What is Te Araroa
The
Te Araroa trail is a walking/hiking/tramping trail from Cape Reinga
(the northern most tip of New Zealand) all the way to the bottom of the
country at Bluff. Total distance of the trail is 3000 km's or 1800
miles.
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| Map of the Te Araroa Trail |
Walking the length of New Zealand
Most "through" walkers (those walking the track in one go) will start at Cape Reinga sometime in October and plan to complete the trail by March. The trail is best walked in this direction as it takes advantage of the warmer, more settled weather for the sections in the South Island.
Of course New Zealand weather can be fickle with snow during the Summer and drought conditions in Spring.
I
have set myself the goal of walking the Trail section by section over
the next couple of years, this blog will be my record of that adventure.
I started my journey in 2015 with a tramp of the section from Ada
Homestead to Boyle River.
I intend to complete 1-4 sections each year, eventually making my way along all of the Trail.
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| Hope Half Way Hut, Harpers Pass Section |
Of course New Zealand weather can be fickle with snow during the Summer and drought conditions in Spring.
My personal Te Araroa goals
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| Me at Ada Pass on the St James Section of the TA |
I intend to complete 1-4 sections each year, eventually making my way along all of the Trail.
An explanation of Te Araroa from Wikipedia:
"Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) is New Zealand's newest long distance tramping route, from Cape Reinga to Bluff . The 3000 km (1864 miles) route officially opened on December 3, 2011 after 10 years of work by hundreds of volunteers. Construction coordinated by the Te Araroa Trust is ongoing.
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| Windy Point swing bridge, Harpers Pass Section |
The trail has approximately 300 sections ranging from walks of 1–2 hours through to a 9-day route in the South Island where full equipment must be carried. Te Araroa joins a mixture of existing tracks and walkways, new tracks and link sections alongside roads. 40% of the trail crosses conservation land and the Government allocated $NZ3.8 million for development of new sections of the trail on conservation land in 2007.
