100% accurate. Kev and I found ourselves both saying "great video". So for those planning on Te Araroa, this is a great introduction to the type of trail this is. That said, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Roll on South Island! 🙂

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

You guys are awesome, I couldn't agree more... definitely roll on South!

Bringing back good memories watching this, I think I'll start the series you have. I hiked this in 2017/18 as one thru hike. The mud..! That was brilliant in the northern forests, yes it was difficult and frustrating at times as you slip and slide everywhere then get caught up in a vine but it was brilliant fun. As for the wildlife, on the south island, even though I hung my bag up I still got a mouse in my food bag, followed 4 days later by a rat chewing through the side of my tent just after Wanaka, the hole is still there patched up by duct tape, if they just ate one pack of noodles it would be okay but they have to sample every packet in there before deciding they don't like them. You did however forget to warn people of the Weka and the Kea..! A group of 4 lassies left their bags in the vestuble of their tent on the Queen Charlotte and in the morning in it was bras and knickers everywhere as the wekas seen fit to empty their contents. I have to say though that the lack of trail in so many places really made me enjoy Te Araroa more than other hikes as it was more wild, it was proper hiking where you often needed navigation skills, infinite patience and the zen of a bhuddist monk, this is why I hiked the trail in the early years just in case they made it 'easier' down the line. Enjoy the South Island where the mountains are forever calling. As a final note, being from the UK I found the North Island akin to hiking England with the pastures and rolling hills with the exceptions of the northern forests, Tongariro and the Tararua Ranges (latter being my favourite section) and the South Island was more akin to Scotland Highlands, albeit on steroids... but you grt the jist. Happy hiking.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for the beautiful comment. I have to agree with much of what you have said, although this video was directed primarily at the North Island, that having been the only section I have completed so far. Looking forward to seeing what the South has to offer!

This is so so useful! Thank you so much!

Best of luck on the South Island trek. Great tips especially the freedom camping and right of way. Your videos are getting better and better!

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much Dan, I need all the luck I can get!

love your wee videos keep up the great adventures

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Flynn, certainly hoping to in the coming weeks and months. Still a few more adventures to put out on the channel before the summer hiking season starts again!

Great video and super helpful . just home from a 14km day hike to the mansion hut in southland with my full Te Araroa gear and pack loaded with 6 days food . bring on 1st October

Thanks Gypsy, You covered some good stuff, this will be a usefull video for anyone setting out. Keep it up. HESR.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Paris, appreciate the comment :) And glad people are finding it useful!

Well put together LWG. Thank you

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it!

Michelle, thank you so much for all your videos! You are doing an amazing job. I have been preparing myself to start on 1st October this year and your content is useful and helpful for me! Thank you for that. I also appreciate the way you educate us to be good to New Zealand's mother nature and people. Keep it up 💚

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

I think my background as an 'immigrant' to New Zealand has really helped me push the agenda of looking after our country here. When you've grown up in another part of the world and haven't had access to the privileges and benefits we get from living here you know how precious it is an how important it is to protect it. So thank you for supporting me in this endeavour, and good luck for your start date! :)

@GypsyGirl317

3 жыл бұрын

Sashimi have you been able to make your start? If so, all the best! 💖

@GypsyGirl317

3 жыл бұрын

Brilliant video, you have covered all the important points extremely well. 😊

@Sashimi1313

3 жыл бұрын

@@GypsyGirl317 Yeah I have! I started Oct 1st and love TA. I’m in South Island now and the trail is getting more beautiful every day ☀️💛

It was very informative. Many thanks for sharing.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

You're very welcome. I see it as one of my jobs to provide information to future hikers, so I'm glad to have helped you out in some way. If you have any more questions, please feel free to reach out!

Great video, Michelle. Thank you for explaining how to pronounce the trail name. It will take me some time to come close to the way you say it. Also, you've made a lot of progress in your style of presentation. Your passion for your homeland and the TA really come through. It seems you've developed a sort of relaxed assertiveness which got my attention. I am hoping hikers respect the landowners' requests and follow the rules for everyone's benefit. Well done, Michelle!

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much John for your feedback! I always appreciate it :)

@GypsyGirl317

3 жыл бұрын

I agree, I am really enjoying your style of presentation and your lovely gentle but strong confidence Michelle. You were born to do this! 😍

Very informative. Best of luck with the south island

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! I think I'll need all the luck I can get :)

Awesome video !!! Thanks ;)

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome Monica, glad you liked it!

Great vid all around! Especially thanks for the pronunciation help. I like being able to speak properly in travels.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Happy to help!

Inexperienced pensioner considering the thru hike and doing my due diligence lol. Never even thought about the costs of accommodation or the koha for using the trail. I think it'll take me about 2 years of training and learning to hike to get there but for me that challenge will be huge and life changing. It's good to hear you talk about the actual nitty gritty of how hard it is.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Irene, and first of all congratulations for taking your first steps towards Te Araroa. Whether you realise it or not, you're probably already committed, so now it's just about getting your ducks in a row. Never underestimate the value of training and preparation. For what it's worth, I was a complete 'newbie' when I set out on Te Araroa, but I knew within the first couple of days that I was very well prepared for whatever the trail could throw at me, and sometimes that was enough to keep me pushing forward - just because I had prepared well. My role here is to share with those less-certain and less-experienced (as I was) exactly what they are getting themselves in for. Te Araroa is certainly not an 'easy' undertaking (as some other long distance trails are) and to keep yourself and others safe it's important to know all the bad parts, as well as the good. Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, and consider signing up for my newsletter on my website for more regular updates and hiking tips: longwhitegypsy.com

Teh not tee ☺️ ah eh ee aw oo are the vowel sounds. Interesting that Hebrew has the same vowel sounds as Maori. 😊

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Janis! Yes, realised after I posted the video that this was a little wrong, hence why I added the comment above ... thanks for re-confirming for anyone who missed it!

Awesome vid

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thanks for the very informative video, Michelle. There still seems to be a very limited number of videos like this about advice from people that have thru-hiked Te Araroa and what people should know about it from those with first-hand experience of it. Really useful and keep up the great content!

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for your kind comments, and welcome to the channel! When I was preparing to thru hike Te Araroa I struggled to find good informative and detailed content about the trail on KZread, and saw a gap that needed filling. It's nice now to hear people are finding it useful!

Great content here :)

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much Dylan, appreciate you stopping by!

**NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION** Since filming this video (and despite researching beforehand) it's been pointed out to me that in the Maori language it is far more common to use a softer "Teh" pronunciation rather than the hard "Tee" I show in this video. We all make mistakes, and here I am learning from mine! Either way, attempting to pronounce the trail name correctly goes a long way towards cultural awareness, and no matter how it comes out, it's the trying that counts! If you'd like to see the softer pronunciation in practice, please check out this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4mi2pisepSnl7Q.html&feature=emb_logo

Hiya! Fellow kiwi hiker here - thanks so much for all the great advice and insights you give on Te Araroa. I'm thinking of hiking the South Island section in 2021/22 - I simply don't have the time/budget to do a full through-hike of the North Island as well. But, what sections/tracks on the North Island were a real highlight for you? I live up in Auckland so it would be great to slowly tick some of the great North Island parts of the track off over the next few years.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Lauren! Welcome to the channel! That's a really great question you've asked... and it's SOOO hard to pick just 'sections' of Te Araroa. Before I list out some of my highlights, make sure you check back here next Friday, because I actually have a video coming out on EXACTLY this topic (so your comment is good timing!). Ok, here are some of my ABSOLUTE fav sections from the North Island (in no particular order other than North to South): - Ninety Mile Beach - Timber Trail - Central North Island (Owhango to National Park) - Whanganui River (although I'd suggest you walk the part from Pipiriki to Whanganui) - Paekakariki Escarpment Track - Colonial Knob and Skyline Ridge into Wellington

@laurenc3879

3 жыл бұрын

@@LongWhiteGypsy thank you so much for a detailed reply! I am looking forward to that video, and following along with your South Island adventure too. Thanks again!

Hi there. Thanks for this. We walked 1400km of the North Island in the 2019-20 season. Sadly, we stopped hiking at Koitiata/Turakina Beach after 8 weeks as I sustained an RSI (plantur fasciitis). We took three weeks off but it was still too painful. It took maybe three months to mend. I agree with every one of your top 10 tips. Excellent. We are starting to think that we will return (if we are ever allowed to fly to NZ again, post covid). We think we will start at Bluff and walk NOBO and, hopefully, reach where we left off. I have two questions for you 1) when you walk the South Island, will you be walking SOBO or NOBO?2) in your opinion when would be the best time to set off NOBO, wanting to walk the South Island in the driest months to alleviate the river crossings? Thank you and good luck.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Cath, and thanks for your comment! Congratulations on completing 1400km... that is no mean feat! And I hope things settle down enough for you soon so you can return to complete your Te Araroa adventure. To answer your questions: 1) I am hiking SOBO and 2) Most NOBO hikers will start in Bluff around November to January (splitting that down the middle and starting in December would be your best bet). The weather has been particularly bad in the south this year. We are now almost in January and I haven't seen much but cold and wet weather since coming to the South Island in the start of November, so it's worth bearing in mind that SI weather can be bad at any time of year and it's important to be prepared!

Hey Michelle! Another great video, just wondering with the boarders closed for both kiwis wanting to go overseas and people wanting to come to NZ do you think the TA will have more or fewer hikers this year? I am planning to do the south island section solo, when would you guess it will be the busiest? As I would like to meet as many people on the trail as possible

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

It's really hard to say what the trail will be like this year. I am picking there will definitely be fewer hikers, but that (obviously) they will all be New Zealanders. This will make the experience much different to what I found on the trail last year. My decision to stop at Island Bay last January has at least afforded me the opportunity of seeing the trail in two different seasons, which is even more pertinent this year as we grapple with Covid. I haven't done the numbers, but I have heard a lot of people are starting from Cape Reinga in Oct or early November. This means most of them will be hitting the south island by mid to late December. I'd suggest this might be the busiest time on the trail. I suggest you put a post on the Te Araroa 2020/21 Facebook group letting people know your start date (you can even use the spreadsheet resource they've created for this purpose) and see when others are likely to be on the South Island, then make contact with them!

@IbeAlastair

3 жыл бұрын

@@LongWhiteGypsy Great idea! Thanks for the help :)

Very informative video, thanks for making that effort! 🙏🏻 My stepmom has family in Australia and as the two countries are so close to each other she mentioned I should probably be worried mostly about the snakes and big spiders or the little poisonous spiders. Would that be a legitimate fear for someone who lives in a country where there’s only small, non-poisonous insects? 😅

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

You're very welcome! Not sure what you're getting at here sorry, but certainly New Zealand has basically no small animals or insects that can kill you. The rats, mice and possums will drive you mad, but usually they're not going to give you any more trouble than trying to steal your food. Australia, of course, is another thing altogether. But I think you have to take the rough with the smooth. If I were ever to hike in Australia I'd probably be a little worried about snakes at first. But keeping distance as much as possible, and being wary of hiding spots when you're out on trail are good practices to abide by. I'll let you known after I've eventually made it to Australia to do some hiking!

@petitehiker754

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the information both. I think Europeans are so far removed from that part of the world that mistakenly we see both countries as similar, while in fact they’re very different from each other 😅 I am sorry for that mistake. Anyway, great to hear that I don’t have to worry about anything like that. Would love to visit post covid, NZ looks like an amazing country.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

@@petitehiker754 No worries! Glad we could be of help to you!

A great video even when I'm not planning to walk the trail. 10 very valid and important points. I wish the message would get through to people that you can't just camp where you want to or that it's free to hike the trail. I get very annoyed when the same people complain about the lack of trail maintenance and streams that aren't bridged. These points pop up in vlogs and my polite 'corrections' seem to upset the vloggers for some reason. I was talking to some hikers from Europe last summer who had similar concerns and felt that NZ should have a permit system and charge at least $1000 for a thru hike.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

I 100% agree with this premise. And whereas I don't know what I would have done if there had been a mandatory fee for a permit for this trail (as I was already running low on cash), I do believe that a permit system is the way to go in the future. It needs to be a reasonable price to cover the majority of costs associated with trail use, but also not prohibitive to hikers. Something along the lines of the Big 3 in the USA might be worth considering.

Free camping, is it the same with the south island, as it's going more through mountain ranges than farm land?

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

As far as I am aware (bearing in mind I haven't thru hiked the South Island yet) there is a lot more opportunity to free camp on the South Island (free camping is allowed on any public conservation land where it is not specifically prohibited). However, the reality is it's not really necessary as there is a substantial backcountry hut network on the South Island (with nearby permitted camping areas) with all the facilities you need.

@TheRodNemisis

3 жыл бұрын

@@LongWhiteGypsy Thanks, I'll bear that in mind :)

@TheRodNemisis

3 жыл бұрын

I found this map, which could come in handy while planing trips. www.doc.govt.nz/map/index.html just tick public conservation and freedom camping restrictions

Just a heads up tī (you) is enunciated “tee” and te (the) “teh”

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

I appreciate you commenting and correcting my mistake. As I understood it, there can be a dialectical difference in the pronunciation of "Te" between different iwi (esp. North and South) ... some prefer the hard "Tee" and others the softer "Teh". I think for the purposes of this video though (and it's largely international audience) I was going for an easier pronunciation of an otherwise difficult-to-master sound, to get people at least TRYING to pronounce it somewhat correctly. For myself, I will definitely make more of an effort to pronounce it as you have suggested in the future. Thanks again!

Good try, babe! Lol. You're a real Kiwi, alright! Hahaha.

@LongWhiteGypsy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks :)

Thru hikers can be a very entitled bunch. It breaks my heart you even have to explain these things that should be obvious.

@LongWhiteGypsy

Жыл бұрын

I'd qualify that by saying some 'international' thru hikers can be this way. Hence why the video... to try to help spread the word about some of these things in the hopes of reducing their occurrence :) (fingers crossed!)