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 trail 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 read 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 the ~24,000km hiking experience between the two of us prior to attempting this FKT, we had a decent idea as to what food 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 as there was a lot of road walking. We found that we were constantly having to stay on top of injury, and our feet struggled to adapt to the harshness of the road. This, combined with the mental load of dealing with all the logistics surrounding low tide routes, inlet crossings, kayaking sections and water taxis, it took us a while to find our rhythm.
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 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.
We had an alarm malfunction on the morning of Day 3, waking up an hour later than planned. Our goal for the FKT attempt was to be in camp for ~8h every day, leaving ~16h to cover as much distance as possible. This 8h includes setting up and packing down our tent as well as tending to our feet. As such, we planned on sleeping for ~7h every night. This was a schedule that we were able to stick to pretty well for the duration of the trip.
After a frantic start in Kaitaia, we devoured some Subway we purchased the night before for breakfast, 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/h terrain the two days prior, we were now moving at between 2-3km/h. 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 believe that our preparation made a huge difference to our efficiency through this section. We knew what distances we needed to cover each day to make sure we hit everything at the right time.
We ticked off our first logistic, 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 ticked off a few low tide crossings afterwords. James was a great guy, clearly very passionate about the TA and incredibly knowledgeable about the surrounding region. Later that day, we had planned on crossing the Whangārei Harbour, however, were a lot slower than we expected over Whangārei Heads due to the heat and fatigue. This was a really tough evening for us, and we were both finding it hard to push up the hills in the heat of the day. Blair was kind enough to take us across the harbour following morning instead.
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 and it forced us to take a rest. 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, due to the shear abundance of road walking in the northern parts of the trail, campsites can be very challenging to find. 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 way.
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 the following morning (hurrah!), we set off on the kayaks at 8:30AM. Delaying our kayak to the following morning meant that we hit Karepiro Bay at high tide. As a result, we had to swim ~500m across the inlet with our packs in dry bags. 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 our best memories of Auckland was having constant access to petrol stations and nice food. Stopping at Taco Bell next to Auckland airport reminded us fondly of our time back on the PCT.
South of Auckland, there was a lot of sealed road walking through to Hamilton. As expected, this was very hard on our bodies, and we had to take frequent breaks to look after our feet and muscles. Our feet were constantly ‘burning’ from the impact of all the road walking.
It was in this section that Maddie had her lowest point on the entire FKT. In a lot of pain and 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 photos. 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. Our feet were no longer dry, as we were constantly walking through dewy grass and farmland. 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, who we found was happy to listen to our complaints about how awful road walking was.
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 (we normally sleep 10+ hours at home every night).
It was also here that 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.
The following few days, we passed through 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 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 unfortunately had a stomach bug for a few days and was able to get down next to no food. Up until this time, we had both been doing really well with eating enough calories, and felt we were on top of our nutrition. 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 the day (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 on 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 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 for some good massage. Despite the tough terrain, we were thrilled to be in some proper mountains for a change. The weather was decent, but it was very windy and we got quite cold when the sun was covered by clouds.
Exiting the Tararuas, we arrived at Waikanae, purchasing an incredibly spicy sandwich from Subway that was too hot to get down. Fortunately, we also had a 2L tub of ice cream to satiate our ‘real’ food desires.
As we neared Wellington, we became increasingly excited to be done with the North Island of the TA, and all the road walking and poorly maintained farm tracks associated with it. Walking into Wellington was a big day for us due to the fact that we had to camp earlier than we would have liked the day before due to camping restrictions along the Paekākāriki Escarpment Track. Similar to Auckland, walking through Wellington was novel, yet mildly frustrating. The official TA route makes many detours and side trips (cough cough Botanical Gardens), that felt unnecessarily cruel to us at the time. This was, of course, simply due to our fatigue and the requirement to complete the whole route for an FKT, and we suspect would have been quite lovely for any other hiker. 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 ferry to Picton combined with 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. Fortunately, the flight was short enough that Maddie didn’t get too motion sick.
Ship Cove to Lake Tekapo
We started at Ship Cove on the 1st February, walking south along the Queen Charlotte Track. This was nice, pleasant walking with amazing views. However, the track was much busier than any other part of the TA we had done so far. For us, the best part about the Queen Charlotte Track were the wekas! We saw close to 10 of the 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.
We were hit with torrential rain as we walked along the road towards Havelock, briefly stopping for some shelter and a burger at the Queen Charlotte Tavern. After collecting our food parcel in Havelock, we headed towards the Richmond Ranges. This ~165km section of trail was the hardest part of the whole TA for us. Heavy packs, steep trails and a non-existent track made for slow walking. Not to mention we were still adjusting to steep climbs and consistent hills after a month of flat trails. 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. It seems our hiker hunger was finally kicking in, thanks to all the hills, 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 been doing really well with consuming enough calories (aside from Maddie for a few days when she was sick). For the remainder of the trail, we consistently found it harder to get enough food down 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 some hot food.
We were incredibly relieved to get to St Arnaud the following morning. We had a good feed and collected our resupply box at the Alpine Lodge. The following section of trail around Nelson Lakes was our favourite along the entire TA. The track quality was excellent, and the views were stunning. It was the perfect combination of track quality, difficulty and views.
Passing over Harper Pass and Goat Pass was another story. We were greeted with slow walking down rough riverbeds. Our consistently wet feet started giving us trouble and we found it harder to stay on top of foot hygiene.Going over Goat Pass, in particular, was one of the hardest days on trail. It was raining and the river was icy cold. We had numb feet from the seemingly endless river crossings, struggled to stay warm, and were unsurprised to see no one else out walking that day. We stopped for a quick break at Upper Deception Hut, before pushing over the pass and walking down into Arthurs Pass. As hard as it was to walk past Goat Pass Hut, we knew that if we stopped for a break there we wouldn’t keep moving afterwards.
It was a massive push to get to Arthers Pass Ecolodge that evening, or risk running out of food again. 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 the following morning as we headed south of Bealey Spur. 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 logistics, and we were happy that all of our pre-planning was paying off yet again.
It was on Day 44 that 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 food at the food festival that we luckily timed our arrival with. This was an overwhelming evening with so many people and lots of noise, but one of the most memorable of the trip.
Lake Tekapo to Bluff
From Lake Tekapo, we walked next to 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. Not to mention, Maddie had an ingrown toenail from foot swelling that was getting increasingly painful. Tom had to perform some toe surgery on Maddie a couple of times before the pain finally backed off. We ran out of water descending Breast Hill, and Tom was forced to eat dry Gatorade powder to stop his vision from going blurry.
From Breast Hill down to Lake Hawea was a bit easier, with nice views. Walking between Lake Hawea and Wānaka was relaxing, and it was nice to stretch our legs out on the footpaths. We got lots of nice food, which helped increase our energy levels and up the calories we had consumed that day. We were still finding it hard to eat enough food to maintain weight, and were grateful that we could catch up a bit.
We then entered the Motatapus. Despite the surprisingly good quality track, this was hard walking as it was very steep. We were fortunate to have decent weather and split the ~35km section over two days to make the elevation change more manageable. None the less, we were really starting to feel the fatigue and sleep deprivation by this point. We had upped our caffeine dose from 200mg a day to 400mg, but were still struggling. 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, overall making it a good day. We got into Queenstown late at night and resupplied at the Night ‘n Day at 10:30pm. Options were limited and, given our struggle to eat enough food, we found it hard to pick out enough items to carry with us. 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 were 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. 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 it should have to figure out how far we had to push to ensure we weren’t limited by closed trails.
Our second last night on trail we detoured to Birchwood Station, where we had sent 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 us going through mostly in the dark. We were low on food (a common theme for us by this point), and were struggling to stay awake. We almost cried when we passed Martin’s Hut and found some cans of Red Bull left by a trail angel. We had already had 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 and yet 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
Our self-supported Te Araroa FKT was, like most FKTs, an emotional rollercoaster. The shear amount of road walking and logistics at the beginning of the track meant that preparation was essential for our success. Whilst walking, a lot of time was spent on our phones arranging transport, checking tides, or finding a supermarket to resupply. This was 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. Whilst we are not rushing back to do the TA again, we feel incredibly lucky to have been able to do it in the fashion that we did.
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