The Waka & Waewae Journey

Traversing the length of New Zealand by packraft and on foot, for an adventure like no other.

Imagine you're out hiking. It's a spectacular day in nature, which ends at a secluded and calm lake. It's the perfect reward for your day's effort. Water gently laps the lake's small, pebbly beaches. Deep greens from the surrounding bush reflect off the mirrored surface. The calm encapsulates you. You're experiencing, first-hand, why we hike.

You enjoy a celebratory snack - perhaps even a hot brew - at your destination, before returning to base. On the return trek, a thought raises its hand inside your mind. It takes over all your thinking and won't let up. It's been a truly great day, satisfaction maximised, but an ever-growing part of you wants to know "what's on the other side of that lake?".

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This is where I had arrived with my tramping. The most freedom one can experience on two feet was bumping into limitations. It was just natural, therefore, that my eyes would rise above the garden fence and peer over at the packrafts next door. I was always going to be keen on these little personal, portable watercrafts that let you hike with them in your pack and then raft; go on land and go on water.

From the moment I jumped in one on the Rees River, near Queenstown, the same imagination that drew around New Zealand using a bicycle and a GPS wanted to execute a massive journey. I'm clearly obsessed with long journeys and pushing gear to the max. For their shape and size, packrafts are surprisingly nimble, though they really aren't fast. I'd read about others' packraft excursions around the harbours of Auckland and knew, sharks aside, they're extremely capable on fair-weather tidal waters.

Within months of buying one, I was out on the Waitematā, testing a paddle-hike-paddle circuit from Port Chev to Henderson and back. One cut toe (from an oyster shell) and no shopping (it was Good Friday) later, I was convinced of the raft's magic abilities to transport oneself - trekking gear and all - across vast bodies of water. The seeds were sown for the Dunc's Big Bike Ride follow-up.

The Waka (canoe, boat, raft) and Waewae (feet) Journey follows my own, preferred, made-up route from Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga) to Bluff (or Slope Point, depending how I feel once down south). The Bike Ride introduced me to coastal Aotearoa, Waka and Waewae is my familiarisation of the inland country.

Traversing NZ by raft and foot, I'll be self-contained, carrying everything I need where possible. Food, tent, stove, clothes, emergency gear will all be in my pack. I am also determined to cover every centimetre under my own steam; if I accept a lift at any time, for any reason, I will pick up my journey from the same spot. My OCD won't allow it any other way.

I'll also be raising money for charity. Unfortunately (for them, at least), I have been unable to select a single charity to benefit from my daily rigour and grind. Instead, I've settled on three: the Mental Health Foundation, Cancer Society Auckland and Northland Division and UNICEF's urgent appeal for Ukraine. Click here or below to find out more or donate!

So, that's it! A raft and hike from one end of Aotearoa New Zealand to the other. Easy, right? Probably not... stay tuned to find out!

You can follow this adventure on multiple platforms:
Instagram @DuncWilsonNZ
Facebooks: Dunc Wilson Adventures
Twitter @DuncWilsonNZ
Plus here at duncwilson.co.nz, of course!