Category Te Araroa

Trail Angels in Te Kūiti

Day 38 (875 to 891 kms) After a good night sleep at the Holiday Park I headed across the road to order a latte and find the two other walkers that camped at a hut 3 kms North. We had…

Waitomo Caves

Day 37 (840 – 875 kms) This year I want to take the trail a little more slowly, and plan to average 20 kms a day. After all, I am here to enjoy the trail. Unfortunately the trail would have…

Pirongia Traverse

Day 35 and 36 (814 – 840 kms) Day started with a cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast and another latte style coffee. I am sure this will be my last coffee for a few days, as today I…

Back on the Trail

Day 34 (780 – 814 kms) It is time to re-join Te Araroa trail for the 2024/2025 season. The night before I stayed with cousins in Hamilton. They are so nice, they prepared an amazing lamb based meal which was…

Return to Cape Reinga

Day 33 (20 – 0 KMS) After a few days rest and relaxation in Kerikeri, it was time to head North to Cape Reinga to finish the first 20 kms of Te Araroa walk. When I started from Cape Reinga,…

Auckland Airport

Day 32 (652 – 623 KMS) Feet are sore and have blisters on both feet now. I applied some Compeed to the left foot, to see if that helps. I suspect it will not. Another hot day. At the half…

Over the Hill to Drury

Day 31 (688 – 652 kms) Did not get a great sleep. Seems like the folks in Mercer like to drive their loud and throaty cars all night. Fortunately I was exhausted from the previous day, so when I finally…

No Mercy getting to Mercer

Day 30 (722 – 688 kms) Today was brutal. I have declared this the hardest day on trail so far. I was warned it would be a hard day, so I was a little prepared. Unfortunately the hardest bits were…

To Huntly Golf Course

Day 29 (747 – 722 kms) The day would start with a climb up to the viewpoint on Hakarimata walkway. I knew the climb would be tough, but it was a little tougher than I expected. One of the WWOFers…

Returning to the Trail

Day 28 (777 – 747 kms) Janet and David fed me breakfast and drove me to my starting point. I could start anywhere, but planned to start about 8 kms outside of Hamilton, meaning I would walk first towards Hamilton,…

To Auckland

Day 26 and 27 (542 – 590 kms) It would take 2 more days to walk to Auckland city. The first day to Stillwater and the second day along the costal path and the north shore beaches. The forecast for…

Kayak Trip and Orew

Day 25 (513 – 542 kms) Wet start to the day and a wet finish. And everything in between was great. The plan to push on yesterday worked well, making it easy to catch the 12 noon outgoing tide for…

Dome Forest

Day 23 and 24 (471 – 513 kms) Time to leave the beach and head up and into the forest, including the Dome Forest. We knew from others before us, that the trail would be muddy and slow. So mentally…

Day at the Beach

Day 22 (450 – 471 KMS) Very late start today, due to the tides. The 6 kms from the start and 500 meters from the end of the walk is tide dependent. In hindsight, the first tide crossing was completely…

Resting in Mangawhai

Days 20 and 21  (422 – 450 KMS) My last rest day was at Paihia, 9 days ago. Before the trip started, I planned to take a rest day every 5 days, so I am a little overdue at 9…