The Te Araroa Trail New Zealand is a premier long-distance hiking trail. It opened in 2011 and is still a work in progress. Every year new sections of trail are added and upgraded. Te Araroa is popular with New Zealand and Australian hikers but is becoming more popular with hikers from Europe and North America.
I hiked the Te Araroa Trail in 2018-2019. I have included my complete Te Araroa Trail blog as part of this post for those interested in reading a daily journal. For those who are not, there is more than enough information to assist in planning for the Te Araroa Trail.
Having completed the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Appalachian Trail, I was keen to hike another long-distance trail. Enter the Te Araroa Trail.
Te Araroa Information
Te Araroa Guidebooks
As yet there are no Te Araroa guides suitable for hikers. Stick with this blog and soon I will provide a complete guide of Te Araroa Trail for all future hikers on the trail. This Te Araroa Trail Blog should help with a lot of the planning.
When to hike the Te Araroa
New Zealand is called the land of the long white cloud. The trail should only be hiked in the southern hemisphere summer.
October would be considered the earliest that a hiker should start the trail if heading southbound. Many parts of the trail are closed before that date as they travel through farmland that is closed. The southbound hiker should finish the trail before April. Snow and cold weather blowing in from Antarctica can close the trail.
Northbound hikers should start the trail in the south island around December or January in the hope of reaching the tip of the north island before winter and closures of the trail to allow access for sheep on certain sections of the trail.
Te Araroa Trail Maps
Phone Apps provide the best Te Araroa Trail Map. I used the FarOut App on my smartphone as my primary map, GPS, and guide for the trail. These are the best Te Araroa Trail Maps. I have previously used these guides on other trails and like the layout and simplicity of using a smartphone to navigate. Using a stand-alone GPS is not necessary, smartphones are best.
Paper maps can be downloaded for free from the Te Araroa website. Be sure to leave a generous donation in return for this free service.
Click to download the FarOut App for the Te Araroa.
Te Araroa Trail Notes
A complete list of trail notes is regularly updated by the Te Araroa Trail Trust. Download each section from https://www.teararoa.org.nz/trail-notes/
Bounce Box for the Te Araroa Trail
As with every other long-distance hiking trail that I have hiked, I used a bounce box. I would post this bounce box to myself as I hike along the trail. The box contains my computer, cables, extra pairs of hiking shoes, and some spare clothes that I will not need when hiking and I’ll have a couple of items of food. I send the bounce box to selected places along the trail where I plan to take a rest day.
I usually don’t like to send food to myself as I prefer to support the local shops and buy local, even if it can be more expensive at times. You could resupply on the trail if you are not a fussy eater by buying from local shops along the way but most will send one or two food boxes.
Resupply
Read my Complete Guide to Resupply on the Te Araroa Trail for all the information about resupply, bounce boxes, sending packages in New Zealand, and all the addresses and contact details.
Charging Electrical Equipment in New Zealand
New Zealand uses the same 220-240 volt three-plug electrical outlets as Australia and China.
Europeans, North Americans, and hikers from most places in Asia will need to bring an outlet adaptor from home or purchase one locally. They are available at the airport duty-free in Auckland. Or this one at Amazon.
Insurance
Travel insurance will be necessary for most hikers as they may not be covered for accident, illness, or injury when in New Zealand.
Stove Fuel
In New Zealand, fuel for canister stoves and alcohol stoves is widely available along the trail.
It is most common to use a backpacking stove that uses a gas canister. They are widely available along the trail in most larger towns and even in many smaller ones.
The alcohol used in stoves is known as Metho or Methylated Spirits and can be purchased at any hardware store along the trail.
All the trail towns that sell gas canisters are listed in A Complete Guide to Resupply on the Te Araroa Trail.
Getting to the start of the trail
Getting to the start of the trail at Cape Reinga can be a mission in itself.
I was lucky to get a lift to the start of the trail with Ross, a long-time reader of this blog and an all-around good guy. Thank you, Ross.
Hikers need to catch a bus from Auckland to Kaitaia. From Kaitaia, it is possible to hitchhike to Cape Reinga. If not hitchhiking you could get a group together and take a taxi which would not be too expensive. The third option would be to take a bus tour and ask before getting on that you would like to be dropped off at Cape Reinga, but this would be the most expensive option.
Best Lightweight Gear for Thru-Hiking the Te Araroa Trail
Some of the best outdoor gear for hiking in New Zealand is made by Macpac. With the extremes of weather, they make some awesome gear, they also sell gas canisters and have stores all along the Te Araroa Trail.
Te Araroa Trail Blog
Te Araroa Trail North Island Guide
Te Araroa Trail South Island
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BikeHikeSafari Gear Review Process
The author, Brad McCartney from BikeHikeSafari is a small independent adventurer and outdoor gear tester who owns and runs BikeHikeSafari.com.
BikeHikeSafari is not part of a large blog network and is proudly independent. All reviews on this site are independent and honest gear reviews of outdoor products by the author.
The author, Brad McCartney is a very experienced triple crown thru-hiker, adventurer, and bike tourer having spent 1000s of nights sleeping in a tent and sleeping bag (Read more). He was a manager of an outdoor retail store and is very experienced in what is important when using and testing gear for reviews like this.
BikeHikeSafari will never receive any money for reviews and they do not accept sponsored reviews on this website. All the comments about the gear reviews are from the author based on his years of experience. Hope this independent review was helpful for you.
