Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Crown purchased Rangitoto in 1854 from the Maori, and during the 1920s and 1930s
prisoners built 19km of hard-packed roads and trails on the island, some of which are still in
use. During WWII Rangitoto was a base for harbour defence and a radar station. A handful
of the old cement huts and foundations can still be seen along the tracks.
TE ARAROA - NEW ZEALAND'S TRAIL
In a nation of trampers, the idea of a track the length of NZ - from Cape Reinga on the
northern point of the North Island, to Bluff on the southern tip of the South Island -
has always been an appealing one. The idea was first proposed in 1967 by the Feder-
ated Mountain Clubs (FMC), and was on the agenda in 1976 when the New Zealand
Walkways Commission (NZWC) was established.
After putting in more than 100 small trails, the NZWC was dissolved in 1989,
without having progressed the long-trail concept. That goal was revived in 1994 when
Geoff Chapple wrote a piece for theSundayStar-Timesurging the construction of Te
Araroa - New Zealand's Trail. Support poured in, resulting in the establishment of the
Te Araroa Trust (
www.teararoa.org.nz
)
, with Sir Edmund Hillary as a patron. The trust
opened its first trail - a 22km section between Waitangi and Kerikeri - in 1995. From
small acorns…
Officially launched in 2011, having been driven by Chapple and many volunteers, Te
Araroa today is a continuous trail from Cape Reinga to Bluff. It's 3000km long, more
than double the distance from NZ's top to tail as the crow flies. The expected comple-
tion time is anywhere from 100 to 150 days, but it can walked any way you like, taking
anything from a few hours, a few days, to a week or more.
The trail is a mixture of existing tracks and new, traversing many of NZ's most fam-
ous landscapes. Forty percent crosses conservation land, with the remainder linking
towns and cities across the map, doing so with an aim of 'encouraging social and eco-
nomic transactions … formaraestays and other cultural experiences, also food and
accommodation. The track corridor showcases a wide variety of NZ experiences -
natural, cultural, and historic.'
Geoff Chapple stood down as Te Araroa Trust CEO in 2012, having committed 18
years to the project. His efforts were honoured with a gong in the 2012 Queens Birth-
day Honours.
The official guidebook -Te Araroa: A Walking Guide to New Zealand's Long Trail-
provides an overview of the route; the website is excellent for trip planning.
Environment
Rangitoto, the largest of the 50 volcanic cones and craters in the Auckland area, is the only
one of its kind in NZ. The black basaltic lava that erupted and now constitutes much of the
