The Rakiura Track on Rakiura Stewart Island is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Great Walks. This happened to be the third Great Walk I completed on my mission to tick off all the Great Walks of Aotearoa New Zealand. However, it wasn’t just the Rakiura Track that I was looking forward to but also the…
The Pinnacles Walk, also known as the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail, is one of my all-time favourite overnight hikes and one of the most popular walks in the North Island of New Zealand. The Pinnacles Hut is a fabulous serviced 80-bed lodging making it the largest Department of Conservation (DOC) hut in New Zealand. The first…
TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK Before getting into the details of the Tongariro Northern Circuit it is important to first acknowledge the Tongariro National Park as the oldest national park in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is also a dual World Heritage area. This recognises the important values of Māori cultural and spiritual connections as well as the…
The Karangahake Gorge is one of my favourite locations in Aotearoa New Zealand, located near the Coromandel between Paeroa and Waihi. I purposely take State Highway 2 when I am travelling between Auckland and the Bay of Plenty just to go through the gorge. More often that not I stop for a walk on one…
The Papamoa Hills Regional Park (Te Rae o Papamoa) is one of my absolute favourite places to visit when I am home in the Bay of Plenty. The park is full of walking trails and amazing views on 135 hectares with the highest point at 224 metres. The shortest route to the top would take most people…
The Blue Mountains is a ‘must do’ for anyone living in or visiting Sydney! And it does not need to cost a fortune for you to really enjoy it. The cheapest option will cost you as little as $2.60 for the whole day! Yes, you read that right, only $2.60! GETTING TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS…
Overnight hikes are my favourite way to enjoy the outdoors and I love nothing more than spending a night in a great hut. Exploring te taiao (nature) is a passion that began in my late 20s and these days I take every opportunity to get out there. This has included taking on work as a…
The biggest highlight of my time in Europe was hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc with one of my best friends, Haylee. Starting in France and making my way on foot through to Italy and Switzerland then back to France was amazing! If you want an alps adventure this has got be the number one…
The Bay of Islands is one of my all time favourite places in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a haven of beautiful beaches, that can be found on the east coast in the far north of the North Island. You will find the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island. This…
At the beginning of 2016 I started off on my biggest hiking adventure ever! The Northland section of the Te Araroa Trail (TAT) in New Zealand. The complete trail is 3000km from one end of New Zealand to the other and can be walked in either direction but South bound tends to be more popular. I was…
