February newsletter

Kia ora

Welcome to the first Te Araroa newsletter for 2023.

For those of you out on the trail, you’ve probably encountered some extreme weather conditions in the past few weeks. With flooding in the north and drought in the south, Mother Nature is throwing everything at us this year.

We’re doing our best to keep up with trail work, but as our eyes and ears on the trail, we rely on your feedback to keep it in the best possible condition. So, if you have any insights or information, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a message @teararoa or email info@teararoa.org.nz.

To everyone else, we hope you got outside over the summer break and enjoyed everything our incredible country has to offer.

The team at Te Araroa is back — and out on the trail — excited about the year ahead. We hope you are too.

Web revamp

We’re currently working on an overhaul of teararoa.org.nz. Watch this space for a new smoother, more user-friendly experience. We look forward to hearing what you think.

Trail talk

Look out for Gabe and Eve who are in Arthur’s Pass until Friday, surveying walkers. They’re gathering valuable information about what motivates people to walk Te Araroa, their experiences and insights. Say 'hi' if you see them — they’d love to talk to you.

Trail updates

Our new trail manager, Dan, has hit the ground running, literally. He’s been out on the trails getting his hands dirty as he coordinates all aspects of trail development and enhancement. In the last two months, he’s visited sections in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Nelson/Tasman, and Canterbury. There’s some great work going on out there including:

• An epic job by DOC Kaitaia in Northland to reopen Raetea Forest.
• Te Araroa Northland Trust has been marking out a new section of trail in the Bay of Islands and is investigating some new routes to get walkers off roads.
• Work on clearing the overgrown track from Mercer to Huntly is progressing.
• Waikato Regional Trust ticked off some more work with Dan along the Mangaokewa Reserve south of Te Kuiti, clearing windfall, benching the track, and freshening up the marking.
• Te Araroa Manawatu Trust dug a new long drop for Ian and Frank’s Hut.
• Freehold Creek Track, as you leave Lake Ohau, has had a dramatic clean-up by a combined DOC Twizel/Aoraki/Geraldine saw team.
• Marking and cutting back brush in the Longwood Forest was done this past weekend by a volunteer down in Southland.

Whanganui Trail Development

We’re currently working with Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa, the Whanganui Regional Trust, and Waka Kotahi to take 30km of the route from Whanganui to Koitiata off the road and onto a trail. The proposal includes a bridge over the Whangaehu River, something that is currently being scoped.

More to come soon on this exciting new project.

Thank you, it means a lot

To those that have donated to Te Araroa over the past few weeks — and there have been a few! — thank you. We couldn’t do the work we do without you.

And, with every dollar donated going directly back into the trails, the more funds raised, the more kilometres of trail.

If you’re yet to make a donation and would like to please donate online.

Thank you, and happy trails.