Te Araroa FKT Trip Report
In January and February 2024, we (Maddie and Tom), set the self-supported Fastest Known Time (FKT) on New Zealand’s national trail, Te Araroa, completing the ~3030km route in 54 days 14h.
Preparation
A lot of preparation went into our FKT attempt of Te Araroa. We began loosely planning the FKT ~1 year before starting, with the initial plan for Maddie to attempt it alone as a supported FKT. However, living in Australia, this proved to be too much of a logistical challenge and it was too expensive to hire a van for a support crew. Thus, we decided that both of us would attempt the self-supported FKT together instead.
We spent months researching and testing different types of gear to finalise our list for the trip. Notable time was spent testing sleeping mats, insoles, ponchos, and sun umbrellas. Additionally, we spent a lot of time thinking about what foot care routine would best look after our feet during the event.
You can find our final gear list here.
With approximately two weeks before we intended to start, we flew to Auckland, New Zealand. These 14 days were far less relaxing than we had hoped, as we spent the majority of the time preparing our food parcels. Whilst not essential for the TA, food parcels are a common option for hikers who do not wish to hitch into towns to buy food. Having thoroughly researched the trail, we decided to send 16 food parcels; 8 on the North Island and 8 on the South Island.
Based on our past hiking experience and Tom’s two previous FKTs, we had a decent idea about which foods worked well for us when hiking long days – lots of carbs, and lots of liquid calories (sports drink, chocolate milk and QOTA powder)!
After a mammoth shop at Pack ‘n’ Save, we started assembling our food parcels by converting grams of food to the number of calories we would need for each drop. In every drop, we also had fresh socks, moisturiser, hand sanitiser, sunscreen, blister items and much more. Not to mention the occasional pair of new shoes, a new water filter, or even a fresh toothbrush.
A big thank you to the trail angels we stayed with in Auckland during this period. Prepping our food parcels would have been significantly harder without your patience and hospitality.
Cape Reinga to Hamilton
The first two weeks of our FKT were the hardest. We tried to find a rhythm, but found that we were constantly battling tendon problems, and our feet struggled to adapt to the harshness of the roads. We also struggled with the mental load of dealing with all the logistics surrounding low tide routes, inlet crossings, kayaking sections and water taxis.
We started our FKT attempt on the 1st of January 2024 with 90 mile beach. Despite the headwind, the beach was surprisingly nice, with relatively firm sand and the occasional wild horse to spot in the coastal shrub. Unfortunately, being New Years Day, it was very busy and there were lots of people out for a drive. Tom said that the beach reminded him of a scene out of Mad Max.
We made good progress along the beach, arriving in Ahipara on the evening of Day 2. Whilst we had initially planned on camping here, our early arrival allowed us to push to Kaitaia that evening and cover 75km that day (one of our biggest distance days on the trail). This broke up the 20km road walk through Kaitaia into a more manageable 13km in the evening, followed by a 7km stretch the next morning.
Our goal for the FKT attempt was to be in camp for ~8hrs every day, leaving ~16hrs to cover as much distance as possible. These 8hrs included setting up and packing down our tent as well as tending to our feet. As such, we planned on sleeping for ~7hrs every night. This was a schedule that we generally stuck to for the duration of the trip. Importantly, we felt it was enough sleep to let us manage all of the logistical and navigational challenges of the trail.
We had an alarm malfunction on the morning of Day 3, waking up an hour later than planned. Walking out of Kaitaia we devoured some Subway purchased the night before. Entering the Raetea forest, the technical terrain was a pleasant change from the monotony of the beach and road walking. However, the forest was much slower going than we anticipated due to the mud and slippery tree roots. Compared to the 5.5km/hr terrain of the two days prior, we were now moving between 2-3km/hr. We were fortunate that it hadn’t rained much over the past few days as we suspect it could have been a lot muddier than it was.
In the coming days, the onslaught of logistics began.
We tackled the Paihia kayak hassle free, cruising on the water with the incoming tide. This kayak came at a great time, as we were both feeling the effects of all the road walking and were keen to break up our routine with something different. It was a pleasant break for our feet and felt great to cover 18km sitting down!
Next came the water taxis and many low tide crossings. We crossed the Ngunguru inlet with James early on the morning of Day 7, and continued to tick off a few low tide crossings. James’ infectious personality was greatly appreciated, and he was clearly very passionate about the TA. Later that day, we had planned on crossing Whangārei Harbour, however, were a lot slower than expected over Whangārei Heads due to the heat and fatigue. This was a really tough evening for us as we struggled with dehydration and dizzy vision in the 30°C heat and 100% humidity. We were very grateful when a family let us camp on the lawn of their holiday home after Whangārei Heads! Blair was kind enough to take us across the harbour the following morning.
Due to this delay, we were a bit behind schedule for our next logistic, the Puhoi kayak. As the kayak has to be timed with an outgoing tide, we were delayed by 12h and spent the night in Puhoi. This ended up being exactly what we needed, however, as we both felt we were on the verge of serious tendon problems from all the road walking. We were also emotionally drained from all the time spent on our phones planning logistics, as well as the mental strain of struggling to find campsites.
As many TA hikers know, campsites can be very challenging to find on the North Island due to the shear volume of road walking, farms, and urban centres. There were many evenings when it was approaching 9pm and we still did not know where we would be able to camp. A few times, we ended up knocking on doors to ask if we could camp in people’s backyard for the night. We were touched by how kind and accommodating strangers could be, and are incredibly grateful for all the hospitality shown to us along the trail.
Puhoi was also the place where we first crossed paths with other TA hikers. Chatting to some other hikers and having dinner together was a huge mental boost for us.
After a forced sleep in (hurrah!), we set off kayaking the following morning at 8:30AM. However, delaying the kayak to the following morning meant that reached Karepiro Bay at high tide. As a result, we had to swim ~500m across the inlet with our packs in dry bags tied to our wrists. Whilst not a very efficient way to cover distance, it meant we could keep moving and was a great way to cool down in the heat of the day.
From here, there was more road walking as we trekked towards Auckland. Mentally, this was a particularly tough time for us. We were tired, sick of logistics and a bit homesick. All of our luggage was stored at a family friends house in the city, making the ‘pull’ to quit the FKT quite strong. We spent most of the day talking on the phone to family and friends back home to keep our spirits high. One of the upsides of walking through Auckland was having constant access to petrol stations and hot food. Stopping at Taco Bell next to Auckland airport reminded us fondly of our time back on the PCT.
South of Auckland, the onslaught of sealed roads continued through to Hamilton. As expected, this was very hard on our bodies, and we had to take frequent breaks to look after our muscles and burning feet.
It was in this section that Maddie had her lowest point on the entire FKT. Emotionally spent, we decided to stop and take a break on the side of the road. Turning the corner in search of some shade, we came across a small property with some very chatty and enthusiastic goats. One of the goats even walked through the fence to come and say hello to us! This was a huge spirit lifter (for context, Maddie loves goats), and we spent a good 10 minutes patting the goats and taking selfies. It’s amazing how well timed this encounter was, and remains one of Maddie’s favourite hiking memories to this day.
Hamilton to Wellington
After Hamilton, there was more road walking and farm tracks. We also had our first stretch of consistent rain. Sadly, it seemed our two weeks of near perfect weather had come to an end. This also meant our feet were no longer dry, as we were constantly walking through dewy grass. As such, we had to spend more time taking care of our feet and drying them out in the day.
Things began to get a bit more exciting after Te Kuiti. The river trail out of town was steep, narrow, and very slow going. However, it remains a good memory for us as we were fortunate to walk with a fellow hiker (one of the 4 that we had met in 900km!).
Soon afterwards, we passed Pureora, collecting our food parcel and receiving our first change of clothes. It felt incredibly luxurious to have a shower and put on a clean shirt. Entering the Timber Trail, we were pleased to have a day of easier walking. The track was fast and well maintained. We had our first 15 minute nap of the trip in this section, as we were beginning to feel the effects of sleeping less than 7h for 18 days in a row.
In one of the saddest moments of sleep deprivation and fatigue, this was also where Maddie accidentally broke one of her carbon trekking poles by sitting on it!
Following the Timber Trail, we came across our next important logistic, the Whanganui River canoe. Whilst still another 175km further down the trail, we were required to attend a safety briefing in Taumarunui at the Taumarunui Canoe Hire headquarters. Unfortunately for us, this briefing only ran once a day at 6:45 AM. At the time, this was ~4h earlier than we were scheduled to arrive, forcing us to push into the night, and get up at 4:30 AM the following morning to make it on time. Taumarunui Canoe Hire were very accommodating, and, despite our uncertain schedule, made an effort to ensure that we would have access to the canoes when we needed them.
After Taumarunui, we tackled the 42 Traverse and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We were fortunate to do the Tongariro Crossing in the evening when it was very quiet as all the day hikers had finished. This section of trail was beautiful, with stunning, blue alpine lakes. At the time, this was one of our favourite sections on the TA we had completed so far.
During this time, Maddie got a stomach bug and was unable to eat much food for nearly 72hrs. Up until this time, we had both been on top our calories and felt like we were eating enough. Despite our best efforts to treat all the water we drank, it is likely that this sickness came from something in the water. We were fortunate that this section of trail was not too demanding and we had relatively light packs. However, we certainly covered less ground than we had hoped.
After passing through National Park and Whakahoro, we began our canoe journey on the Whanganui River. This was one of our favourite sections of the TA, quite possibly because we weren’t walking! Aside from ~15mins of torrential rain, the river was incredibly relaxing, and we were able to make good progress with little effort (taking several naps each per day). There were dozens of goats, which made for excellent entertainment as we drifted downstream. As we were only able to be on the water during daylight hours (a condition of the canoe hire), we were also able to catch up on sleep.
This was recovery that we desperately needed after the first ~1200km of the TA, and allowed Maddie to recover quickly from her sickness. Maddie discovered a newfound love for Skittles, as they were easy to get down whilst recovering from her stomach bug. It was lucky we had placed a couple of packs in our food drop at Whakahoro.
We passed through Bulls on Day 26, roughly the halfway point of the trail. Here, we picked up a new set of poles for Maddie, just in time for the Tararuas!
The Tararuas were tough going, and, as we were warned, much slower than we expected. The terrain was very steep, our packs were heavy, and track quality was poor. These hills were a shock to the system after weeks of walking along mostly flat surfaces. We had to work hard to stay on top of developing injuries, stopping for extended periods of time at Dracophyllum and Nichols Hut to try smooth out our biomechanics. Despite the tough terrain (4000m gain and loss in 40km!), we were thrilled to be in some proper mountains for a change. The weather was stable enough, but high winds often threatened to blow us off our feet.
As we exited the Tararuas we breathed a sigh of relief. In Waikanae, we purchased Subways that were accidentally far too spicy to eat! Fortunately, we also had a 2L tub of ice cream to satiate our desire for ‘real’ food.
As we neared Wellington, we became increasingly motivated to finish the North Island and all of the road walking and poorly maintained farm tracks associated with it. Similar to Auckland, walking through Wellington was novel, yet mildly frustrating. The official TA route makes many meandering detours to showcase highlights of the city (cough cough Botanical Gardens), and it felt like it was further delaying us reaching the South Island. We stayed the night with George, a trail angel who holds the current supported FKT on the TA, and conveniently lives about 300m off the track! This was one of the trip highlights for us as it was really nice to chat to someone who knew exactly how we were feeling.
The next morning, we finished the final 5km of the North Island, completing the whole island in 30 days 19h. From here, we took a flight over to the South Island with Pelorus Air. The 20min flight had great views and was not much more expensive than the combined cost of the ferry to Picton and a water taxi to Ship Cove. Plus, it saved us a few hours, which in the context of an FKT can make a huge difference.
Ship Cove to Lake Tekapo
We started at Ship Cove on the 1st of February, walking south along the Queen Charlotte Track. This was nice, pleasant walking with amazing views. For us, the best part about the Queen Charlotte Track were the wekas! We saw close to 10 of these cheeky birds over a 36h period, and they quickly became one of our favourite animals in New Zealand. It was here that we also began taking caffeine tablets during the day to help us stay awake.
Leaving the Queen Charlotte Track, we were hit with torrential rain as we walked along the road towards Havelock. We collected our food parcel before heading towards the Richmond Ranges. This 165km section of trail was the hardest part of the whole TA for us. Heavy packs, steep trails and rough tracks made for slow walking. Not to mention we were still adjusting to steep climbs and consistent hills after a month of flat walking. The second half of the section was hot and exposed, and we felt like we were in a desert furnace. To make matters worse, we had underestimated how much food we would need to get through the section. Thanks to all the hills, it seemed our hiker hunger was finally kicking in and we ran out of food ~12h before we reached St Arnaud. It was at this point we reached one our lowest lows. We were fortunate to run into another hiker, who just happened to be a triple crowner with a prominent FKT in the US. Understanding exactly how we were feeling, he walked with us into the evening, keeping moral high and helping us cover a further 10km that day.
Up until this point, we felt we had consistently been eating enough calories (aside from Maddie for a few days when she was sick). For the remainder of the trail, we found it harder to motivate ourselves to eat enough food despite our increased hunger levels. Our appetite for hiking food was failing us, and we heavily relied on boosting our calories whenever we passed through town and could get something hot.
We were incredibly relieved to get to St Arnaud the following morning. We had a good breakfast and collected our resupply box at the Alpine Lodge. The following section of trail around Nelson Lakes ended up being the highlight of the entire TA. The track quality was excellent, and the views were stunning. It struck the perfect balance between track difficulty and amazing views.
Passing over Harper Pass and Goat Pass was another story. We were greeted with slow walking down rough riverbeds. We found it harder to stay on top of foot hygiene as our feet were consistently wet. In particular, going over Goat Pass was one of the hardest days on the trail. It was raining and the river was icy cold. We had numb feet from the seemingly endless river crossings and struggled to stay warm. We stopped for a quick break at Upper Deception Hut, before pushing over the pass and walking down into Arthur’s Pass. As hard as it was to walk past Goat Pass Hut at the top of the climb, we knew that if we went inside the hut we wouldn’t keep moving afterwards.
It was a massive push to get to Arthers Pass Ecolodge that evening. Whilst Helen, the owner, wasn’t home, her grandson was incredibly welcoming and offered us some hot food and drinks. We were very grateful to be sleeping in a bed as it snowed overnight and into the morning. The weather eased up before midday, and we gladly embraced the sunshine.
The following few days went relatively smoothly, and we managed our two shuttles around the Rakaia and Rangitata rivers without much issue (despite loosing a few hours in the day waiting for a late shuttle). The section between the two rivers was surprisingly nice, with easy walking and good views. It was nice to have ticked off yet another logistic, and we were happy that all of our pre-planning was paying off yet again.
On Day 44, we reached Stag Saddle, the highest point on the TA. We were thrilled to be approaching civilisation. It had been too long since we had eaten hot food! The walk into Lake Tekapo was nice and flat, with views of the lake for almost the whole day. When we arrived in Lake Tekapo, we purchased some delicious noodles at the food festival that happened to be on at the time. We found the evening quite overwhelming with so many people and lots of lights and noise.
Lake Tekapo to Bluff
From Lake Tekapo, we followed the aquaduct towards Twizel, enjoying the easier walking. It was cool, and we were able to walk at a faster pace than we had for a while. We even had a bit of a tailwind! We walked with some other TA hikers for a few hours, who provided excellent company to pass the time.
However, the TA was not done with its tricks yet! From Twizel through to Lake Hawea was another tough section, with heavy packs and poorly formed river tracks. Maddie had an increasingly painful ingrown toenail from foot swelling, and Tom had to perform some toe surgery to help with the pain. We ran out of water descending Breast Hill, and Tom was forced to eat dry Gatorade powder to stop his vision from going blurry.
Walking between Lake Hawea and Wānaka was relaxing, and it was nice to stretch our legs out on the footpaths. We got some excellent gelato in Wānaka, and the ‘family tub’ was rapidly consumed before melting.
We then entered the Motatapus. Despite the surprisingly good quality track, this section was hard going as it was very steep. We were fortunate to have decent weather and split the 35km section over an evening and morning. None the less, we were really starting to feel the fatigue and sleep deprivation by this point. We had upped our daily caffeine dose from 200mg, to 400mg, to 800mg a day, but were still struggling to stay away. It felt like the finish line was so close and yet so far away at the same time.
The following day we passed through Arrowtown and headed into Queenstown. We had access to lots of nice food, and could relax walking along the footpaths. We got into Queenstown late at night and resupplied at the Night ‘n Day at 10:30pm. We found it hard to pick out enough items to carry with us as options were limited and nothing seemed appetising. We spent the night at a hostel, before heading out to Greenstone the following morning. Given the shuttle to Greenstone carpark was fully booked, we got a lift with a local lady instead (arranged the day prior).
The final 300km of the trail was much harder than we expected. Despite being relatively flat, the track was very slow and boggy. It was tough to be so close to the end but moving so slowly. Maddie lost her sunnies, but was too tired to care and went the final few days without.
The boggy flats were followed by a few long stretches through farmland, which we enjoyed more than we expected simply because there was something to follow! The track quality wasn’t too bad and there were plenty of sheep to talk to. It was tough ensuring that we only walked through the farmland at times allowed by the owners. Whilst not a difficult logistic, our sleep deprived brains found it harder than they should have to figure out how far we had to push to ensure we weren’t limited by closed trails. Fortunately, we hit all the tracks at good times and never had to wait for them to open.
On our second last night on the trail we detoured to Birchwood Station to collect our final resupply package. The 1.5km sealed road walk off the TA was brutal at the end of a big day.
The final 150km passed in a blur. From Birchwood Station, we pushed to get to Colac Bay, finishing a 20h day at 3am. Going through the Longwood Forest was muddy and slow, something that wasn’t helped by the dark. We were low on food (a common theme for us by this point), and were struggling to stay awake. We almost cried with happiness when we passed Martin’s Hut and found some cans of Red Bull left by a trail angel. We had already taken over 1000mg of caffeine each that day, yet the sugar and caffeine combo from the Red Bull gave us the boost we needed to get out of the Longwood forest and take on the 5km of sealed road to Colac Bay.
We slept at Colac Bay for 4h before starting our final push towards Bluff. The beach felt endless, and we passed Waimatuku inlet at high tide, ending up with a chest high crossing. The rain and wind picked up after we passed Otatara, and the night time road walk from Invercargill to Bluff was incredibly demanding. The only good thing about the weather was that it kept us awake. We were up to 1500mg of caffeine each, but would have struggled to keep our eyes open if the weather was calm.
We arrived at Bluff just before 2am on the 24th February, finishing our TA journey in 54 days and 14h. Walking 1km to the campsite, we set up our tent and went straight to sleep.
Concluding thoughts
Like most FKTs, our self-supported Te Araroa FKT was an emotional rollercoaster. Our preparation proved to be essential for our success. We estimate that we lost up to 18h from poor timing. Whilst walking, a lot of time was spent on our phones arranging transport, checking tides, or ensuring supermarkets would be open. In true self-supported style, we did not use a vehicle for any transport off the trail (except for getting between the two islands!).These logistics were not only mentally draining, but also stressful and one of our least favourite parts of the FKT.
Our biggest strength on this FKT was attempting it as a pair. We think that sharing the mental load drastically improved our experience and effort. Whilst we are not rushing back to do the whole TA again, we feel incredibly lucky to have been able to attempt it as an FKT, and are grateful for all of the unique and memorable experiences we had along the way.
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1 thought on “Te Araroa FKT Trip Report”
Amazing achievement via preparation and teamwork.