Tramping in New Zealand

What are we going to do in New Zealand for 5 months? Well, Tramping of course! Hiking is tramping in New Zealand. We have been hoping for another long hike and we couldn't have picked a more beautiful country. This is how we want to see and experience New Zealand.


We are here to meet and experience local life. The cities are a great place to see the diverse cultures and we will have our fair share of all the tourist usuals. But from our experience, we also know that hiking and climbing across country is a great way to meet the local people.


The Te Araroa is a trail across both islands that is not yet complete. The Appalachian Trail is the world's longest continuous marked footpath. It has guide books, resupply establishments, accomodations along the way and thousands of people have completed the hike. The Te Araroa is far from that and most people even locals have have not heard of it. Only a few people have attempted the hike. This is a huge reason we want to do it now before it gets too popular. Parker has been working on mapping our route for about six months. We are making our way north using 95 custom maps for our hike.

The Te Araroa Trust (people working on the trail) have been very helpful in our planning and we have been in contact with them for months. They are trying to connect trails that already exist but there are some issues with land owners. In a few places we have to call and ask permission to cross their property. Some of the sections are difficult to navigate because trails have not been formed involving days of bushwacking. We have to gather as much information as we can through locals about trail conditions, water supply, river conditions, etc. We have definately been brushing up on our navigation skills. Our goal is to to hike as much of the completed trail as possible as long as it is safe. We have done our research and are equipepted with a gps, a tracker/beacon, and we leave our "intentions" with the DOC (Dept. of Conservation) and will update them as we hike north. Everyone, especially the locals have been very helpful and supportive of our desire to see their country this way.

P.S. We have added a few pics to the gallery. More to come when we have time!