Friday 2nd April – 27.5 km – 5.75 hours Met up with the chooks again at Taitua Arboretum, on a cooler morning, heading westward via quiet country roads with frequent views in all directions. These took me to the Raglan road, through Whatawhata, across the Waipa River, then picked up the Waipa River Walk. Some [...]

A definative list of all Mountains in this country – ordered by height, by national park and by location

29.2 km – 5.25 hours The next section of Te Araroa involves some walking on a busy stretch of SH1, waiting for a walkway to be built along the south bank of the Waikato River. My scout had been sent out earlier to check out the new walkway, but nothing much happening, so my alternative [...]

19.2 km – 5 hrs 20 minutes From the Huntly power station, there is a road walk through the western side of the town, and then staying on that side of the river, on south to the start of the Hakarimata Walkway. That starts off as a good class walking track – if you don’t [...]

We now rejoin the Round-the-mountain track on day 4 – which also happened to be New Year’s Eve. This was the most varied terrain of all of the days we tramped, but some of that variety I could have done without! It all started well with a morning walking mostly through beech forest with some [...]

42 km – 8.5 hours From Mercer there is a short up and down track that runs parallel to the main road, providing a great view of the Waikato River and taking me to the Whangamarino Redoubt historical site. From there it was a walk alongside SH1, but fortunately a wide verge, so no big [...]

Sorry for being a bit absent from the blog lately. We were away for a week completing the Ruapehu Around-the-mountain track. As you may deduce from the name, the track loops around Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island. Ruapehu hasn’t had any serious indigestion since 1996, but knowing [...]

Saturday 30th January – 31 kms, 8.25 hours An early start because of forecast rain saw me heading off from Moumoukai into the Mangatawhiri valley on a crisp sunny morning. As it happened the rain did not arrive, and my 4 crossings of the Mangatawhiri river were not much more than ankle deep. A steady [...]

Sunday 24th January – 15.8 km – 5.3 hours Started the day expecting rain and long sections of slow muddy tracks, but in the event there was no rain, and only around 2 hours of slower track – the rest were of a superb grade. From Cosseys Dam Road down across the stream, then up [...]

Getting back to our trip to Cape Palliser last weekend, as I promised. There are two things the area is known for – the seal colony along the shore, and the lighthouse. So naturally we went to see both. New Zealand fur seals are always a treat to see. They’re a pretty laid back bunch, [...]

Saturday 23rd January – 37.2 km – 7.75 hours Heading up through Totara Park I am now on the eastern edge of Auckland. On top of a ridge, Te Araroa then follows Redoubt Rd – for the moment anyway – off towards Whitford, and then turning towards Clevedon. But a welcome turn away from roads [...]

Sure, it sounds a bit melodramatic – but if you’re a Lord of the Rings junkie (like me) you know what I’m talking about. The rather desolate scenery used to create the Paths of the Dead are actually located in a reserve called the Putangirua Pinnacles. We decided to use Wellington Anniversary weekend to head [...]

I was planning to be in Northland again by now to continue my Te Araroa travels from where I left off in November, but not there yet. So I have become a weekend Te Araroa walker that at least lets me walk Te Araroa from home in Auckland south via day walks. Quite a few [...]

One of the classic tramps in the Tararua mountain range is called the Southern Crossing. It is usually done over two days plus one evening. The first evening is spent walking up onto the ridge where Field Hut is snuggled beneath the bush line. This is a three hour walk for someone like me, but [...]

South from Auckland While I was waiting to get back up to Northland to complete the leg to Auckland, I started on the closer sections of the Te Araroa route south from Auckland. This is in a new blog – Tony on Te Araroa 2 – so click on that link to track my progress [...]

From Redvale (north east of Albany) it was road walking for a bit to get to Long Bay, continuing my bypass of the muddy Okura River. From there down the coast through all the North Shore Bays, with super beaches, and super views from up on the cliffs in between. Took advantage of the outgoing [...]

Wenderholm to Redvale (just north of Auckland) 28.5 km – 6.8 hours A later start than usual to ensure the tide was OK – so left Wenderholm at the canoe landing place at 9.40 heading up a much improved track around the Wenderholm peninsula, with great views down to the river mouth, out to sea, [...]

Friday 12th March Dome Tearooms – pine forest – farmland – pine forest – Moir Hill – Dunns Ridge – Puhoi village. 26.5 km – 5.75 hours Leaving into a shower or two (first rain since before Kerikeri) up a minor road soon leaving the sound of a busy SH1 behind me. Then along forest [...]

Not long ago, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, held a “job summit” to try to find ways to save jobs during this global recession. He gathered together a bunch of business and labour leaders to see if a day of brainstorming could produce a miracle solution. While many ideas were bounced around, one of [...]

Thursday 11th March From Matakana township up the valley and then up the hill soon joining the track through the Waiwhiu valley and up again to the Dome summit, then down to the Dome tearooms on SH1 just north of Warkworth – 21.6 km – 5.5 hours One day the Matakana dogleg of busy roads [...]