2016 | Long distance hiking | New Zealand
Te Araroa
‘The long path’
1864
Miles
270,256ft
Elevation gain
6,315ft
Highest point
70
Nights in my tent
130
Total days
THE BEGINNING
3rd December 2017. Cape Reinga. The northern terminus of Te Araroa
THE END
11th April 2017. Bluff. The southern terminus of Te Araroa
What is Te Araroa?
Officially opened in 2011, this is a much younger trail than it’s well established American cousins – the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail; it’s almost like the lovechild of the two trails.
The two islands offer a varied experience; the North Island is full of culture, beaches and people, whereas the South Island is packed with epic vistas, mountain ranges and sheep.
Te Araroa in pictures
A small but carefully curated selection of images from my hike on Te Araroa in 2016 / 2017
Te Araroa in numbers
Location: New Zealand
Southern Terminus: Bluff, South Island
Northern Terminus: Cape Reinga, North Island
Distance: 1,864 miles
Highest Point: Stag Saddle 1,925m / 6,315ft
Lowest point: You spend a few times walking in the sea so the low point is probably below sea level!
Elevation: +270,256ft / -271,925ft
Duration: It took me 130 days (~4.5 months)
Start: 13th 2015
Finish: September 7th 2015
Total number of days: 130
Hiking days: 118
Zero days: 12
Nero days (under 10 miles): 16
Average miles per day: 15.8
Days over 30 miles: 1
Highest mileage day: 33
Nights in paid accommodation (including campsites): 66
Nights in my tent: 70
Nights in huts: 23
Trail Angels: 35
Trail magic: 31
Showers: 38
Resupply: 32
Real food: 77
Laundry: 19
Hitches with strangers: 31
Hitches with known people: 21
Cried: 5
Total spent on trail: NZ$ 4524.23
Of which spent on food: NZ$ 2591.37
Te Araroa in words
Here you will find a daily blog of my Te Araroa hike. It’s quite the journey!
Just click on the images below to take you to that day…
Te Araroa pre trail – the land of the long white cloud
Te Araroa day 1 – Cape Reinga
Te Araroa day 2 – 90 mile beach
Te Araroa day 3 – Well, today was awesome
Te Araroa day 4 – Finally the end of the beach!
Te Araroa day 5 – Death forest number 1
Te Araroa day 6 – Death forest number 2
Te Araroa day 7 – Mangamuka and road walking
Te Araroa day 8 – Not a great day to be a possum
Te Araroa day 9 – Some pampering at Te Ngaere
Te Araroa day 10 – Paihia
Te Araroa day 11 – Some more road walking
Te Araroa day 12 – Learning the Hakka
Te Araroa day 13 – One of those wonderful trail days
Te Araroa day 14 – Quite a lot of road walking
Te Araroa day 15 – Straight up and straight down
Te Araroa day 16 – Three towns in one day
Te Araroa day 17 – A very varied day
Te Araroa day 18 – A day of two halves
Te Araroa day 19 – Defeated by the deluxe burger
Te Araroa day 20 – Everyday feels like a week
Te Araroa day 21 – Back to Auckland
Te Araroa day 22-25 – A Christmas break
Te Araroa day 26 – A very long 12 miles
Te Araroa day 27 – An amazing end to a tough day
Te Araroa day 28 – It's a magic kinda day
Te Araroa day 29 – So long 2016
Te Araroa day 30 – Mercer is not a town
Te Araroa day 31 – Eating our way through New Zealand
Te Araroa day 32 – What's happened to summer?
Te Araroa day 33 – My name is Alexander Hamilton
Te Araroa day 34 – Making friends with the animals
Te Araroa day 35 – Pirongia mountain
Te Araroa day 36 – Mud, more mud and a one mile an hour pace
Te Araroa day 37 – Waitomo
Te Araroa day 38 – Te Kuti vortex
Te Araroa day 39 – The longest day
Te Araroa day 40 – A nice day
Te Araroa day 41 – New faces
Te Araroa day 42 – All forests are muddy
Te Araroa day 43 – Sam's shop
Te Araroa day 44 – Taumarunui
Te Araroa day 45 – Tongariro northern circuit side trip
Te Araroa day 46 – Tongariro crossing and Mt Doom
Te Araroa day 47 – Our first proper hitch
Te Araroa day 48 – The rain shall pass
Te Araroa day 49 – 42 traverse
Te Araroa day 50 – The lows and highs of hitchhiking
Te Araroa day 51 – The weather bomb
Te Araroa day 52 – Walk-a-bull
Te Araroa day 53 – Creeping to Taumarunui
Te Araroa day 54 – Back in Taumarunui
Te Araroa day 55 – First day in the canoe
Te Araroa day 56 – My hands hurt!
Te Araroa day 57 – Floating down the river
Te Araroa day 58 – Belinda performs well
Te Araroa day 59 – It's all about the floatalita
Te Araroa day 60 – The end of the river
Te Araroa day 61 – A well earned nero
Te Araroa day 62 – Washout
Te Araroa day 63 – We're half way there
Te Araroa day 64 – We found a bubble
Te Araroa day 65 – Tararuas
Te Araroa day 66 – We made it out alive
Te Araroa day 67 – Should we stay or should we go?
Te Araroa day 68 – Get me out of the forest!
Te Araroa day 69 – El Rancho
Te Araroa day 70 – Luxury camping
Te Araroa day 71 – Wellington!
Te Araroa day 72 – A proper zero
Te Araroa day 73 – Goodbye North Island
Te Araroa day 74 – Queen Charlotte track
Te Araroa day 75 – A very pleasant day
Te Araroa day 76 – Havelock
Te Araroa day 77 – It's always raining in New Zealand!
Te Araroa day 78 – Sand flys are the worst
Te Araroa day 79 – Welcome to the Richmond Range
Te Araroa day 80 – Hello summer!
Te Araroa day 81 – Swimming hole
Te Araroa day 82 – What a day!
Te Araroa day 83 – An on trail nero
Te Araroa day 84 – St Arnaud
Te Araroa day 85 – A difficult day
Te Araroa day 86 – Ups and downs
Te Araroa day 87 – Two thirds there
Te Araroa day 88 – Almost flat
Te Araroa day 89 – Hot springs and thermal pools
Te Araroa day 90 – My first earthquake
Te Araroa day 91 – Mostly forest
Te Araroa day 92 – A pretty shitty day
Te Araroa day 93 – Reckless abandon
Te Araroa day 94 – The power of rest
Te Araroa day 95 – Washout
Te Araroa day 96 – A nice group of friends
Te Araroa day 97 – End of the road
Te Araroa day 98 – A big day
Te Araroa day 99 – Rain rain rain
Te Araroa day 100 – Back the Methven
Te Araroa day 101 – I'm not going anywhere today
Te Araroa day 102 – a bit of R&R
Te Araroa day 103 – Back on track
Te Araroa day 104 – On top of the world
Te Araroa day 105 – Purest skies in the world
Te Araroa day 106 – High on life
Te Araroa day 107 – Hiker bubble
Te Araroa day 108 – It's windy!
Te Araroa day 109 – Slowing down and taking it easy
Te Araroa day 110 – Challenges
Te Araroa day 111 – A thoroughly bloody good day
Te Araroa day 112 – Wanaka
Te Araroa day 113 – A nice walk
Te Araroa day 114 – Lord of the rings
Te Araroa day 115 – A half day
Te Araroa day 116 – Arrowtown and beyond
Te Araroa day 117 – Cruise to Queenstown
Te Araroa day 118 – Queenstown
Te Araroa day 119 – PCT meets the TA
Te Araroa day 120 – Crushing it
Te Araroa day 121 – Normally I'm not keen on sharing my food
Te Araroa day 122 – I just love pizza
Te Araroa day 123 – Forest, tussock, bog, repeat
Te Araroa day 124 – Unexpected elevation
Te Araroa day 125 – All of the weather
Te Araroa day 126 – Otautau
Te Araroa day 127 – Back in the mud
Te Araroa day 128 – Riverton
Te Araroa day 129 – Beach walking to Invercargill
Te Araroa day 130 – And just like that, it's the end