A Walking Guide To New Zealand's Long Trail: Te Araroa

This is the guidebook of Te Araroa Trail: The Long Pathway, a continuous trail running from Cape Reinga to Bluff, 35 years in the making, which will officially open in late 2011. The book maps the 3000-kilometre trail in 40-kilometre sections, with maps by leading map maker Roger Smith of Geographx. Author Geoff Chapple is a modern-day visionary who took the concept of a continuous trail running the length of New Zealand and turned it into a reality.

Now CEO of the Trust, Chapple complements the maps with a running commentary describing the landscape, the flora and fauna encountered along the way, as well as the special features of particular parts of the trail. Photographs of the trail illustrate each section. Each of the 12 regional sections opens with a stunning 2-page 3D map. A short introduction describes the history of the trail as well as the variety of New Zealand's landscape along the way: forest, farmland, volcanoes and mountain passes, river valleys, green pathways and the urban areas of seven cities.

This book is an accessible guide both for those who only want to walk parts of the trail and dedicated trampers who intend to walk its entire length.

About the Author

Geoff Chapple founded Te Araroa, the New Zealand-long walking track that opened in 2011. He is an author, journalist, playwright, occasional musician, and was once the librettist for an opera. He has won prizes for his movie scriptwriting, and his journalism. Chapple’s six books include a biography of Rewi Alley, the New Zealander who founded peasant schools in China and took part in China’s 1949 revolution. He also wrote, from a protest viewpoint, a people’s account of the divisive 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand. In 2003 he won the Environment category of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards with his book Te Araroa: The New Zealand Trail. His stage play Hatch was produced by the Auckland Theatre Company and toured New Zealand and Tasmania through 2007–10. Since 2012, when he stepped down from the leadership of Te Araroa, he has returned to journalism and writing.