On the trail with a Te Araroa hiker
On the trail with a Te Araroa hiker
Te Araroa season begins around now. Scores of hikers will be setting off on their quest to walk the length of Aotearoa NZ. I asked a 2023-24 TA hiker about his experience.
’Tis Te Araroa season yet again
The warmer temperatures that are supposed to accompany spring are acting as a trigger for scores of Te Araroa walkers to set off on their hiking adventures.
Te Araroa is Aotearoa’s long-distance tramping route. Connecting Te Rerenga Wairua/Cape Reinga in the north with Stirling Point in the south, the 3,012km trail follows tramping tracks, Great Walks, beaches, private farm roads and State Highways. Hikers may camp, hut, hostel or stay with the hallowed ‘trail angels’ along the way - people who put TA walkers up in exchange for koha. A full Te Araroa experience takes between 100-160 days.
My mate Mathieu Coccia walked Te Araroa last season. I sent him some questions while he was walking the trail and he got back to me after he finished. Here’s how that went:
DW: What made you realise you had to walk Te Araroa?
MC: I wanted to go to travel out of a backpack, I had enough of my van and all the stuff I had. I heard about thru-hiking and I thought it would be a good challenge for myself and to see the country another way.
DW: What was the toughest moment?
MC: When I got an injury right at the beginning, I was scared to not be able to continue. Fortunately, it was not that bad and I continued slowly for a week or so.
Otherwise, it’s difficult to answer that. It’s not that “I flew down this walk, everything was amazing” but I was really lucky with the weather and didn’t have to make hard decisions and long stops. Also, didn’t have weeks of rain and bad weather. A lucky hiker.
DW: What's the gear modification you're most proud of?
MC: My quilt from Kiwi Ultralight. I had to change my old sleeping bag and I wanted to try a quilt. I’m not disappointed: 0 degrees comfort, it weighs 600g and is New Zealand handmade.
DW: Why did you choose to walk the South Island NOBO (northbound)?
MC: As I was working in the south of the South Island, it made more sense to just start at Bluff. Also the weather was getting too cold to go south. I had a bit of regret, as the finish in Bluff is more epic. But I really liked the South Island NOBO.
DW: Best campsite? Best hut? And why?
MC: Best campsite was between Top Timaru Hut and Stodys Hut, there is a little place up the river with a fireplace, close to a small waterfall. I walked past it last year as I walked this section and I was looking forward to pitching my tent here on my Te Araroa as it’s a cool little camp.
Best hut is hard as there are plenty of beautiful huts. But I had a good, quiet night in A Frame Hut after Comyns Hut, heading NOBO. It’s a simple hut but quite new inside and the wind was strong outside, so I was really happy to have it for myself and had a really good night.
I’ll say Taipo Hut with those big double mattresses and the swimming hole was great too!
DW: What's the treat that you can't help buying when you get into a town?
MC: Unfortunately, Tim Tams on the North Island. I couldn’t not buy one or two in towns. And M&M’s on the South Island.
DW: What's been the biggest surprise on the trail?
MC: I would often look behind and realise how far we can go just walking! When you’ve done a big day on a ridge-line and you can see where you started, it’s quite impressive. Then, when you imagine you crossed the whole country like that, it’s surprising how far you can go on your feet.
DW: How much money did you spend?
MC: I reckon I spent NZ $8,000-9,000.
$5,500 for the North Island, $3,500 for the South Island.
I didn’t have fancy accommodation, but I wasn’t too crazy at saving money neither.
DW: How long did it take you?
MC: It took me around 4.5 months. 2.5 for the North Island and two for the South Island. I think for an untrained walker like me, this is normal timing.
Thanks Mathieu for his words and pictures. You can see more of his amazing photography from Te Araroa at his Instagram: thewalkingmath.
Nod to the Gear Gods: my coffee conundrum
Some time recently, past Dunc wrote here about my Sea To Summit X-Brew and how it had gone awry. It’s a few years old and has had many a pot of boiling water tipped onto it in its efforts to service my vice, so it’s not surprising its sides split.
STS gear has a warranty and I’ve previously had a great experience with their Aussie folk, so I thought I would contact them, in case anything could be done to prolong the life of this amazing gizmo that really does save my life most mornings. Well, this time, the Sea To Summit NZ distributors came back to me with this:
“We genuinely empathize with your situation and are sorry to hear about your experience with the product. Unfortunately, this issue is classified as wear and tear, which means it isn’t covered under the lifetime guarantee.”
Ah well. To quote 2020, when I bought it, “it is what it is”. Except, much of this amazing product is still undamaged and possibly salvageable. If I can only find a way…
The metal reusable coffee filter mesh is intact, as is the circle of silicon it locks into. Can you solve the puzzle for me and find a fix? All ideas on the table!
Final thing of the week: the terrifying video of the guy who slipped down a mountain
Thank you to Roy who first sent me this. If you haven’t seen it by now, it’s footage captured of a man hiking in China, who slips and slides a fair way down a sheer rocky slope, before a tree eventually breaks his fall. Here it is (with dramatic music for some reason):
In my bleary-eyed state at the time, I was convinced it was AI and made up. How could a camera roll down a slope after someone and capture their entire slide?
Clearly, I’d forgotten about 360 degree cameras. Since, it turns out this did really happen. According to CNN, the hiker in the video is 42-year-old Yang Meng. Last Monday, Meng was hiking in the Fanzengjian mountains, in China’s eastern Anhui Province, when he slipped.
“I guess I came out mostly unscathed. Just a little scrape on my left hand and a small cut on my thigh. Other than that, I was fine,” he told CNN.
Lucky doesn’t really cover it. Any tips for removing a heart from one’s mouth?
I’ll leave you with this token bit of Chinese, since it’s NZ’s Chinese Language Week: 注意安全 “Zhùyì ānquán”.
Or, in English “be safe”!