The epic tale of finishing a long, long trail
The section of Te Araroa Trail between Invercargill and Bluff is finally going off road, and not before time says aman who saw it at its worst. Evan Harding reports.
IT was a brutal way to complete a 3000km hike the length of New Zealand.
Bruce Hopkinswas getting blown sideways in 70kmh westerly winds as he walked along the shoulder of State Highway 1 between Invercargill and Bluff, as trucks hurtled past.
The final leg of Te Araroa Trail, which he had begun from Cape Reinga nearly seven months earlier, was supposed to be a time of reflection and joy.
Instead, it was a time of high alert for Hopkins, aNew Zealand actor who portrayed Gamling in Lord of the Rings.
When anotherwind gust blew him off balance, a passing motorist pulled over and offered a lift. He accepted, and several kilometres later was dropped off just before Bluff, so he could walk through the town to its famous signpost by the ocean, marking the end of his long journey.
He had no qualms about taking the ride, given the dangers on the road.
‘‘By the time I hauled my ass through the mountains, had my little cancer mass in my bladder, smashedmy shin, ripped my knee in the Richmond Ranges, I thought, no, I amOK about that, I amOK to take the odd ride.’’
Nearly 18 months on, contractors are now building a 17km section of track beside the Bluff-Invercargill highway, which is doubling as the final leg of the epic Te Araroa Trail.
The track, to be completed early next year, will complete the Invercargill to Bluff section, which began a decade ago, but has been plagued by delays and a lack of funding.
‘‘That’s fantastic, because it was a pretty unpleasant way to finish a 3000km hike,’’ Hopkins said.
Te Araroa Trail executive director Mark Weatherall was ‘‘over the moon’’ the section was finally being taken off-road, given how dangerous it could be.
‘‘The majority of the people walking the trail finish in Bluff, and it’s been a bit of a rough finish. And for those that start at Bluff, it’s been a bit of a rough start, so to get it done will be outstanding.’’
About 60 per cent of the 3000km trail is on DOC conservation land, about 15 per cent is on roads, and the remainder is on the likes of private land, iwi land, beaches and local authority land.
Weatherall said the aim was to reduce the road sections to less than 10 per cent of the total distance within three years, with negotiations ongoingwith landowners.
Most of the roads on the trail were between Whanganui and Palmerston North, and projects were under way to get that changed, but it would take time.
‘‘Te Araroa Trail is completed, that’s the key thing, but we are always looking to enhance it,’’ Weatherall said.
‘‘We won’t ever be totally off the road, and some roads in the back-of-beyond are really nice, but one of our key strategies is to reduce the amount of roadwalking.’’
In 2018 about 1200 walkers completed the trail, which generally takes about four months – but that number jumped in 2019 to 1500, of whom 75 per cent were from overseas. This year, without international tourists, 700 to 800 Kiwis were expected to complete the trail, an increase from previous years as more locals explored their own country.
Among them has been Hastings junior doctor Hannah Morley, who trekked into Bluff with fellow hikers Rebecca Goddard and Rosie Goble on Thursday.
The 4-and-a-half-month hike – broken up by an enforced break during Covid – had been lifechanging, she said. It gave her a different perspective on life, she met new friends and it gave her an appreciation of nature.
Thousands more people walked individual sections of the trail each year. But the absence of international walkers going the distance had taken pressure off the trail’s infrastructure in 2020.
This was a good thing, Weatherall indicated, as some private landowners had been unhappy with overseas hikers who roamed and camped off the beaten track and left litter on their properties. As such, there was potential for those parts of the track to be pulled.
‘‘If we lose access it means we have to go along a road, so that’s the behaviours I need to continue to educate and communicate to these people,’’ Weatherall said.
Te Araroa Trail was founded by Geoff Chapple, a journalist and keen tramperwho first promoted the idea of a length of New Zealand walkway in a newspaper article in 1994.
Chapple named it Te Araroa, others got on board, a trust was formed, grants were applied for, and he resigned from his newspaper job to concentrate on putting the trail in place.
He talked to local authorities and DOC, connected tracks and first walked the North Island route in 1998, taking months as he talked to landowners along the way.
The trail was officially opened in 2011. ‘‘We always said if we built it, people would come,’’ Chapple said.
He believed trail-walkers brought a ‘‘bit of spiritual presence’’ to any household they entered.
‘‘They have been out there, doing it tough, in the bush,
through the mud, they have all got stories, and they make good connections with New Zealanders along the way, and with each other. Theymake friendships.’’
Chapple stood down as chief executive of the trust in 2012, but his work, and that of many others over the years, has given thousands of hikers an experience they won’t forget.
Hopkins can be counted among them, saying the 3000km walk was the third most impactful event in his life, behind his children and grandchildren. ‘‘It’s three years since I started the walk and still, every single day, it’s in my mind and in my heart.’’
Hopkins said he had been a people-pleaser all his life, but after completing Te Araroa he felt no need to justify himself any more.
Some days the walk had been joyous, other days it was hard, but it gave him a feeling of completeness and calmness inside. ‘‘Somehow it really centred me.’’
It’s three years since I started the walk and still, every single day, it’s in my mind and in my heart.’ BRUCE HOPKINS