Hi,
I'm looking at through hiking the TA this November. I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail here in the states in 2013 and some of the best parts were alternates. I'm wondering if the same is for the TA where deviations from the official route can offer more excitement or scenery. This looks like the best place to ask!
While I've never tramped in NZ I do a fair bit here in the White Mountains in the US, which is similarly rugged (lots of glaciated bouldery "trails") year round so I don't mind a solid bushwack.
Sorry poodlemark at hotmail dot com
I did a South Island traverse, more towards the main Alps than the present TA. Email as above if you have specific questions.
i wouldnt rate te araroa for scenery, it misses most of NZ"s best scenery, and theres a lot of road bashing, its designed as a trip through NZ's best historical areas more than it is through NZ's best mountain areas. most of the north island i wouldnt even bother with, unless you like walking 90k's along a beach in the north , and the tongariro crossing and a bit of the tararuas. the rest is pretty mundane especially by NZ standards.
something like lonely planet tramping in NZ book will give you better ideas...
http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Tramping-New-Zealand/dp/1740592344
or this book is another good one for reference
http://www.craigpotton.co.nz/store/books/outdoor-adventure-and-travel/tramping-in-new-zealand
the great walks are a no brainer if you book enough in advance and promise pretty good scenery... allow about seven weeks to do them all, can be done a bit quicker if you want..
http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Tramping-New-Zealand/dp/1740592344
Yes, the alternatives and variations often take you into better scenery country. I was in Steele Creek hut end of Jan and a hut entry from a Belgium fellow doing Te Araroa indicated he was very glad he had deviated to come through Steele Creek.
FYI to get there from the Te Araroa you start at the Greenstone Carpark from Queenstown as normal but head north up the Caples, then southwest into Steele Creek. Exit Steele Creek to reconnect with Te Araroa at Greenstone hut. Adds 1-2 days to your walking time.
walk the backbone of Aotearoa. which ironically atarts in a place called te araroa at the northern tip of the east coast. traverse Raukumara . Te Urewera. Whirinaki. Kaimanawa. Kaweka. Ruahine. Tararua. Rimutaka
walking the backbone will take a fair bit of planning for resupply, you have to come out of the mountains to get to any town, there are few roads crossing the mountains and hardly anything in the way of towns
For sure. but if you want to taste the real North Island back country thats the way to go. You mentioned above too much road bashing and not too much scenery. well This trip would challenge the worlds hardest thru trekkers. Logistically would would need food dropsat particular huts and a few towns. maungapohatu. Napier. taupo road. kuripapango. Ashurst. Ymca Kaitoke. Its possible.
This is what @madpom did recently, isn't it?
HikerBox you've been given some good advice. You should seriously consider cutting out big chunks of TA especially in the NI and spend more time in more remote & scenic areas.
In January at Koiteata camp ground (Turakina Beach) on the TA route I met a guy who'd spent all day road walking from Wanganui City. It had been a hot day with heavy traffic & he'd had a couple of scares from vehicles where the road verge is narrow. To hell with that, I just walk the bits that interest me & avoid any main road walking.
In my opinion a big chunk of the north half of the South Island is worth doing. From and including the Richmond Range to Craigeburn Forest Park. There are years worth of interesting deviations you can make off this section of TA.
[Plenty of prime "hiking" exists in NW Nelson, West Coast and Fiordland well away from the TA route]
