Hey guys, am starting next week and would be grateful if you are able to shakedown my pack

Goal Baseweight (BPW): Lighter the better

Budget: As necessary but I have already purchased most of my stuff

Non-negotiable Items: Osprey Talon 42 - I purchased a prototype Helium Pack previously but I found the capacity way too small for anything over a weekend so settled for the Osprey Talon, was looking at a Osprey Exos initially but Bivoac didn't have my size in stock - am aware I am slightly over the load range of 11KG (14 KG)

Additional Information: Will be my first ever thru hike but will be only doing the North island segment SOBO

Can I ditch my down jacket? I am doing the north island only from Nov - Jan

Appreciate any feedback!

Lighterpack Link: https://lighterpack.com/r/u9rhmd

Kia Ora,

Thank you in advance to anyone who shares their insights—I really appreciate your time and knowledge!

I’m a solo traveler in my late 20s from the US, planning a 2-3 month trip to NZ between January and March/April. I love meeting new people, shared experiences, and embracing spontaneity, but I'm equally drawn to nature, off-trail hikes, camping, solitude with small groups of people, and the wilderness. Ideally, I’d love a trip filled with 3-5 day hikes, some camping, and occasional hostel stays in cities for a social break, but worry about the constant logistical hassle of trying to figure out where to go, what to hike, whether I have the gear, the weather, and how to meet people.

Here's where I'm stuck:

1. Option 1: Te Araroa (SOBO) – I'm considering doing a SOBO hike of the South Island TA (from Wellington to Bluff) because it seems simpler day-to-day and good for meeting people and less hassle with planning each hike, checking weather, and figuring out gear (everything should be figured out before leaving for NZ). I’m not tied to completing the whole SI trail but like the idea of fewer logistics, having a built-in social aspect, and immersing myself in NZ’s nature. I could couple this with renting a car to explore North Island after the TA.
2. Option 2: Road Trip (Camper Van or Car) – Alternatively, I'm weighing the option of renting (or maybe buying) a camper van or car for 3 months, driving across NZ, and doing multi-day hikes along the way. This would give more freedom to explore off the trail, but I worry about the logistics of planning each hike, monitoring weather, and possibly feeling lonely or isolated.

My outdoor experience includes several multi-day, intense multi-sport trips (3-5 days) but usually with groups I know. I'm comfortable and enjoy mountains, forests, rivers, and love rock scrambling, but solo wilderness trips would be new for me.

Questions:

• For anyone who’s done a solo TA hike, did you find it more straightforward logistically than a solo van trip with frequent hikes? Would you recommend skipping any TA sections or adding others based on my preferences?
• If I do the TA, would renting a car for the North Island afterward (for 2-4 weeks) be a good way to balance things out? Are there must-see places on the North Island that complement a South Island TA experience?
• For people who have done several months in a car, tramping around, was it logistically painful? How isolating was it?
• Wondering if anyone has good advice on how to balance these options

My main goals are to connect with people, embrace spontaneity, keep logistics manageable, and experience NZ’s nature and culture—on a budget but without cutting corners. Any advice, experiences, or itinerary ideas are greatly appreciated!

Thanks heaps!

I hiked most of Te Araroa back in 2010/11, but skipped the 1200km between Marlborough Sound and Queenstown because of injuries.
I'm headed back this season to finish what I started. Back in the day the Rakaia & Rangitata river crossings were still part of the official route. I understand the bypass with the amount of hikers these days; dangerous stuff!

Anyway, I was googling to see if anybody had taken a packraft with them to cross these rivers. It's not very far across and being in a packraft would make things significantly easier and safer - and less dependent on river depth/rain/etc.
I was thinking of sending the packrafts to Lake Tekapo and sending them out again at Arthur's Pass (we're headed north).
I couldn't find anything about anybody packrafting to cross these rivers. Any input from anybody here perhaps? Great idea? Dumb idea? Know of anybody that has done it? Thanks a lot!

As a brutal introduction to mud, hills, forest and mud, the Herekino Forest was one of my favourite sections of the North Island.

When did the TA close that section and why?

Hi everyone!

Just wondering if anyone has looked into shortcutting across the farmland and forest to bypass ahipara and going straight to Kataia at the end of 90 mile beach as it seems to add quite a few kms to do this bit.

There's seems to be some tracks through the forest and farms to get across to kaitaia

Thanks!

My tramping group and I (3 of us total) have made it to Auckland heading South. We'd like to make a detour to see the Coromandel Peninsula while we're in the country, but aren't sure the best way to manage it.

We have InterCity bus passes so could catch a ride to Thames; would the road from there be walkable or hitchable to get up to the DOC sites on the Northern coast? Or are we better off just renting a car out of Auckland?

Relatedly, if there are particular bits of the peninsula that we should make a special effort to see we'd love to hear about them.

Wondering if it will be too snowy to cross the passes in the northern region of the SI if I start hiking around November 7th? I am from Alaska and hike in snow a lot , so a little bit of post holing isn’t a huge deal for me - but just wondering if it will be impassable this early in the season.

I've grown up camping in the northeast US. I switched from a tent to hammock camping a while back and find it much more comfortable and a lot lighter to carry. In this area you can always find 2 trees to string between. For those who've been, do you think it would be possible to do this trip with a hammock instead of a tent?

Got crazy expensive quotes from a couple of taxis from Kaitaia to cape Reinga so currently my plan is to hitch hike. Has anyone on here done that? And if so where would you recommend hitching from?

Hi everyone,

A couple of family members have expressed interest in following my progress on the TA. Just wondering if anyone has used a phone app or Google maps or something that shops where we are so people can track us. Doesn't have to be in real time, but maybe updates once a day or something?

Cheers!

I'm applying for a visitor visa and it's asking me to upload a document to prove what I'm planning on doing in new zealand. It says it can be a travel itinerary. Do you think I can just write "hike te araroa for 4-6 months" on a word doc and submit it?

so ya, I have the month of December to hike the trail. ive seen some recommendations to just start at top of South Island and go as far south as you can in a month. I think logistically this is the most simple. although, I have seen and heard amazing things about the Tararua Forest section ( also that its one of the hardest sections) and im wandering if it might be worth it to start at Palmerston North or levin and work my way south from there. but with this, I might not be able to get to some of the great spots in the central South Island.

so what would you recommend? there's also the idea of starting to officially hop on "the trail" at the top of the South Island and make my way down from Aukland on a hop on hop off bus and do some multi day hikes all around the north island. or even doing hop on hop off trips the whole trip and doing hikes that aren't on the trail. So many things to see, any help would be much appreciated!!!!

Kia ora,, I've chatted with a few people recently who have recommended a quilt instead of a sleeping bag for TA. Having always hiked with a sleeping bag, I am unsure but keen to look into it, especially if lighter! Any feedback on what to look out for or recommendations for quilts? Thanks heaps! Happy trails 🙂

No one is getting back to me for stays as I NOBO the north, so wondering if I should aim for public DOC land. As long as it's not a reserve and doesn't say no, you can freedom camp. That or I guess find holiday parks and be that loser in a tiny tent!

I tried posting on Facebook but since my account is so new (got Facebook explicitly to post on the TA groups) everything gets auto removed and no response from admins.

Hi guys,

I am planning my trip to New Zealand which starts from the very end of october and i plan to stay in New Zealand for around 2 month (28th of october to 29th of december or maybe 15th of janurary). In this timespan i want to visit the best bits of both islands. When i started my research i have come arcross the Te Araroa, which connects existing trails. In the period of 2 month you could hike maybe 1 island, but not both. But i want to get to know the north and the south island.

So i have to do a section hike, to get it in time. I will try to connect the bits which i really want to see, but i know not all might be possible. Maybe ill try to hike part Te Araroa, part Great Walks and part other, no so well known tracks.

What is on my bucketlist, sorted from North to South:

North Island:

Coast Hiking, maybe the section Ocean Beach (Whangarei Heads) to Cape Rodney /Warkworth (or is the 90 Miles Beach better?)

Tongariro Northern Circuit and Round the Mountain Track

Going further to Wakahoro , and then canoing to Whanganui

Mt Taranki Round the Mountain

Tarahua Range (worth doing?)

South Island:

Te Araroa From Picton to Lake Tekapo (Nelson Lakes and Richmond Ranges) -> i think that might take 30 to 40 days? so this would take too long?? Is there a reasonable way to shorten this section further more?

Abel Tasman Trail and then hiking the Heaphy Track

Connecting Mt. Aspiring, Cascade Saddle, Dart Track and the Routeburn Trail (Seems a bit a way remote, so resupply might be hard)

• Transport/Hitchhiking to Te Anau for Kepler Track?

I will travel by bus, so the section have to be at least a bit accessible, hitchhiking might be necessary. And yes i know that a good bunch of the huts/campsites on the Great Walks are already fully booked.

Any suggestions? I m open to to some advice. Although my focus is on hiking, i would like to visit some cultural highlight as well, if they are on the way (for example some maoiri culture). And I am a great Lord of the Rings fan, so if there are some filming locations that are not strongly changed in post process, i am happy to visit them too!

Thank you for your advice in advance!

hello everyone! Im planning on taking around 1 month trip to New Zealand (December) if I had enough time, I would love to do the whole the Te Araroa. But with one month, I would like to get good taste of the experience with the short time that I have. I was wandering if I could get some ideas of routes/sections that would be a good idea.

here is a list of things im looking to get out of this trip

• I love the idea of long continuous road to follow. id like to keep logistics of busses/ferries to a minimum. with that being said, I would like to avoid the long stretches of car trafficked roads. but I am open to hopping to different sections of the trail to see more of the highlights of the trail.

• I tend to like deep Forrest hiking.

• part of the reason I want to do parts of the araroa opposed to other hiking spots in the country, is that I like the social aspect, and I like the clear path and direction that you get from following a route.

any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Looking into doing TA and keep seeing that a couple of the food carries are pretty big. How do people on trail mange keeping these carries relatively light when they can't make it at home? (Would be flying in from Aus so can't really bring food with). Naturally just fronting up big $ to buy proper dehydrated meals and posting works but would be pricey. Curious if anyone can give insight on how its done?

Trying to understand if a week long carry on TA weighs a lot more than what you would take on something like the overland track, given you need to make do with places like four square. Bonus points if anyone actually knows how heavy the bigger food carries were

Thanks!

Not a glamorous subject, but one that needs an answer. I'm looking to hike the te araroa starting mid November. I'm applying for my visitor visa and it mentions that you need fully health coverage for the time you're in new zealand. I'm leaving my job to go do this hike. I'm wondering what other people have done or are doing for this? Can you get a plan in new zealand? Do you need to get travelers insurance?

Hi all! I was planning to do a south island only hike starting around December 1st. Do you have a feeling whether going nobo or sobo would be a more social experience (with fellow hikers going in the same direction)? Basically: are there more south island -only sobos starting at that time, or are there more nobos starting from bluff at that time? Any other advice on the direction is also appreciated :) Thanks!

Considering trying to thru hike the TA in two separate section hikes. Next year I will have the opportunity to travel to NZ for two months due to other obligations in mid/late September and I imagine a start date around that time would be better for hiking the North Island since it’s earlier in the season.

This year, I could hike the other half. Would SI be doable southbound early November - mid January?

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning to do the TA thru hike this summer starting November. Just a few things im wondering if anyone who has done it before can provide some advice:

Booking accomodation:

• Did you book accomodation ahead of time or generally turn up to campsites and backpackers and book when you got there? My concern is if we take a bit longer than anticipated we might miss bookings if we book too far in advance. I'm thinking we book as we go for the next week when we have signal. Is this similar to what people have done before?

Wanaganui River and Queen Charlotte:

• As it will be summer when walking I understand these can get quite booked up as I believe these are some of the great walks, we haven't booked these as frankly don't know exactly what time we will be there. Similar to above did people book this in advance or found that there was space in campsites/cabins when walking these parts?

Any info would be much appreciated! Cheers!

I’m planning on doing a South Island thru hike but I’m not quite sure where to fly into. I’ll be coming from somewhere in SE Asia. It seems like the biggest airport with the cheapest flights is Christchurch. Is it relatively straightforward to get to the northern or southern terminus from there? I’m not sure if I’m going NOBO or SOBO yet. Thanks.

I know everything has become more expensive but how much money should I have for a full trek

Hi guys! I’ll be walking the TA NoBo starting early January 2025. I’m getting all my gear dialed in, biggest investment I still need to do is a good sleeping bag. What temp rating should I go for and what bags do you have experience with? Right now I’m aiming at +-0 degree celcius bag, I have these in my sight:

• Nemo Riff 15 long (favourite so far)
• Rab Alpine 400 long
• Sea to Summit Spark III

The Nemo definitely seems the nicest for a side sleeper like myself, but is also the “heaviest” at +-1050g. But that’s still more than reasonable weight wise right?

Important side notes:

• I don’t want a quilt, just personal preference
• Preferably something EU based to avoid high tax/shipping costs

Hey yall,

I'm planning on hiking NoBo starting after Christmas. I have my pack list, but unsure if I forgot anything (or have unnecessary things). I find myself saying "oh wait I forgot this!". Your opinion and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I know my sleeping bag is heavy at 1100g but not sure I have the money to spend on a lighter option, accounting for how much I'm going to spend on trail.

https://lighterpack.com/r/tnidad

Edit: compiled into one list

Hi all - I’m hoping to complete a 1 month TA section in January. I was hoping to start at the top of the South Island and go SOBO for 1 month. My questions are (1) is this the most beautiful section that I could do (I love mountains!) and (2) is January an OK time to hike this section? I don’t want to deal with treacherous conditions. Also, (3) will there be other hikers doing this section at this time?

Thank you!

Hi all, My friend and I are looking to start the TA on the 24th SOBO. Looking for 2 more people to share shuttle costs to the Cape from Kaitaia. Feel free to message me if interested.

I'm wondering for you sobo thru hikers, how long in days did it take you to reach Auckland from Cape reinga? I am trying to get there in time to see a gig and would be lovely to get my timing right, if possible.

Kia ora

My friend and I have a goal to hike te araroa, and would like to do it this summer. The problem is, we will not have the time or resources to start until early to mid january. From what I've read it seems like that is too late to start SOBO, but I also have conflicting info on if its feasible or safe to do NOBO or even just south island. Neither of us have completed a thru hike of this length but are experienced backpackers in good shape. Any wisdom from people more in the know about what is in reach for us would be appreciated.