Is the Te Araroa Trail a con?

@ Kreig. Mostly I've confined myself to 'virtual' tramps, just banging about on the net looking at huge number of tracks and trips that do exist. We're based in Ballarat (a fine regional city that we've really enjoyed) which means that the Grampians are just up the road and the Victorian Alps are not so far off either. And I have to express our delight at discovering the Otways. I really had no idea how magnificent the mountain ash is, nor did we expect such lush rain-forest in this State. Queensland yes - but not Victoria. And when it comes to bird-life Aus really is the lucky country. Such a huge diversity and so many fascinating behaviours. Very recently the scientists are starting to suggest that in fact song-birds and intelligence in the parrots almost certainly evolved first in this continent - and migrated to the rest of the planet afterwards. My only question is - how come pelicans don't make it across the Tasman? My annual leave is starting to stack up, so by next year the chances are we could tackle a longer trip - and the Bibbulmun seems like a fine recommendation. Maybe not all 1000km!

Yeah, there are loads of great hikes within spitting distance of you guys. You could follow a section of Ned Kelly's trail, I believe, check out some great caves and incredible sub-alpine scenery through the guts of the state, the Otways as you mentioned, Wilson's Prom, and you have to do the Grampians. Stunning place! Yeah, you can do different sections of the Bib. The great thing about the Bib is that they're well-organised; you can buy a map pack, which has all the topo maps needed for the trail in one. Or you can just get a northern end/southern end half pack, or of course, individual maps. There is also a good guidebook, but the maps are definitely superior if you're looking at one or the other. You don't pass through any cities on the Bib (besides starting/finishing just outside of Perth (north)/Albany (south). You do pass through or close to a few towns, but they are small, and welcome sights after completing a big section. Essentials when hiking in Australia: Water Sunscreen/hat etc Snake bite kit A GOOD bug repellent! I recommend Bushman's, an 80% DEET number that does the trick for me. Anyway, could go on and on. :D When you do consider hitting the trail, either the Bib or shorter/more local hikes to your location, hit me up, and I'll have plenty of tips for you. :)

@Kreig. Nice work - and welcome to these forums. And welcome as well to the kiwi back country. As an old friend of mine once put it - "New Zealand it is small on the map, but big on the inside!"

Sure is! I love that you could spend your entire life tramping the trails here, and still never see it all. Magic!

@Kreig Nice one bro, yeah the volunteering thing is important I think, as a visitor from another country we should always endeavour to give something back. Glad to read you do your bit too and those guys will be pretty proud of your efforts i'm sure. The journey is every bit as an inner one for me too. Ever since I met my first Kiwi friend and he introduced me to Cult legends such as Dave Dobbyn, The Herbs, Billy T, Catchafire and so on I've had this overwhelming connection with everything to do with this place. Once i'm in NZ and i'm sorted contact wise or even if we spot each others scribings in an Intentions book, it'd be good even just to have a chat over a beer or rum! :) Cheers bro.

note you can select the "branch this topic" if the thread is drifting into another topic from the original thread post..

@waynowski Sometimes it doesn't matter too much if the thread drifts off topic. I'm used to another bigger forums where it's not unusual to see 400 or more comments under a post. Then you often see multiple conversations taking place all at the same time. Takes a bit of practise to follow it. What this place lacks is a "Reply" feature that allows the thread to branch internally - and when a thread gets to 50 or more comments that becomes pretty useful. On the other hand when the OP topic has been pretty much thrashed over, it doesn't really hurt too much if the conversation drifts off onto other tangents - often inspired by something someone has said. It's hard to predict these things. We can go down the path of a regular "Open Mike" where anyone can comment on anything - but I suspect the community here isn't quite large enough, or crazy enough, to have the energy to keep that sort of thing going. It really comes down to a community understanding, that there is a difference between a blatant thread-jack which is completely off-topic and is actively diverting the conversation - and a natural tangent that has arisen because it's both timely and it's what the participants want to talk about.

Wayne and Phillip, I actually agree with both of you. As the main culprit here, I'll endeavour to stick to topic from now on. :)

the brach off topic option has been put there so people can branch off topic. its there so might as well use it . i dont thinks threads should drift off topic endlessly when you ahve the option to branch as we do here unlike other forums which don't, its a good function, the admin was thoughful enough to put it there, feel free to practice using it, :D

@waynowski Can't say fairer than that. I'll try my best... to use it :) Back on topic...I feel the TA is a great idea and while it may not suit some or be a proper full on tramp, I still think it' something that can grow. One example here in U.K is John O'Groats to Lands End is our most North Easterly point to most South Westerly trek, but there is virtually no proper advertisement and no real hut system (we have bothys, which are great for shelter) and in terms of hospitality there are many U.K hikers that wouldn't dream of asking to camp on someones backyard. For what it's worth, if someone asked me i'd be more than welcoming, hell i'd cook them breakfast. Many Brits seem to be over cautious these days and it's sad that many have lost that open trust. So in conclusion I think where the TA is good, is that there is a more welcoming element from your people whether you are foreign or native. Where it's bad from people who've done it or i've read about is essentially the road walking. I guess i'll find out more so once i'm on trail myself. All in all though I think you're already miles ahead of the U.K in the complete thru-hike concept. While in it's infancy it should be something to be essentially proud of.