Te Araroa Essential Thru Hiker Diet

Essential Thru Hiker Diet - Eating on Te Araroa

Committing to a thru hike is equal parts exciting yet at the same time, immensely daunting. Not only are you going to be away from your home, family, friends and work for an extended period of time, there’s also untold logistics to be taken into account.

Choosing to hike Te Araroa, Aotearoa New Zealand’s three thousand kilometre trail which traverses the length of the country from Cape Reinga in the Far North to Bluff in the Far South (or vice a versa) brings with it many of its own unique challenges. 

One of those is the food logistics as in what will you take and where or how will you resupply en route given there’s often many days between shops, accommodation providers or even roads. 

The Richmond Range and Nelson Lakes are a couple of the longest sections with many hikers taking around eight or nine days to complete. More if the weather changes and you have to sit it out as we did at the Blue Lake Hut.

Packing Light

Just for a minute, visualise filling your shopping trolley with everything you’d normally consume in nine days. Now, instead of pushing your trolley out to your car, imagine squeezing all of that food into a backpack on top of all your other hiking gear and equipment, then lifting it onto your back and heading out into the mountains.

A thru hike is different to a multi day or even a weekend hike as you are carrying all your possessions on your back for months on end. On those shorter adventures, it’s not as imperative to be as considered around your food choices. 

For one thing, you’re only out for a few days and will soon be home recovering on your couch regaling your friends with your exploits. Furthermore, if you do make poor food choices, you’ll likely cope as most of us carry enough excess weight to be able to fast for a day or two and nutritionally, you’ll catch up again once home.

The lighter your backpack, the more comfortable you’ll be and the fewer injuries you’ll sustain.

Te Araroa Food Resupply in Whangarei

Planning My Te Araroa Food Strategy

I’m not a foodie, I’ll happily eat the same thing on repeat for days at a time. When given the choice and if there’s availability, I choose to eat whole foods that are unprocessed, fresh and organic.

Never for a moment did I think that was going to work on trail and I knew there’d be compromises. Fresh food equates to heavy and bulky food as your carrying the water contained in the food.

As I began researching Te Araroa I concluded it was going to take Andrew and I somewhere between 110 and 130 days to complete. As it was our first thru hike, this was based wholly on the average time for other hikers. 

It was then simple arithmetic to work out that we’d need a combined 660 to 780 meals. Plus drinks, plus snacks. Researching each trail section further, I established where we could resupply from shops en route and in more remote sections, where we’d need to send ourselves food resupply boxes. 

Suddenly it didn’t feel so simple and out came the spreadsheet. That spreadsheet became our planned itinerary which enabled us among other things to plan our meals. It included our resupply stops (towns), resupply box locations and dates as our great friend, Stefan who was not only minding the house and cat, had kindly offered to send on our food parcels as needed.

All Things Being Equal

Well they’re not equal, a town your relying on to resupply at may have a supermarket or it may be a tiny  village and barely have a dairy (general store). Some days you’ll have a healthy appetite and others, you’ll scarcely be able to face yet another dehydrated meal.

You’ll whiz through some areas at speed and take longer in others resulting in more meals than you’d planned for. Your hiking buddy may have a greater need than yours, yes, Andrew and I have unsurprisingly quite different appetites given our size difference.

As you can see, all things aren’t equal and flexibility is essential.

My Food Choices For Te Araroa

We not only wanted to successfully complete the 3000 kilometre Te Araroa, we wanted to arrive at Bluff in good health therefore our food choices were critical.

For this reason as well as for budget constraints, we chose to prepare, cook and dehydrate around two hundred meals to go in our resupply boxes. It was a mammoth undertaking which took months to complete during the preceding winter.

Te Araroa Food Preparation

On arriving in towns, we also planned to steer clear of the fast-food joints with their tempting and calorie laden chips, burgers and ice creams. Well, that plan went out the window faster than a scalded cat and by the South Island we were running an informal competition for the best ice cream!

Te Araroa Resupply Boxes

Te Araroa Resupply Box

A resupply box is one that you send on to yourself at a prearranged location. It’s typically used in relation to food supplies but may also contain for example, prescription medicines, paper maps and other items not readily available at that location.

Cooking fuel can not be sent by New Zealand post or courier therefore you’ll need to carry extra.

To Send A Resupply Box or Not

When we walked Te Araroa, we felt it necessary to send resupply boxes to Havelock, St Arnaud, Boyle Village and near Arthurs Pass as there are limited or no supplies in these areas. We also sent a couple of boxes elsewhere simply because we had friends in those areas and we were trying to keep our costs down.

To put the South Island in perspective and assuming you are not leaving the trail after resupplying in Picton, you will not find either of the two major supermarket brands (Woolworths and New World), until more than 900 kilometres later when you reach Wanaka.  

Sending yourself a resupply box is not mandatory and some hikers chose to resupply from what limited supplies are available in the smaller villages. This works well if you’re prepared to risk eating nutritionally poor food and so long as the Te Araroa bubble hasn’t already cleared the shelves. 

By "bubble" I refer to the impact of the majority of South Bound walkers reaching the Richmond Ranges, Nelson Lakes and even Northern Canterbury sections as the North Bound walkers come from the opposite direction. 

Added to this is Aotearoa New Zealand’s summer holidays when you’ll meet other hikers, particularly around the Nelson Lakes section, who’ve come out for a multi day walk. Hence the requirement to pre-book the Nelson Lakes huts.

Collecting Food Resupply Box at Boyle Village, Canterbury, Te Araroa

Dehydrating My Own Food

I’d never dehydrated food before so simply went online and figured it out from there, often times making a meal for us at home and tripling the recipe. There was a great deal of experimentation nevertheless everything was eaten.

I made half of the meals vegetarian and the other half with animal protein which we could use for either lunch or dinner.

Once the meals were dehydrated, they were packaged in smaller two person portions in a vacuum-sealed bag. That was, until I ran out of vacuum-sealed bags and from then on, just used zip-locked bags.

That was meant to be a temporary solution until I re-ordered the expensive vacuum-sealed bags however I never got around to it and even a year later, the food was as "fresh" as the day it was put into the bags.

Rehydrating Trail Food

Once we started walking Te Araroa, Andrew looked after all of our on trail food preparation while I took care of other things such as setting up the tent and sleeping bags plus mats. 

In practical terms, rehydrating food worked best if water was added to our meal around an hour ahead of when we planned to eat. Having said I’d NEVER cold soak, it took no effort to portion the lunch meals between our two bowls, add cold water, screw on the bowl lid and continue walking. Then, once at the lunch destination, eat the meal cold. 

This allowed us to have a nutritionally balanced meal even in the rain with no shelter and no chance of lighting a stove. The alternative in the poor weather, was to shove down yet another bar and that wasn’t going to be good enough to see us through until we reached shelter.

Dinner’s also started with a cold soak though this time, in the pot which could later be heated.

We found giving the food that extra time to rehydrate meant we avoided the stomach gripes so common with dehydrated food.

How Many Calories Do I Need On A Thru Hike

I never worked out how many calories our meals contained nor how many we’d need each day, I’m simply not that analytical and figured if we needed more, we’d buy more.

As we’d always be eating together, I portioned out meals into the equivalent of two servings per bag. This worked well and Andrew, inline with his greater size, ate the larger portion.

When choosing food, the further into the walk we got, the more it became necessary to find the most calorie laden food possible.

Here's your opportunity to get answers to all those curly questions. Book a personalised video call with me and ask anything travel related.

Eating Dehydrated Food On Trail

When dehydrating, it’s necessary to remove all the fat from meat as it’s the fat that goes rancid when dehydrated. I’m not a big animal fat eater though of course a little fat is where the flavour is as well as the calories.

We found that our own dehydrated meals lacked some calories due to the animal fat having been removed. I had planned to include a small bottle of olive oil in each resupply box but in the end, the boxes were already jam packed. 

Instead we experimented with other food which we could purchase as we passed through towns and interestingly, the best was cream cheese bought in a tub, mixed into potato mash and very forgiving of the lack of refrigeration. 

Another easy addition was full fat milk powder and when available, the coconut milk powder was even better for flavour. We added the milk powders to our potato mash and porridge.

My Te Araroa Meal Cadence

While on a thru hike, I like to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a mid morning and afternoon snack. Breakfast is eaten before departing the camp, hut or shelter while dinner is at that night’s accommodation. All other meals are eaten along the trail while stopping for a rest and depending on the situation, may or may not involve sitting down.

There’s flexibility in this cadence as no two days are the same, for instance, if the day is easy or short, there’s not the need for the extra calories and snacks can be skipped.

In an ideal hiker’s world, the final Whittaker’s Chocolate snack is after dinner when all the thru hikers relax and compare notes on the important aspects of thru hiking, such as which is the best chocolate bar. Obviously, fruit and nut wins hands down though I’m always willing to experiment with others.

Te Araroa Food Preparation, Pāhautea Hut, Mount Pirongia

My Te Araroa Cooking Equipment

Although we planned to hike and cook together, Andrew and I each carried a Jet Boil stove and pot in case of equipment failure. This worked out brilliantly as it enabled us to prepare the main meal with one stove while additional potato mash with the other or boiling water for a cup of tea.

We each had a collapsible bowl with screw on lid, a collapsible cup and a spoon. As well as the Jet Boil stove, we had the accompanying saucepan with lid, a lighter and a fuel canister. If needed, we’d use a beanie for a saucepan cozy. Both of us had a water bladder and a disposable water bottle that we refilled as we went along. 

I did start with a water filter but sent it home as I wasn’t using it, having grown up in the countryside and dependant on a rain water supply, I’m perhaps more relaxed than most when it comes to fresh water.

Te Araroa Resupply Box, Queenstown, Otago

Food Weight

We tried to keep our food weight to an average of around 500 to 750 grams or half to three quarters of a kilo per person, per day. For those longer nine day sections, this was equal to about 4½ to 6¾ kilos added to our base weight. 

Our first day our of town was of course the heaviest not only were we fully resupplied but because we’d always start out with a few fresh food items to be consumed within a day or two.

We found apples travelled fairly well as did wraps, cheese and salami. Optimistically, we’d also take spinach and an avocado to add to the wraps though the longer we were away from town, the more limited our selection.

Te Araroa Water Supply, Harper River, Lagoon Saddle Track, Canterbury

Water Supply on Te Araroa

We relied on refilling our water bladder and up-cycled water bottle from hut tanks, streams or town supplies. When we walked Te Araroa it was a particularly wet season which meant we never had to carry too much water. 

Typically, I’d start the day with less than two litres in total which was enough for drinking and rehydrating food. Use the community comments in the Far Out App to check if the water supplies that are noted in the Te Araroa notes are still available and plan accordingly.

Food Bag

Keeping all your food in some sort of bag helps to keep it organised within your pack as well as easy to hang up when staying in huts or camps with a rodent or possum problem. We found we’d leave the bulk of the food in the bag, with that day’s lunch and snacks closer at hand. Our collapsible bowls and cups were always easy to reach in an outside pocket.

Food Rubbish while Hiking Te Araroa

Practicing the principles of "Leave No Trace" means leaving no rubbish anywhere and when resupplying, we’d unpack everything from the supermarket, getting rid of the excess packaging. The remaining rubbish created while on trail is then carried until the next town and available rubbish bin.  

Foraging while hiking Te Araroa

I love foraging for greens to add to our salads and meals however in Aotearoa New Zealand you wouldn’t want to rely on foraging for all your food needs.

Yes, if you’re in the right place, you can survive if you know what to collect but you’ll also need a whole lot of time to collect it and when hiking Te Araroa, you may find there’s nothing suitable where you are. 

Hunting and  Fishing on Te Araroa

Te Araroa starts with a beach walk and pretty much finishes with another beach walk, while in between are hundred of kilometres of riverside and lake walks. If fishing is your thing, you might like to take along some fishing equipment. 

We passed many successful fishermen on 90 Mile Beach and near the Mavora Lakes we shared a hut with a fly fisherman. None of these people were hiking Te Araroa and none shared their catch with us.

Te Araroa also traverses thousands of hectares of hunting land though we only once shared a hut   (Stody’s Hut) with a hunter who had been successful with dispatching a stag. We saw plenty of deer between Waimarino, National Park Village and Whanganui National Park while goats were common in the Richmond Range and again in Whanganui National Park. 

We passed semi domesticated pigs in Northland and along the Whanganui River though I’d advise strongly against hunting those. 

Possums unfortunately are everywhere and if you’re keen, I’ve heard possum tail is very good to eat when fried up over a camp fire.

Other Foraging

Hikers are discouraged from leaving food in huts, back in the day, this was a thing, but not anymore. 

Some hostels will have a box in the kitchen where it’s accepted for hikers to leave excess dry food and for others to forage, again, you wouldn’t want to rely on this for your food strategy.

While the box at Boyle Village had kilos of free couscous, there wasn’t a chocolate bar to be seen!

Emergency Food

Whenever hiking, we always take extra food to allow for delays and emergencies. When it’s a multi day hike, we take at least one day’s extra food. 

If you are delayed due to weather or impassable rivers and tides, you’ll not need the same calories as when hiking so it’s possible to eke out your meals further. What catches you out, is the boredom or emotional eating while you wait out the weather.

Radix Nutrition, Te Araroa Food Resupply

Ready Made Dehydrated or Freeze Dried Food

Many main stream supermarkets as well as outdoor stores now include a range of commercially dehydrated or freeze dried foods. These meals vary in their cost, quality and nutritional profile and I recommend you try several brands before starting your walk to see which your body copes with the best.

Radix Nutrition is my favourite freeze dried food and I am fortunate to be a brand ambassador for them. We detoured slightly off Te Araroa to visit their state of the art factory near Hamilton and departed with many of their new meals to trial. 

There’s no comparison between the science that supports the Radix meals and our own "she’ll be right" meals and it was notable on trail, how much better and more filling their meals were.

Staying Healthy on Trail

I mentioned above cold soaking which is for those hikers who don’t carry a stove, instead, choosing to soak all their food mixed together with cold water. I’ve seen combinations of ramen noodles with mash potatoes and peanut butter all mixed together in a plastic jar. How that keeps you healthy is beyond my comprehension.

There is a Doctor in Methven who couldn’t understand why in this day and age she was diagnosing people with scurvy. On enquiring what these seemingly fit and tanned people were doing, it became clear they were Te Araroa hikers who were surviving on a nutritionally deficient diet.

We had to make an unplanned trip to Christchurch to replace Andrew’s shoes and while there and exposed to so many people I unfortunately caught a cold which stayed with me for a month. With my constant coughing, I must have been an absolute pleasure to share a campsite with. 

For what they’re worth, we did take a daily multi vitamin tablet, certainly, the mice were attracted to them!

Te Araroa Food Resupply with Liam from Radix Nutrition

Did We Have Enough Food?

When we started Te Araroa at Cape Reinga breakfast consisted of a single serve porridge with a few nuts. When we finished in Bluff 133 days later, breakfast consisted of a double serving of porridge with a handful of nuts, dried fruit, chia seeds and whole milk powder.

The longer we were walking, the greater our appetites and on reaching towns, we were able to devour literally everything in sight. Amongst hikers this is referred to as Hiker Hunger and is a continuous, deep hunger that allows you to eat amazing amounts of food when in town.

Both Andrew and I lost around 10% of our body weight over the course of the walk which will have consisted of a mix of upper body muscle as well as good old fat. 

On Trail Food

The lists below are typical of the food that we ate while on Te Araroa. 

Breakfast

• Porridge (oatmeal)

• Nuts

• Dried Fruit

• Chia Seeds

• Milk Powder

• LSA

Lunch

• Spinach Wraps

• Foil wrapped tuna

• Cheese

• Salami

Our own dehydrated food

• Tomato rice

• Vegetable curry

• Spinach dahl

• Sweet potato, chickpea and quinoa

• Indian cauliflower and potatoes 

Dinner

Our own dehydrated food

• Mince bolognaise 

• Chicken casserole

• Spicy chicken

• Beef curry

• Beef chilli con carne

• Rice

Snacks

• Nuts

• Jerky

• Olives in foil

• Fruit Bars

• Dried Fruit

• Crackers

• OSM or other bars

• Chocolate - just get Whittaker’s, you won’t regret it

Drinks

• Green Tea

• Water 

Stocking up with Radix Nutrition, Taumarunui, Te Araroa

Ready Made Freeze Dried Food Options

Radix Nutrition Original Meals (discount code below)

Your go anywhere go-to meal. Ready in minutes, bursting with flavour and perfectly balanced to refuel after a tough day in the mountains, gym or office. Radix's Original Meals are made with 100% natural plant-based ingredients and contain up to 2.5 of your five-a-day.

Flavours include:

• Chipotle Lime Burrito Bowl

• Pasta Bolognese

• Mexican Chilli

• Basil Pesto Pasta

• Indian Curry

• Thai Green Curry

• Turkish Falafel

• Peri-Peri

• Smokey Barbecue

• Basil Pesto

Radix Nutrition Discount Code

New Zealand Delivery:  Use this link to receive 15% off your next purchase of Radix Nutrition or code FREEWHEELINGKIWI15 at checkout.

Australia Delivery:  Use this link to receive 15% off your next purchase of Radix Nutrition or code FREEWHEELINGKIWI15 at checkout.

Moturimu Whare Camp, Tararua Ranges, Te Araroa

Radix Nutrition Original Breakfasts

Radix Original Breakfasts are the perfect start to your day. Packed with the ideal balance of micro and macro-nutrients to keep you at your best, each serving is nutritionally balanced and made only with natural fruit, grains, seeds and superfoods.

Flavours include:

• Apple Cinnamon

• Mixed Berry

• Banana

• Mango

• Blueberry

• Chocolate

• Vanilla

• Strawberry

• Coconut

Te Araroa Food Recommendations

Which ever food strategy you choose, I recommend that you thoroughly test your meals out on trail and in all conditions including multi day walks ahead of beginning Te Araroa. 

You will learn how best to package, store (in your backpack) and prepare food, which equipment works for you and most importantly, how your body copes under pressure with your choices. 

Never assume that what works for your trail buddy or what worked for Andrew and I will work for you, we’re all different with different requirements and our bodies react differently when under the challenge of day after day walking.

In Retrospect

While not perfect, overall our nutrition and food strategy worked for us as within only a month after completing Aotearoa New Zealand’s 3000 kilometre Te Araroa, Andrew and I hiked to Everest Base Camp in the Himalayan Mountains, Nepal. 

We’d never been fitter and while there’s no comparisons between the two walks, training on Te Araroa held us in good stead for the challenges of high altitude walking. 

I’m always looking for new meals inspiration, what’s your favourite trail snack or meal, share in the comments below.

Planning a trip to New Zealand

Useful Links for Your Travels 

Get Your Guide - Unforgettable Travel Experiences - No matter where your travels take you, Get Your   Guide offers the best way to connect with your destination. Make memories all over the globe with their locally-vetted, expertly-curated experiences. From must-see iconic attractions to unexpected under-the-radar gems, they have something for everyone.

Expedia - Expedia offers travellers a wide selection of accommodation, flights, package, activities and travel services at attractive rates. With hundreds of thousands of accommodation options worldwide and comprehensive choices of flights inventory made readily available on Expedia.co.nz, travellers can easily plan and book their trip

Skyscanner  - Millions of cheap prices. One simple search Compare flight rates from 1000s of airlines and online travel agents to find the cheapest flight tickets to all major destinations. Once you find your best deal, book directly through the airline (no extra fees)

Safety Wing Insurance - Insurance for Nomads Nomad Insurance is a global travel medical insurance that covers people from all over the world, while outside their home country. You can buy it even if you are already abroad.

World Nomads - World Nomads travel insurance has been designed by travellers for travellers. If you leave home without travel insurance or your policy runs out, you can buy or extend while on the road.

We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.

Express VPN - Express VPN is the world’s largest provider of VPN services, which enables users to protect their privacy and security online with just a few clicks.

Tripsim by SYD - Discount Code

E-SIM provider for Data. Tripsim helps travellers stay connected in over 190 destinations globally. 

Use this link to receive 10% off your Tripism purchase or code FREEWHEELINGKIWI at checkout

Airalo - E-SIM provider for Data. Stay connected, wherever you travel, at affordable rates. 

To receive US $3 off your Airalo purchase use my code SHARON9327 at checkout  https://www.airalo.com/ 

Trusted House Sitters - The Freedom to Travel - Discover free and unique homestays around the world, in exchange for caring for adorable pets.

Discover Cars

Discover Cars. Save up to 70% by comparing the best car rental deals from 700+ suppliers in 10000+ locations worldwide and FREE Cancellation.

Disclosure: My content is reader-supported, which means I may earn a small commission from links on Freewheeling Kiwi’s Assets if you make a purchase and at no cost to you. This is a way to support me so that I can keep sharing content and stories. Thanks in advance for your support.

Powered by GetYourGuide