Email Mairi-Anne, Hannah or Marius (the walk co-ordinator) at
mindovermiles at hotmail.co.uk
(don’t ask why it is a .co.uk email address …. obviously it is what the gods intended). When you email us, please use “@” instead of “at” as written above. The address has been written with “at” here simply to stop it being automatically located by spammers.
Expect a delay in email response from Mairi-Anne and Hannah, who are only intermittently at home or within reach of an Internet cafe. Marius will most likely respond within 24 hours.
Hi Hannah and Mairie-Anne,
hope your are well and are enjoying the walk. I came across your website when browsing walks in new Zealand. i was just wondering where you might be on the walk towards the end of October? I am heading over to the south island and arrive in Christchurch on the 20th October, and will be staying for 4 weeks. I am interested in doing some hiking at some stage whilst im there. Have you had any challenges with food and water supplies on the walk? Have you been camping or staying in huts along the way? Anyway, it would be great to hear from you
cheers
todd
Hello Todd,
By the end of October we might be three quarters of the way down North Island. This is only a guess. The South Island, according to what I’ve read online, is much, much better than the North Island in terms of huts. However, you’ll be walking at a time of year when huts might be full, so always be prepared to camp. We have mainly been camping, but have stayed in some self-catering motel units when passing through settlements. This is a bit expensive, but we’ve been walking in the wet season, so getting things washed and dry has been essential. Department of Conservation (DOC) huts are numerous on South Island, so we are looking forward to sleeping in those when we get there. Buying a DOC pass for hut stays would be an economy.
Food is a challenge in that it is only in the larger centres where you have hiking and camping shops that you can buy freeze-dried meals. So when you pass through a village or small town, you’ll be buying Uncle Ben’s rice, nuts, muesli bars and so on. These get boring after a while. Also, in the smaller settlements, when you want a proper cooked meal, sometimes the only option is a takeaway, and we are a bit tired of junk food. You won’t starve though.
I don’t know what the water situation is on South Island, but on North Island we haven’t had problems. We each carry a 3L Camelback, plus a medium-sized Coke in an outside pack pocket. This has sufficed for all fluid needs between places to fill up. But we have been walking in cold weather. In the heat, we may need more. On only a few occasions have we passed a water source that we would have been happy to fill our bottles with. This is because we’ve been through the farmlands, and although streams are everywhere, the water has drained off from the cow pastures, so even if we sterilise (we have a Steripen) we wouldn’t be happy with the water. If you are in the mountains and pass a mountain stream, that would be OK, but sterilisation is always the best thing to do. If you consult the Te Araroa trail notes, they’ll tell you if your walk passes public toilets. These are fine for filling your water bottles from the taps.
Have a good time! Let us know if you have challenges down South, so we can learn from your experiences.
Regards,
Mairi-Anne