Hi Michelle. Such a helpful, honest and thorough summary and explanation. I get very frustrated when I hear people from overseas complain about the high costs on Te Araroa and in NZ in general just because they did not know that it IS expensive to t ravel and even to live in NZ. .Ask the locals! It is both expensive and a privilege to live in or visit NZ. The amazing food, the phenomenal people, and the stunning scenery and beauty however are all priceless. I'm a homesick kiwi living in Canada and would pay an arm and a leg to get there right now to hike. If I was looking for a cheap(er) long distance rail I would certainly choose one North America but TA resonates so very deeply. I'll always have NZ in my bones. Thanks...

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Jude, what beautiful sentiment comes across in this comment! So sad that you're not here right now, but NZ will always be here waiting for you when the time is right! Personally, I'd love to live in Canada for a little while as well... so we're always looking for something a little different! Where in Canada are you based?

@sebastianforbes1

Жыл бұрын

- ""a privilege to visit NZ"" ???.. don't worry, I see exactly the same levels of behaviour and intelligence in Cyprus too - it must be something to do with small islands/populations ?..

@donjohnson2426

Жыл бұрын

If you know it’s expensive to live in or visit NZ, how is it frustrating to hear other people complain about it? And how is it a privilege? The country is going down the toilet. Anyone who actually works for a living is being shafted. Certain groups are being showered with taxpayers’ money for doing absolutely nothing. You’re better off in Canada until the wicked witch of the left is kicked out.

Nice advice. Although I do not think i will ever go there, iI appreciate the advice given. You have a wonderful weekend.

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

You're very welcome :)

Great video on cost. Thanks Michelle ❤️

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Super welcome Emma, hope you're well!

Great video. Thank you.

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Very welcome!

Hey how are you and tilly this week? Its good that our nz summer is back :)

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Very good thanks Carlos, although not sure our part of NZ is having as good weather as your part... :(

I reckon they have direct flights Auckland-Invercargill now.

Another hiker in your part of the world I follow is "Set to Hike." She is hiking in New Zealand this year. I think it would be great if you two could do a NZ hiking video together.

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the recommend Robert! I'll definitely be checking out her channel and videos!

Hi, great content. I assume in big cities like Auckland you may use free Wi fi in such places like cafes, am I right?

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Joanna! Yes, you can usually find a cafe with free wifi in larger cities, but not all cafes offer this. It's not uncommon for cafes to use 'hotspots' provided by other companies, so you still need to pay or buy a voucher to login. Libraries are a good place to find free wifi (although they are only open during normal business hours). Otherwise McDonalds has passable free wifi as well. Just don't expect the speeds to be very fast, and you may still be limited to 500mb or 1gb of downloads (will be enough to update social media, but anything more than that and it will be chewed up in about 15-30 mins).

@joannabialek2864

2 жыл бұрын

@@LongWhiteGypsy Thank you :-)

Incredibly helpful video! I knew about all of those things but I hadn't really taken the time to process the actual costs of them all. I'm an international hiker waiting out Covid restrictions like everyone else. I can't help but wonder if there will be a crush of hikers in one or two years and demand and prices will go even higher.

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Craig! Glad you found the video helpful, and looking forward to hopefully seeing you here in the near future to hike the trail! Yes, you raise an interesting point. I think there's going to be a real influx of thru hikers next season as the borders open up and people are able to travel here again. Unfortunately, as with most things in NZ, we don't have the infrastructure on Te Araroa to support this, so it will be interesting to see what happens...

Icebreaker use to be excellent gear, BUT sadly it declined in quality quite a few years back - 2004 I think! The waning in quality had a lot to do with where the items were being made - Sweat Shops in Asia! Yep! The Excellent Icebreaker clothing that was previously made in NZ - is now crappy clothing made in a China Sweat-Shop!!!

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Ah I actually had no idea it was now being made offshore! I only own one item of icebreaker clothing at the moment and it's held up pretty well... however I hardly ever use it. I was very surprised at how quickly other hikers' icebreaker T-Shirts deteriorated on trail, however. I think the lighter weight merinos are always going to be a little less heavy duty, but good to know it's definitely not worth spending excessive amounts on Icebreaker just to get a better product.

I thought that wild camping was legal in New Zealand? I guess the only issue is when the only available options are camping on private property or paid accommodation? Some clarification on this topic would be wonderful.

@lowboxinnz

2 жыл бұрын

Wild camping requires landowner permission on private land, and can be done only in approved areas on Conservation land. The landowners around trails like Te Araroa are getting sick and tired of people camping illegally and it is impacting their support for the trail. Its a real issue that is treating the sustainability of the trail. So please platy by the rules - or don't come.

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Couldn't have said it better myself, thanks to lowboxinnz for the concise explanation of this :)

Are you paying in cash or by credit card most of the time?

@LongWhiteGypsy

11 ай бұрын

Depends on what for. If you're paying for accommodation, usually it's easier to do cash with trail angels because they don't have card facilities. Otherwise, most other things can be paid for with card. Credit card sometimes isn't accepted or comes with a surcharge, so it's better to have a direct debit card (EFTPOS).

How are the weaves coming along?

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Much better! Had her going through them for the first time in a few months and she whizzed through. Seems to be a little nervous when I straighten them out still, but for now we're just working on speed!

But it’s effectively a 5 month holiday, so 6 grand sounds pretty damn cheap to me. If you were living in one place for that long you’d surely spend a lot more on rent, tax, food, transport, utilities, entertainment etc.

@LongWhiteGypsy

Жыл бұрын

That's very true Don! A better way to look at it :)

It's much easier to set your mind in the way of thinking that New Zeland is a VERY remote corner of the World, so don't blame locals for the high price. Then stick to your wallet the motto of Pokemon's Team Rocket "prepare for trouble and make it double"

It is Whanganui River, so should be pronounced with F. 15 hour bus trip from Christchurch to Invercargill is ridiculous.

@LongWhiteGypsy

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment! My pronunciation could definitely still use some work, but you might be interested to know that since the official name change from Wanganui to Whanganui in 2015 correct pronunciation no longer uses the "F" sound in favour of the aspirated "H": kzread.info/dash/bejne/oKV2m8qudLmzoLA.html

@rkim2214

2 жыл бұрын

The "WH" in the Whanganui region is NOT pronounced as an "f" but a soft "wa" instead. The weather readers on one news are using the northern dialect and IT'S WRONG. For whangarei YES for Whanganui NO.

0:08 "ridiculously hot temperatures" NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! "Temperature" is an abstract concept designed to convey a relative measurement of heat. "Temperature" has no physical properties - one cannot paint, hold, touch, throw or place a temperature in one's pocket. Likewise one cannot boil or freeze a temperature, therefore it cannot be "cold" or "hot" although whatever is being measured can be. The weather or air can be "hot" or "cold", temperature cannot be. Temperature is the measurement, not what is being measured. To say the "temperature is hot" is confusing the measurement with what is being measured. Temperature can be "high" or "higher" or "lower" relative to some other measurement. So it should be "ridiculouslyhot WEATHER" or "ridiculously HIGH temperatures".

@LongWhiteGypsy

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for pointing this out. It's very difficult sitting in front of a camera talking ad-lib about something for an hour or two without making the odd grammatical mistake. I hope you'll forgive that in favour of a video which (in general) gives some information and value to the people it's intended for.

@edwinov

6 ай бұрын

@@LongWhiteGypsy It's just a pet peeve of mine, I of course still enjoy and value your videos!

@LongWhiteGypsy

5 ай бұрын

@@edwinov Excellent, good to hear!

The way you pronounce te araroa and other mori words is really annoying. They do the same thing on the news all the time. They go out of their way to pronounce words like Kaikoura and Rotorua in the most ridiculous way, they way they *think* a mori would say it, even though there is no one mori way. It's just mori pandering, it's not necessary and should be stopped asap before they own the entire country.

@LongWhiteGypsy

6 ай бұрын

Respect your opinion on this... However one of my non negotiable personal tenets is that if I'm speaking another language not native to me, I make a special effort to speak it 'properly'. Doesn't matter if it's French, German, Japanese, Māori or Kling On. In my experience, this garners much more respect from native speakers of that language and opens up better connections and communication. I always feel much more grateful towards people whose native language isn't english, but who try their best to communicate in it anyway. The least I can do is offer them the same. If you prefer to live your life by different values, perhaps this isn't the KZread channel for you.