my preparations and ultimately the journey itself. Today I’ll tell you about the decisive moment when it became clear to me that I had no choice but to make a decision. Enjoy reading! If you wish to read this article in Dutch, please visit my Dutch website NieuwZeelandInfo Love for New Zealand My love for New Zealand started in 2002 when I first visited this faraway land. However, it would take until 2011 before I first heard of Te Araroa. I was in New Zealand for 6 weeks and did several multi-day hikes. On the way, I met a couple who told me they were hiking a part of Te Araroa. The trail was officially opened on December 3, 2011, but they already hiked a part of it. Since then it has always been in my mind. I mean … how cool is it to traverse your favorite country all the way on foot? In addition, the idea of a thru hike (read: a long hike that you complete in one go) has appealed to me for a long time. One too many excuses Unfortunately, I always had an excuse ready for “not doing it.” A job, a relationship, a house … I said goodbye to all of them in 2017 to go a world trip with a one way ticket. But even then I was not convinced that I should hike Te Araroa. I had heard quite mixed stories about the trail (including that there are a lot of asphalt sections in the trail on the North Island). In addition, during that trip I would go to New Zealand for 3 months, but I wanted to see a lot of things that were not on the trail. And besides that, 3 months wouldn’t be enough to do the whole trail. In other words, I decided to focus my 2017/2018 trip on several short treks that I wanted to do. In a period of three months I hiked the Angelus Hut Track, the Routeburn Track, the Greenstone Caples Track, the Hump Ridge Track, the Mueller Hut hike and had other tracks planned, which were ultimately canceled due to bad weather. The confrontation During the trip in question I came across Te Araroa at various places. I not only visited Cape Reinga and Bluff (the official start and end point of the Te Araroa), but I also encountered hikers at Whangarei Heads, in Nelson Lakes National Park and at the Greenstone Hut. I spoke to them and every time I heard their story, I felt a twinge inside. One day I would also do that trail. Just not yet. And then you are running a profitable business After returning home from New Zealand in the spring of 2018, my world trip and nomad life had officially ended. I decided to go for work (because: empty bank account) and turned my business into a profitable business. I let my travel blog We12travel grow into one of the largest personal outdoor blogs in the Netherlands, set up the podcast for Adventurous Women and also worked as a freelance copywriter for various companies within the travel sector. Unfortunately, due to the current crisis, there is not much left of that profitable company. I’ll be honest about it: financially it has been very disappointing for almost a year now. My savings account for my retirement is getting pretty empty, partly because my fixed costs have risen sharply when I switched from living together to a LAT relationship earlier this year. Fortunately, I’m confident that once the vaccines start to work, I’ll be able to bring my companies back to their old profit level and even far above. In the meantime I started building my new website. In November of 2019 I spent another month in New Zealand and bought the URL NieuwZeelandInfo – determined to make it the go-to place for your New Zealand trip. Doing a thru-hike In recent years I have further immersed myself in reading about thru hiking and watching documentaries about it on Youtube. And it always felt double: on the one hand I knew: I want that! On the other hand, I also felt very uncomfortable reading those blogs and watching those videos. I am quite an individual person and am not looking for crowds or a trail family. After reading “Alone” by Tim Voors about his solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, I was especially sad about the mentality of many hikers (parties, drugs, etc.) there. So I immediately crossed that trail from my wish list. You can of course also look up much quieter trails and for a while I played with the idea of crossing Sweden on foot from north to south. But that idea didn’t make me hyper enthusiastic either. There was a thick blockage somewhere in my system and I didn’t know what it was or how to solve it. I also have Te Araroa by Jasper van Riet Paap (a Dutch guy who did TA with his girlfriend) but the book did not convince me to do the trail either. Rather, I was frightened by the many mud pools, river crossings and other hellish endeavors he wrote about. In the meantime, my boyfriend has been fantasizing for years about a long motorcycle trip that he wants to take in the future. He’ll talk about it as soon as the opportunity arises. I noticed a restlessness in myself. The feeling of really looking forward to something again and working towards it, of filling a savings account with a goal other than providing for your living… But still no matter how I tried to figure it all out in my head, the pieces just didn’t fall into place. The decisive moment Last summer I watched a video from Youtuber Elina Osborne about the Pacific Crest Trail that appeared in my feed. Although I didn’t want to see any more videos about the PCT, I subscribed to her feed anyway. This fall, her video “Should I walk New Zealand” appeared on my feed. I clicked it and… at minute 5 my decision was made. In this, an friend of hers, whom she interviews for this video, says: “You go back and forth on it. Should I or shouldn’t I but it’s always gonna be there. ” Those last 5 words hit me hard. Of course you can interpret “it’s always gonna be there” in different ways. For example, I showed this video to a hiker friend who took it as “you can always do it”. But it came to me as “If I don’t, I’ll always wonder what it will be like. I’ll never get rid of that question in my head if I don’t do it. ” And that was him. The moment I decided to start planning it immediately. It was as if a weight fell off my shoulders. This was the last push I needed to make the decision to walk Te Araroa. The word is out! I believe that the same day I informed one of my best friends and my boyfriend. I’ll leave in October 2022 and will take 5 to 6 months for it. That is more than one and a half times as long as an average hiker. You may have already become aware that I’m not an average hiker. I don’t care much about speeds, time limits and other factors that determine how fast I should walk. The last thing I want is to be under time pressure and have to be “there” by a certain date. And thus cover as many kilometers per day as possible. So I made a number of decisions that immediately became a sea of relief when I decided not to do the standard thing, but to make my own version of Te Araroa. More about that in my next blog! Until my departure, I’ll keep you informed on this site about my preparation, planning and everything that has to do with it. Don’t want to miss out on my next blogs? Then follow me on Instagram where I post as soon as the next article is ready for you! Want to continue reading? My next article is about how I made a saving plan for Te Araroa! Related posts..Hiking Tongariro Alpine Crossing: New Zealand's best one day hikeHiking in New Zealand: the best Mt Cook hikesHiking the Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki / Mount Cook
Einmal durch Neuseeland - komplett zu Fuß! Nadine und Philippe vom Blog Gustrofrenzy haben es getan und mir einige Fragen zum Te Araroa Trail beantwortet.
Tracking app for parents can help you protect your children from unsuitable content and cyberbullying. Here are the top 10 best parental control apps for Australia.
Backpacking 3,000 kilometers on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand
Auf dem Te Araroa 3040km durch Neuseeland. Informiere dich über Gefahren, Tipps zur Sicherheit, Flussdurchquerungen & Verhalten in Notfällen!
Te Araroa Trail Solo Hiker design on a unisex comfortable cotton tee, the basic staple of any wardrobe. Soft, snug, and stylish - the perfect gift for anyone who has hiked this challenging, scenic New Zealand trail or dreams of doing so. Or buy it as a special treat for yourself - you deserve the best! .: 100% cotton (fiber content may vary for different colors) .: Bright design .: Medium fabric (5.3 oz/yd² (180 g/m²)) .: Classic fit .: Tear-away label .: Runs true to size
Erfahrungsbericht mit vielen Informationen, Tipps & Impressionen: Alles was du wissen musst über den Te Araroa Weitwanderweg durch Neuseeland
