Te Araroa: Walking New Zealand’s 3,000-kilometre trail by Mark Watson

The scale and diversity of the Te Araroa Trail can be hard to grasp, so it was a relief for this reader to find a book which captures the essence of New Zealand’s longest walk, pictorially.

Photographer Mark Watson has spent most of his life in New Zealand’s great outdoors. He walked the Te Araroa Trail in 2015, starting at Cape Reinga in January, taking nearly six months to complete the full 3000-kilometre journey on foot. Each day he took photographs which aimed, he explains ‘not just to show the most beautiful, but to provide an honest expression of the reality of walking the trail.’

Yet beautiful the photos are – with the capacity to surprise too, as we are introduced to a variety of towns, cities and rural settlements as well as large tracts of remote backcountry and forested wilderness.

The book is divided into nine geographic sections, matching the structure of the trail, with introductory text and captioned photographs to describe the landscape, diversity, culture and history of each region.

2000 or so walkers tackle the entire trail each year. Mark Watson, who walked most of it alone, described it as one of the best experiences of his life.

However, walking one geographic section at a time, or simply taking a one day or overnight walk, is very popular. I was interested to read that the North Island lends itself to shorter tramping sections, utilising urban walkways, farm tracks, beaches, roads and regional parks, as well as longer tracks in forest and national parks. The South Island, by contrast, comprises a series of remoter tramps separated by small towns.

Mark Watson’s stellar visual storytelling skills are on full display in this book, and I highly recommend it as an accessible and pictorial account of New Zealand’s longest walk.

Te Araroa was first published in 2015 as a hardback and has been a successful seller for the last 10 years. It is now offered in this fully revised and updated paperback format. Foreword by Geoff Chapple.

Reviewer: Lorraine Steele

White Cloud Books