There is now a wealth of free mapping resources available online for the whole te araroa trail. A 22km, mostly unsealed, noexit road from te araroa takes you to the most easterly point on mainland new zealand. I would love to offer my lawn to hikers to pitch a tent on, but have no idea of letting people know in advance. Route, gear, food and training te araroa trail planning. Having a reasonable size bag to take around town is a luxury, at 2. The major consideration is when you will be in the south island high country andor the. Trail notes southbound trail notes northbound updated 1 october 2019. The planning for te araroa planning for a journey of this length, covering 3,000 km and being on the trail for 152 day, is more like planning for a fullon expedition than a just another summer tramping trip. New zealands trail, a continuous trail running from cape reinga to bluff. Hikes that start and finish at the sea have always been my favourite types, its just not possible to go any further, and new zealand is a very special place cramming so. Te araroa hiking gear summary walking 3000km through new zealand with your hiking gear is a pretty good way to test its suitability, quality and durability. This article will share my brand new experience of gps use, basecamp software, gpx files.
I may have been a little ambitious when i decided to hike te araroa, the worlds newest long distance hiking trail running from one end of new zealand to the other. It also shows campsites, huts, topographical maps and information on trail elevation, even in areas with no internet access. The long pathway, a continuous trail running from cape reinga to bluff, 35 years in the making, which officially opened in late 2011. This content can be shared and edited for the purpose of promoting new zealand as a visitor destination. Te araroa is the ultimate 5month new zealand experience, but also offers section tramps lasting anything from a few days to a week or more, and many attractive day or overnight walks. I will tell you it is crucial to start your planning with the te araroa. My fenix 3 counted all 4,209,682 steps i took on the te araroa. There is a reasonably wide window of opportunity to walk te araroa. Leaving the entirely populated queenstown the trail rapidly becomes less touristy. This is a guide for people wanting to throughhike the south island leg of the te araroa trail in new zealand going north. These huts, and others like them, are receiving large numbers of visitors over the summer months due to the increasing popularity of the te araroa trail, with little planning having gone into the. Te araroa trust has a downloads page with maps and trail notes for the entire route. Te araroa is the worlds newest long distance hiking trail, connecting the top of new zealand to the bottom. I began to walk the te araroa with eyes and mind wide open, and in return the trail unveiled unimaginable experiences.
The trail notes, maps, and a gps andor mapping app on your smartphone will help you from poking out your eyes when the trail plays hide and seek. Technology will never replace orientation and tramping skills. If your plan is to do a purist hike, thats fine, and if your plan is to hit the highlights only, thats fine too. Search images maps play youtube news gmail drive more. Many bus companies dont have plans to run under early level 2, but catch a bus. Maps and navigation te araroa supertramp te araroa trail. This is a guide for people wanting to throughhike the te araroa trail in new zealand going from south to north. Please see below a number of downloads available to aid your planning for a te araroa adventure. Laura waters embarked upon a 5month hike from one end of new zealand to the other the te araroa trail having only completed a handful of multiday hikes in her life. Know that the ta which you hike is different to the original trail which will be different. The te araroa trust was founded in 1994 to revisit the original idea, and it is working with local organisations and land owners to incorporate existing tracks and establish new tracks as needed. It is an incredible gesture and quite a lot of work. Whats called hiking in the northern hemisphere is called tramping. Im warning you now that trail karma is a powerful thing, and if you want to keep.
We bought the i hike nz app and uploaded all the te araroa maps to the app ahead of time a similar app used by other hikers was gaia gps. Tips for te araroa long distance trail thermarest blog. During the 201415 hiking season, the ta trust estimates approximately 200 people attempted thru hikes, with many more tackling sections of. The best source of information about this trail at present is the te araroa trust website, where there are guides and maps, as well as reports from. Maps to prepare the te araroa, i trust the informations regularly edited and updated on i have downloaded the pdf maps and track notes. The table and photos below show all the gear i thought i would be taking on my te araroa trip. The trust survives on charitable donations so you may wish to support our ongoing ability to provide this assistance by making a donation. From january to march 2017 i walked the south island part of te araroa, new zealands walking trail from ship cove to bluff. Great himalaya trail planning and logistics package. Advice to future te araroa walkers walking with wired. Too much gear and you will be weighed down, too little gear and you.
In this blog post i share my thoughts on the most important parts of our te araroa hiking gear and describe how it coped during 4,5 months of tough testing on the trail. Te araroa trail planning new zealand te araroa trail. We currently dont have any books listed for te araroa the new zealand trail. Since the trails opening, the number of hikers on the te araroa have doubled annually, according to rob wakelin, chief executive officer of the ta trust. Te araroa the long new zealand trail when the 3000kilometre te araroa the long pathway was completed in new zealand in december 2011, it became one of the worlds longest walking trails. Great new friends, grindingly hard trail, delicious food, near disasters, and beautiful scenery.
In 2011 when the trail officially opened i did some preliminary planning but then i was. On these routes i have tried to map the routes using digital mapping software. I decided to create an offline map file for his use, and i am now sharing it with anyone else who might be interested. Te araroa pronounced teearearhoaand dont worry, it took us months to get the pronunciation correct is a continuous trail that traverses more than 3,000 kilometers nearly 2,000 miles through the north and south islands of new zealand. For various reasons it turned out not to be possible then, but it was alway a question of when, not if, i would hike this trail. Te araroa new zealand thru hike planning and gearlist. Wellington software developer landon breidenstein designed the app after walking the trail in the 201617 season. The book maps the 3000kilometer trail in 40kilometer sections, with maps by leading map maker roger smith of. These maps can be loaded onto a gps to aid in navigation. New zealands trail map and notes downloads te araroa. A while ago a friend of mine asked for some help in getting maps for his upcoming te araroa hike, on his smart phone. Its the te araroa trail in new zealand or, more appropriately, just te araroa. Te araroa trail te araroa is new zealands trail taking in spectacular new zealand landscapes from beaches to volcanoes to forests to cities. Planning and logistics project 40 te araroa 201516.
This is the story of that 3,000 km hike as told by margaret hedderman through weekly articles and. As always, i welcome this transition, but each time i do so with a small dose of seemingly incurable apprehension. Its a walking track about 3,000 km long from bluff at the southern tip of the south island to cape reinga at the top of the north island that was officially opened in 2011. The te araroa website is a great resource with many links. I did a lot of reading, research, preparation and planning for my te araroa trail hike 201718 season. I am just a few weeks away till i start a thruhike on new zealands te araroa wich runs from cape reinga north island to bluff south island covering a distance of approx.
The te araroa trust does an amazing job of offering these on their site to be downloaded for free. While its difficult to put a finger on these intangible changes, i was able to witness physical changes with the help of my fenix 3. The book maps the 3000kilometre trail in 40kilometre sections, with maps by. A walking guide to new zealands long trail by geoff. New zealand has that, in spades, but the te araroa skips most of it. The big, beautiful lake wakatipu and its magnificent mountainous backdrop, and the smaller, similarly picturesque mavora lakes. The historic east cape lighthouse stands 154 metres above sea level and is accessed by a walking track of some 700 steps worth it for the views at the top. How to walk te araroa, new zealand part 3 the trek. Here you find our te araroa gear list for our longdistance hike in new zealand 1516. However, there were a handful of times where the trail was not marked, or confusingly marked, and having the gps saved us potentially a lot of wasted time in finding it. Queenstown to bluff te araroa tramping new zealand. How to walk te araroa, new zealand part 1 the trek. After publishing this post but before heading to new zealand i took out bits and pieces to save on weight and swapped different pieces along the trail. New zealand currently the te araroa trail mapslogistics.
This guide assumes a good level of familiarity with new zealand tramping and conditions. The mapshare site shows the progress of someone tracking with an inreach satellite communicator. Te araroa new zealands trail plan your trip,long distance tramping in new zealand can be challenging. Tips for planning your ta hike adam, leigh and the trees. Wayne at alps 2 ocean provides a range of shuttle transfer, inflatable kayak and cycle options between arthurs pass and lake ohau in canterbury. This may not be needed for your trail, but new zealands te araroa goes through quite a few major cities that i intend to explore. Te araroa tales from the trails followed pio terei on his journey through new zealand, meeting the characters that make te araroa and new zealand. Then, he does the harder part he puts on his boots, grabs his lekis, walking sticks, and heads out on a. It means the long pathway in maori which is why there is no the in front of te araroa. In midseptember 2016, a long flight takes me from zurich via london, singapore and sydney to auckland, from where i hitch up to cape reinga, my starting point of te araroa. Briefly touched on above, the te araroa trust do an incredible amount of. Interestingly my driver would not slow down for any of the people but the.
The trail is not a high altitude alpine trail for those who want challenging and beautiful mountain adventures. Its only sensical that those who plan to use the trail pay it forward. The road to the lighthouse clings to the coastline, and there are. Thru hike pack list for te araroa trail, new zealand. Te araroa new zealands trail is a 3,000km walking track from cape reinga to bluff. Some of the best maps and resources i have found so far and that have helped me greatly in planning my trip for 201516 are as follows. In the years that followed, other early te araroa walkers also went digital to describe a trail that was still more wordofmouth than a tramped route. Its a useful tool combined with the te araroa guide bo. Because of the long distance of the trail, it is not usually recommended to bring paper maps, as they would add considerable weight. I heard about the te araroa trusts efforts with the te araroa trail in 2010 and. Te araroa new zealands trail is a continuous 3,000 km walking track from cape reinga to bluff.
Te araroa new zealands trail download our trail app. Work gave me the goahead for 3 months extended leave at the start of 2018 and ive been slowly getting on with planning my trip to hike te araroa ta on the south island. These are offered free of charge by the te araroa trust. Geoff chapple is an accomplished writer, journalist and committed trailblazer. In new zealand, the book is available in most major bookstores. Te araroa new zealands trail map and notes downloads. Other people simply throw some things in a pack and go for it. New zealands trail download our trail app te araroa. The official te araroa website is the obvious place to start. This is the worlds newest, mustdo, multi day, long distance. The free te araroa the trail app allows you to access helpful information, official trail notes and safety alerts from your mobile phone. I live in northland in ngunguru, just near the te araroa and have done my share of hiking in the past and am planning on doing the te araroa myself in the near future. Also, only 5 days from the end of the trip, we found ourselves on a poled no ground trail section, in extremely low visibility. Feel free to contact us and recommend a book for this section.
Its a new trail, only 6 years old and encompassing some of the best scenery the kiwi have to offer, but additionally, its a new area of the. Te araroa ta was the trail i had chosen to kickoff my new fulltime outdoor life back in 2012. I am updating this post because its been three years since i last talked about the gadgets i carry on trails, so i thought id. Te araroa trust recommends aotea new zealand either online or with stores on the trail in auckland, tekapo and queenstown. Te araroa the long pathway hike the length of new zealand on te araroa the long pathway, taking in spectacular landscapes from coastlines, volcanoes and forests to cities. New zealands landscape is famously various, and the trail is a natural showcase of that diversity. Time flies and a bit more than 4 months later, my te araroa adventure comes to its end. Its not a scenic trail through new zealands best natural sights and scenery. Thirtyfive years in the making, the trail officially opened in late 2011. Its an 1800 mile through hike spanning the north and south islands taking roughly 36 months to complete in its entirety. Te araroa trail what i learned hiking the length of nz. Te araroa blog januarymarch 2015 tramping new zealand.