Some newbie-questions concerning Te Araroa :)

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sounds like you should be doing day tramps only till you know what its like in nz there are plenty of those that are more than a lot of people can handle and it will give you a great feel for nzgood luck with what ever you do just be aware that in nz you can have a hot summers day and half an hour later it can be snowing that can be 15 degrees to freezing

There are certainly lots of multi-day trips that'd be fine, too, with the right basic gear and attitude, but it's pretty important to pick them carefully.

Wow, quite overwelmed by all responses. A big thanks to all! :) I can't pretend I'm not disappointed to hear that you think it's a bad idea. Haha, I know this may sound naive (and maybe I am, and maybe it's normal for a confident 20-year older, haha), but I feel like if I just have a trail in front of me I feel I can do whatever. I'm from Finland and very used to freezing temperatures (actually I hate warmth). Are you guys saying tramping is a much, much more than just walking a trail? I just don't see how walking a track can be dangerous? Those who built Te Araroa, if some part of the track was life-threatening in particular (like river-crossings etc.), how can they not mention it in their website, etc.? I got the impression that it's just a long track, and from you I got the impression that it's a dangerous and challenging track, something they don't mention at all? Of course if the track is dangerous I might have to rethink what I'm doing. But.. how is it so dangerous though? I really want to know more precisely; you haven't succeded in scaring me off yet! :P I also have a hard time distinguishing the dangers of snow and rain as you say; When it rains or snows, you go into your tent, light a fire and wait til its over? I really don't see the big hassle, or danger, sorry :/ Feel free to bring be back to the ground, though. In normal weather everything should be fine, unless the track itself is actually dangerous in some other way (again, they don't say anything about any specifically dangerous parts) I don't need to resupply food for the whole trip (got that sorted). Just water is what I'll need to resupply. I gotta go now, I'll check back later :)

Hi alex, i can see where you're coming from being 21 myself. However i've done some sections on this track and all what other forum members are posting is valid. The track can be dangerous i think is what they are getting at. Without any "serious" experience as you've said yourself, you're setting yourself up for disaster should you encounter any adverse conditions. The trail itself is really just a series of routes and "tracks" linked together to make a long one. It's not really maintained as such from my experience but i could be mistaken. I've met people on this track, with experience of 1000s of km under their belts and even they have been challenged and found themselfs saying "oh shit oh shit" Maybe get a few tracks under your belt before considering this.

With your rain and snow thing, i'm assuming you don't have knowledge of good campsites etc. If u set you're tent up in a poor location landslide flood and other bad things could prove hazardous. NZ weather is a fickle thing and doesn't cooperate all of the time. Please don't light a fire in your tent :S they have warnings against this for the very reason of creating a hazardous situation.

I agree with the others, pick a few week long things and you'll see much more of the country. Don't just go for the km's really not worth it. You'll have a better experience doing more week long tramps covering a variety of areas. Hopefully you'll take the recommendations of someone your own age. If not ohh well, i said my part. Whatever decision you come to, just be safe and don't become another statistic. Invest in renting PLBs etc. but don't use it unless you're actually in a life or death situation (don't do it because your feet hurt as some do) All the best. I can highly recommend a 6 day circuit of the travers-sabine in Nelson lake NP and from carrington to barker hut and over harman pass and kelly saddle in Arthurs pass national park. that's close to 2 weeks right there. Plus all the great walks are spectacular. Plus you get to take in a more selective view of the contry

sorry to sound discouraging, always remember there will be other times (maybe more appropriate times) when you can do this. Also i know that all of these things won't deter you they never really seem to. soo good luck. Look forward to reading a blog of some kind :D

mate, you can't even see a trail in places, the bush can be so thick you can't see two feet, theres mud half way up to your knes in a lot of places, endless tree roots... river crossings that can kill you if you don't know what you're doing... and people have died on parts of this trail, one guy has never been found... you can get winter storms in the middle of summer endless cold rain, rain that people from frezing countries say is the coldest in the world.... enjoy your trip

Hi @atibingler. "Those who built Te Araroa" Nobody specifically built it. It's a connection of pre-existing tracks and routes, with a few additional sections created to connect them together where there was no connection, and it's *very* new, so there's little or no pattern developed between the sections. You'll find a combination of very easy to follow tracks through populated suburbia, combined with increasingly rough, loosely marked or or completely un-marked routes in very remote places, on which it's easy to take a wrong turn in low cloud or otherwise if you haven't figured out where you're going. I think you could also expect the route descriptions on the Te Araroa website to be inconsistently reliable at best---merely compiling a description for the entire "official" route has been enough of a challenge. No worries if you want to try. If you don't take silly risks and are prepared to potentially wait for a week (for example) for an annoying river to go down to make it safe to cross, then it's generally safe, but with your initial post you didn't exactly give an impression of someone terribly different from many of the stereotypes who are pulled out and rescued, or worse. Please just be cautious about the decisions you make and the risks you take, and don't add to the number of people who've obliged me to contribute towards paying for their rescue or corpse recovery for dumb reasons that could have easily been avoided. Enjoy your visit. It's a wonderful place.