Our plan from the beginning of November:
- cross 3000 km of New Zealand on foot on the Te Araroa
- four months of run – eat – sleep – repeat
- of which an expected 60 days of wet feet and shoes
- six kilos of luggage per person (excluding food)
- Jasmin’s planned staple foods: rolled oats and couscous
- Jan’s planned staple food: peanut butter?!
The Te Araroa is a long-distance walk running 3000 km along the length of New Zealand. It starts at Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island, and ends in Bluff, the southernmost point of the South Island.
The Te Araroa begins with an endless beach walk along Ninety Mile Beach and will have us wading through calf-deep mud fields in the rainforests of Northland, before welcoming us happily at the Bay of Islands. We will walk from the urban hotspot of Auckland to Wellington, passing the mystical Tongariro volcano in between and swapping our walking shoes for a canoe for 170 km along the Wanganui river.
Admittedly: between these highlights we will probably see a great deal of farmland, which for good reason lies on very few tourists’ routes.
Once in Wellington at the southern tip of the North Island, we will take the ferry across the Cook Strait to begin our South Island adventure at Ship’s Cove along the picturesque Queen Charlotte Sound. One of our biggest challenges will come right at the start: crossing the Richmond Ranges, for which we will push our packs to their limit with eight days’ rations of food. Once that is done, one of the great Te Araroa highlights will be waiting for us: starting at the idyllic Lake Rotoiti along the Sabine Circuit, we will climb the Waiau Pass. The ascent will take our breath away – but hopefully the view of the beautiful Lake Constance will take it away even more.
So on the South Island we follow the course of the New Zealand Alps: we will have to cross countless rivers, climb one summit after another, wade through swampland, search for the path in the tussock and sleep in rustic backcountry huts. But will we grow a little more wistful with every step towards Bluff that our Te Araroa, our life revolving around walking, eating and sleeping, is drawing to a close? Or will we burn our shoes and swear blind to our feet never to do that to them again?
And after that?
We do not know yet! But in four months of walking we will surely come up with a plan or two…