Te Araroa - My Top 5 Mistakes

Te Araroa - The top 5 mistakes that I made while hiking 3,000 Kilometres

Walking New Zealand’s 3,000 kilometre Te Araroa was the first thru hike I’d ever undertaken and as a novice thru hiker, I made my share of mistakes plus possibly a few more.

As a beginner, there’s so much to think and plan for plus the countless variables you’ll hopefully anticipate ahead of time from the comfort of home, rather than from a mountain top in the middle of a blizzard.

Here I share my top five mistakes that I made when hiking Te Araroa including the context that surrounded my decisions to better help you avoid making my blunders. 

Enjoy but don’t be too harsh in your comments!

Overpacking

As part of our preparation we’d made two hundred of our own meals and decided to send several resupply boxes on to towns where it’s not strictly necessary in an attempt to keep our costs down. 

My good friend Eileen in New Plymouth was happy to receive and store resupply boxes for us which was a great help given we’d no fixed abode.  There was enough food in the box to take us from New Plymouth over the Tararua Mountain Range to Waikanae, a hike that we’d estimated would take us around seven days.

Jumping forward, we’d not planned to stay overnight in Wellington, so while in New Plymouth, Andrew and I both shopped for new trail shoes which would allow us to gradually break them in ahead of throwing away the old ones. 

It meant that we’d be carrying an extra pair however given the excruciating pain I’d been under for the first month of the walk, it was an extra load I was willing to carry and Andrew felt the same. 

Radix Nutrition who supported our walk also sent a resupply box which we were of course delighted to receive. Their science backed meals were far superior to our own attempts at trail food. Tucked in the package was a smart new cotton "Radix" T-shirt, another delight given I’d worn my same old shirt daily since leaving Cape Reinga sixty days earlier.

The third package came from Creepers Socks who were kind enough to send us several replacement toe socks. I wore my new pink socks from New Plymouth almost to Bluff, far further than is ideal but gosh, did they look good and I was forever getting compliments!

What all these packages meant however was that when we left New Plymouth and headed into the lower Tararua Mountains our packs weighed far more than usual. We chose to ignore any warning signs, after all, we’d already been on trail for two months and having had a day off, were feeling strong and motivated.

This was also to be the day we were to cross the half way or 1,500 kilometre marker which further boosted our moods and energy.

On the fourth day in the Tararua Mountains the temperatures dropped and the weather closed in. There was confusion over which track to be on due to an update in the Te Araroa App clashing with the old signage and we struggled with our heavy loads over dangerous slips and up the mountain in the freezing cold.

It took twelve hours to walk the twenty eight kilometres and at the time, was my hardest day on trail. I arrived at Te Matawhai Hut exhausted and hardly able to walk up the final two steps.

It was of course not only the heavy pack that had contributed to this being such a tough day. We’d already been on the move for two months with barely a day off to rest and with the weather deteriorating, I was anxious about the days ahead which were predicted, even in fine weather, to be some of the toughest of the entire 3,000 kilometre Te Araroa.

Regardless of all the other contributing factors, had my pack been lighter, I’d have climbed up out of the Ohau Gorge and onto the Gable End Ridge faster. Note to other walkers, don’t take this route! In doing so, we’d have arrived at the hut before the weather had completely closed in leaving us both wet, cold and exhausted.

In hindsight what we should have done was bounce forward our second food box and send home the gorgeous Radix T-shirt and the extra pair of Creepers Socks. 

This was a wake up call for us and on reaching Waikanae, we had a massive sort out of our gear and sent home anything we weren’t using. In total, I sent home about 400 grams which now seems tiny, but when climbing a mountain, every gram counts!

On any day walking Te Araroa, there’s countless variables to be considered and often times, one seemingly inconsequential decision can have far reaching consequences.

Poor Gear Choices

Considering the foot issues we had at the start of Te Araroa, we’d both still have wanted to take the extra pair of trail runners with us into the Tararua Mountains. As it turned out though, mine fit perfectly and gave me zero issues as by then, I was onto using Merrell Moabs which I love. (BTW; use my affiliate code FREEWHEELINGKIWI15 for a 15% Discount)

Andrew’s new trail shoes however disintegrated within a few hundred kilometres of full time use which entailed an unplanned trip from Arthur’s Pass into Christchurch where he finally joined me in the Merrell family. 

This brings me to my second mistake and that’s my poor gear choices. Months before commencing Te Araroa, I’d bought new trail runners especially for my first thru hike. Having been around for a while, I knew the importance of "breaking them in" and made sure that I not only hiked more than three hundred kilometres in those very shoes, I did it in all weather conditions, on all types of trail and while carrying an overnight pack. 

I thought I had the whole shoe thing sorted and was so pleased (smug) with my choice that I hunted the internet globally to track down a second pair of those very same shoes ready to send on as my replacements. 

Fast forward to Ninety Mile Beach and the start of the blisters but still the alarm bells weren’t ringing terribly loudly. 

Everyone gets blisters on Ninety Mile Beach, blisters and the beach are a badge of honour proving to mere mortals that we were hard core hikers and I figured given enough time my feet would toughen and heal.

I was still so attached to my earlier trail runner choice, and after all, I had that expensive second pair waiting at home.

I was wrong, so very very wrong and after suffering for a couple more weeks I finally admitted I was human (an idiot!) and we hitched off trail to the Whangarei Accident and Emergency Department. As it turned out, the blisters were nothing compared to losing half my toenails and the months it took for my feet to semi recover.

On reflection, when we left Ninety Mile Beach for Kaitaia with it’s limited shopping facilities, I should have simply taken myself off to The Warehouse and bought new shoes as anything would have been better.

When I finally bought my replacement pair in Whangarei due to how swollen and bandaged my feet and toes were from the damage that I’d caused, I went to a wide toe box and up an entire size and to this day, continue with that larger size

Food and Resupply Planning

I’m a planner and I love details so of course I created a spreadsheet for our entire Te Araroa itinerary that included where we’d be resupplying food. The spreadsheet wasn’t only about food though, it allowed us to get a sense of the walk ahead, how long it would take, an indication of the required day’s effort, our approximate budget and where we’d be staying each night.

Planning for a thru hike is so much fun, you’re still in the excited phase imagining days filled with beautiful weather, glorious mountain views and magnificent sunsets shared with your exciting new friends. Hold on to that dream for as long as you can!

Being food conscious, one of the things that Andrew and I were certain of is that we’d not be hitting trail towns and scoffing all the high carb takeaways in sight. We’d seen plenty of videos of hikers doing just that and pizza and beers featured often. For one thing, I neither eat pizza nor drink beer off trail and that wasn’t about to change.

I underestimated though how many calories we’d need when averaging 22 kilometres a day non stop for 133 days. 

Coming out of Aotearoa New Zealand’s winter, we were both, how can I put this delicately, a healthy weight with a bit of spare to go on. This held us in good stead for the first two months while each day we were developing our hiking muscles and trail fitness. 

In contrast, by the time we were traversing the 1,300 kilometre Te Waipounamu South Island our appetites had increased significantly.

In the South, there’s potentially hundreds of kilometres between towns and we were more dependant on trail food, unable to supplement it with fresh food as we’d previously done when walking through Te Ika-a-Māui North Island.

By the top end of the South, we’d burned through our reserves and were hungry and yes, we arrived in towns and headed straight for the donuts and ice creams. I still didn’t eat pizza or drink beer but if you’d put a plate of hot chips in front of me I’d likely lick the plate clean replacing fats, carbs and salt all in one glorious (gluttonous) healthy sitting.

By the end of our Te Araroa experience, Andrew and I had both lost more than ten percent of our body weights. Sigh, it found us again when we returned to the North.

Lack of Physical Conditioning

Like most of you, Andrew and I work full time and when planning to walk Te Araroa, on top of our usual family, home and work responsibilities, we also needed to work on our fitness, mobility and strength. And We Didn’t. 

I mean, how can you possibly replicate under home conditions the effort required to walk 3,000 kilometres, there’s neither the time nor actually the need to replicate it. 

We’re both physically active people, Andrew is a farmer with all that entails and I am an adventure content creator and undertakes some form of cardio exercise most days. Given that we’re both self employed, one of our weaknesses is we often work seven days a week which leaves little time for structured exercise.

We did our best to prioritise regular trail walking even if it was for only an hour and as often as we could we’d head away for an overnight trip as a form of shake down to test ourselves, gear and food. Bear in mind I’ve successfully completed many multi day hikes and Andrew has spend countless hunting nights in the bush ahead of starting Te Araroa so we weren’t going in completely green.

Aside from our active work and play lifestyle, we didn’t do any specific strength training and I believe had we done so, we’d have been more comfortable on the walk. My biggest weakness when walking Te Araroa is inflammation in my knee joints which is exacerbated by a diet rich in grains. Hello trail food! 

While on trail, I was fascinated by the other hikers different approaches, and leaving aside those who were on some personal Fastest Known Time sort of quest I was curious as to how they had trained before staring to walk Te Araroa.

My random survey and observations of the speedier kids on the block, led me to the conclusion that experienced trail runners had an advantage over plodders like me. When it came to hopping agilely from river rock to rock, I was not a contender and typically, I simply waded through the cold water. If you’ve not yet realised it, the other major advantage the fast crew had was lighter packs.

Now when training for hiking (life) I’m more aware that I need to give attention to the follow areas;

• Increase strength in the major muscles - having strong legs and core muscles better supports a loaded pack and helps me to hike harder and longer

• Build endurance - again in the legs and core with the addition of the shoulders and lower back muscle groups after all, thru or multi day hiking is an all day activity. You don’t want to flag at lunch time.

• Improve balance - as a bike rider including road, mountain and track (velodrome) I thought I had my balance dialled in, that was until I started yoga with all its tricky one legged tree poses. Funnily enough, the more out of balance my life was, say being stressed about my work, the less balanced my poses were. Anyway, a more stable base allow you to take uneven terrain in your stride.

• Don’t forget the cardio - Whereas before cardio exercise was my go to, I aim now to complement the above strength, endurance and balance exercises with activities like trail walking/running, mountain biking and any other fun aerobic exercise that comes along. 

Now that I’m in my 50’s and post menopausal, these exercises are even more important to support a continued healthy and injury free lifestyle.

Too Much or Too Little Planning

Referring back to my spreadsheet above I planned every single day of Te Araroa. All the same I knew the moment my feet hit the sand on Ninety Mile Beach that itinerary would be metaphorically caught up by the sea breezes and disappear far over the Tasman Sea. 

The itinerary simply gave us a structure which importantly included a timeframe for Andrew who was leaving his farm in the capable hands of his daughter, Erica. They of course needed to know approximately when he’d return to take back the reins.

At the other end of the spectrum were a few hikers who’d only just heard of the trail a couple of weeks before starting and were willing to give it a go. We soon lost track of them and I have often wondered how far they got.

While being a detail person, I’m more than comfortable with plans changing and simply winging it depending on what seems right at the time. While it may seem a little "woo woo" I am also confident in the adage "the trail will provide" as it does in life. Stuff always has a way of working itself out.

Given variables such as inclement weather (snow, high rivers and extreme wind to mention a few) or unplanned diversions and detours it can be difficult at times to estimate exactly when you’ll arrive in the next town. Also, being on trail for weeks, you become detached to man made concepts such as calendar dates and weekends.

Which is how we found ourselves approaching Queenstown on one of the busiest  holiday weekends of the summer. Given the expense of any town visit and particularly an Otago town visit, our itinerary recommended we collect our supplies and continue straight through to Glenorchy without stopping overnight. 

The catch was we’d been on trail for four months and rather than getting faster, we or more notably, I was getting slower. I needed a rest and we needed somewhere to stay in what’s possibly New Zealand’s least affordable trail town. 

Realising this dilemma while still in Wanaka, another expensive trail town, I shared my lack of planning with my followers asking them for help. We then disappeared into the mountains once more, this time the Motatapu Track and like many sections of Te Araroa, we were without any mobile phone reception.

You can imagine our delight on reaching reception at Arrowtown to discover that the trail had in deed provided and multiple people had reached out offering us somewhere to stay.  I contacted the first one that had messaged me and within minutes we’d secured very comfortable accommodation for our Queenstown stay which stretched into two nights. 

My Te Araroa daily vlogs were being viewed hundreds of thousands of times, this may not be an approach that you want to chance and I do recommend a bit of forward planning around those towns and long weekends.

We are most grateful to all the people who offered to help in Queenstown and throughout our Te Araroa journey, the kindness of strangers will forever be humbling and we do our best to continue to pay it forward.

When everything is taken into account, I’m more than happy with my first effort at thru hiking, from start to finish, I hiked my own hike and will have the memories forever. On arriving at Bluff on Day 133 I’d have happily turned around and walked north again.

Can you relate to any of my blunders, have you found yourself doing similar or conversely, have you your own favourite mistakes that you’ve now learnt from and can maybe even laugh about? Share your thoughts in the comment box below, this really helps our Freewheeling Community to learn and grow and more importantly, may end up potentially being a life saver.

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