Te Araroa 2018/19

Te Araroa means “the long path” in Maori. Aptly named, the Te Araroa trail spans more than 3,000km down the length of New Zealand. Starting in Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island, ending at Bluff in the the bottom of the South Island. The trail opened in 2011 and since then has been gaining notoriety as more and more hikers attempt it each season.

The TA is a challenging journey, usually taking between 4 to 6 months to complete. Passing through the Tararua Ranges and the Richmond Alpine Track the TA is no walk in the park.

We are undertook the TA as a Thru-hike which means we walked the entire trail in one season. We walked south bound starting in Cape Reinga on 17 October 2018 taking 148 days to arrive in Bluff on the 13th March 2019.

The TA has some unique elements including a 100km stretch of sand walking along 90mile beach and a 100km paddle down the Whanganui River. It is an unforgettable experience, an epic adventure that we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to undertake.

You can read all of our weekly trail updates here.