te araroa

Most people start the trail in Cape Reinga in October-November and walk soutbound (SOBO). To get to the northern start point, most hikers book the Intercity Bus from Auckland City to Kaitaia early in the morning at about 7:30am. The trip takes about 6.5 hours and costs about 30 euros. There is no public transport from Kaitaia to the Cape. Some private ones offer shuttles. However, most of them hitches. The population up there is very used to TA hikers and are very happy to take you for a ride.…

UV radiation is absolutely relentless in this part of the world due to the almost non-existent ozone layer. A sun hat as well as UV resistant clothing is a must. With a good choice of clothing, you can even do without sunscreen. However, only if you are really completely protected from the sun by the clothing.

The weather in New Zealand can be extreme. Many fronts meet in this region of the world, making the weather very difficult to predict. The weather forecast is very inaccurate from 2+ days. And even for the next or current day, the weather can vary greatly. Many rely on the weather app YR and metservice.com.

On the North Island there are relatively few DOC-Huts. Nevertheless it is worth to buy the Backcrountry Hut Pass already at the beginning. One night in a hut usually costs between 6-15 Euro. With the Backcrountry Pass almost all of these huts are included though! It can be obtained from a the Department of Conservation (DOC) for example in Auckland. 6 months costs about 55 Euro. Thus after only few overnight stays in the huts the price is already neutralized again.