Arriving in Auckland is wonderful, the Kiwis are superfriendly at the airport as I have to go through several stations, first get my visa checked, then pick up my bag (already there no waiting, so efficient!), then go declare what goods I have with me. Haribo passes without problems but all hiking gear has to…
Category: Te Araroa
The trail is the destination.
…even though the correct English version of “Der Weg ist das Ziel” seems to be “The journey is the reward”. The Te Araroa is 3,000km from Cape Reinga to Bluff, yet the next months will not be all about reaching my destination Bluff by foot but rather about the trail itself. When talking about my…
Final preparations for the Te Araroa
Maybe you will never be entirely ready for such a big hike. There is always more you could do. But 2 days before my departure I finally managed to go at least through most of my to do list (a big Excel file started at least half a year ago) and if not in my…
Some DIY for the Te Araroa
I am usually buying my gear as I am never satisfied with what I am able to produce with my own hands! However, there are a few items that are non existant on the market or too difficult / expensive to organize. So over the last few days I have worked out a few items…
Gear for my 3,000km trail
What do you (I!) need for a 3,000km hike? That question was in my mind for at least a couple of months. Ultralight was the initial goal, but other consideration came into play. After searching on too many websites, blogs, forums for THE best tent, sleeping bag, pad, rain jacket,… I came to the conclusion…
Of snow and ice
To start my off time, I decided to take a glacier hiking training. I wanted to become more comfortable with hiking in snowy conditions and explore if more ‘technical’ mountains (where you have to know how to hike with crampons and how to use a pickaxe) would be within my reach. After frantic last weeks…
Summer hiking in the Alps
„Willst du immer weiter schweifen? Sieh, das Gute liegt so nah. Lerne nur das Glück ergreifen, Denn das Glück ist immer da.“ Erinnerung von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “You want to roam forever? See, the good lies so near. Learn to embrace happiness, because happiness is always there.” Memento by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by Wikisource…
Te Araroa: New Zealand’s long-distance hike
In 2014 I heard for the first time about the long-distance trails. Not the ones that take a few weeks, but those who take a couple of months to hike in entirety. I was immediately drawn to the idea of completing myself a through-hike, i.e. hiking a long-distance trail end-to-end. The most famous ones are…
Hello Mountains 