Te Araroa is New-Zealand's long distance tramping route. It begins on the North Island at Cape Reinga and goes all the way down to the end of the South Island at Bluff. It's about 3000 km long and takes about 4-6 months to complete.
I've decided to only do the South-Island section of TA and afterwards travel on both Islands and do whatever I see fit. The first three months I will be walking the 1300 km that stretches over the South Island, the other 2 months are for traveling. I will be leaving on January 1 and come back home on the 8th of may.
All information about Te Araroa is located on their official website. I think it's good to start there if you are considering on doing the trail. Literally everything you need to know is on there.
Before I decided to go on this incredible adventure, I've spend hours on the internet reading blogs, websites, books,... about 'thru-hiking'. If it grabs you and it doesn't let go anymore, you need to do it! You should definitely check TA groups on facebook. There is also a lot of information to get from people who already asked some questions or you can post something yourself.
My plan is to start walking at january 8 and I have the luxury to take my time and take it slow. Hopefully my trail legs will kick in fast and I can finish before I hit 80 days. We will see!
This is my personal resupply guide. I did an update november 2023, so post hike. It's what worked for me and maybe it can be a help preparing for your hike. It's an estimation of days per section. Everything is dependable on how you are feeling, how fit you are, good days, bad days, weather,.... This doesn't include zero days. At the start of the trail I went slow and near the end I could do a lot more kilometers a day.
The km/day column is to give an idea how hard it's going to be. How many kilometers a day you approximately need to do, to finish that section. Some days will be more, some will be less.
'F' stands for food in the village you are ending. So that means you don't have to have dinner the last day and can eat breakfast the next day. No need for resupply on those days.
Again, hours of research about gear, blogs and 'lighterpack' lists from other long distance hikers. I also have a little bit of experience in the outdoors and did some smaller trails before I decided to do this one. Talking to people who already finished the trail is the most valuable. They know what works and what doesn't, but there is always personal preference. Don't forget that. What may work for others may not work for you.
In the end I put everything on the kitchen scale and made a list with 'lighterpack'. It's really helpful to get your base weight down.
Here is my still changing list of what's in my pack. I also updated this list post-trail.
There's so much about blister prevention on the internet and the worst thing about it is, that nobody is the same. Even your own two feet are different. So, what works for me, doesn't necessarily work for you. But, how about, I make a post about things you can try out and also tell you how I survived a 1000...
I summed up some basic river safety rules. If you want more detailed information about river crossings in New-Zealand, this is the place to go. Link