In November, local writer Margaret Hedderman will embark on a 1,864-mile journey of New Zealand’s newly built Te Araroa Trail. She will be blogging and taking videos of her experiences of the trip, which is expected to take five months./Courtesy photo

The long pathway

Durango writer embarks on trek of New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail

by Maggie Casey

New Zealand: the land of Mordor and the country of sheep, bungee-jumping and skiing in July. New Zealand is an anomaly in the natural world. It is an island nation, home to flightless birds but lacking in any natural predators. Ironically, it is located in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, nearest to Tazmania, Antarctica and Australia – which are home to many of the most poisonous animals on the planet. 

Local writer Margaret Hedderman, 28, has always been interested in traveling to New Zealand. But in 2010 when she learned of a continuous trail called Te Araroa, connecting the North and South islands, her interest became fascination. “I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be cool?’ Then I thought, ‘I can do this!” The trail, completed in December 2010, is the focus of Hedderman’s ambitions to write a real-time travel project, complete with weekly blogging and video. There is also, perhaps, a book in her future focused on the task of backpacking across the island country.

“It’s all about timing,” says Hedderman when asked about her decision to embark on this journey. Though the trail was conceived in 1996, it was not entirely connected until 2010. At 1,864 miles long – or 3,000 km down under – Te Araroa (which means “the long pathway”) traverses mountains, beaches and towns. “I knew I had to experience Te Araroa and be among the first to write about it,” she says. 

Hedderman began planning the logistics of her journey, which she will embark on in November, in the summer of 2013 as part of a contest for Outside magazine. But she was reluctant to hand over the rights of her experience to another writer. 4

“I would almost be doing it for someone else instead of for myself,” she says of her decision to pursue the adventure independently.  

Hedderman began to network with sponsors, research the route and set up a website. “Because the T.A. (as it is known) was completed so recently, the information and available sources are limited, but that also creates an opportunity for me to fill in the gaps,” Hedderman explains. Her trip is being sponsored by the Te Araroa Trust, a welcome addition to the trip. Earlier this summer, she received another offer: her father, Booby, is now joining her. Hedderman said she is “thrilled” for a companion on what will prove to be a walk through the unexpected.  

The Te Araroa trail offers many challenges for the outdoors traveler. In addition to labeled – and unlabeled – hazards and a considerable amount of river crossings, Hedderman will also have to wait for the tide to go out in coastal regions. “I have very little knowledge of the tides in New Zealand, and I cannot train for it in Colorado,” laughs Hedderman. She and her father will be kayaking across estuaries, taking a one-hour ferry ride between the North and South islands, and climbing to an elevation of 6, 315 feet – the highest point on the TA. 

Hedderman, who is from Cimarron, N.M., grew up camping with her family. But she only developed a love of backpacking in the last seven years. A graduate of Loyola University, in Los Angeles, she was not exposed to extreme outdoor adventure in her late teens and early twenties. Having never done a “through-hike” of this magnitude (very few backpackers have), Hedderman is eager for the experience.

“I’ve always had a job that I can’t leave for a chunk of time,” she says. And approaching 2,000 miles in length, Hedderman will be in New Zealand for more than five months, a considerable chunk of time by many accounts. But, she adds again, “it’s all about timing.” 

Hedderman and her father, Bobby, on the Vallecito Trail. For Bobby, a fan of memory foam and camp chairs, training has been a crash course in ultralight technology./Courtesy photo

For Hedderman, the timing is right, professionally. TeAraroa is not a vacation, it’s a step toward pursuing her dream job. “If the video footage makes sense, I’d like to put together a documentary. And I know that if I don’t totally screw up, it will make the next project easier,” she says. 

The logistics of hiking the TA go beyond the already-daunting idea of planning a backpacking trip from the other side of the world. Hedderman must also incorporate her goals of documentation.  “Not only am I embarking on a huge hike but also taking on an extremely sophisticated project covering the historical and cultural aspects of Te Araroa. I won’t just be writing about my blisters.”

In addition to the backpacking staples of clothing layers and backpacker food, Hedderman will be taking the technological equipment necessary for her to keep up with her online travel journal, make and post videos and otherwise document her journey. This extra consideration makes the planning process even more complex. As Hedderman puts it, packing her bag has been a “challenge between survival and technology.”

“My goal is for my pack to weigh 25 pounds, which I could easily make if it weren’t for my Ipad and batteries. So realistically, it will weigh closer to 30 pounds,” she explains.  She plans to keep the days between resupplies fairly short, between five and seven days – an easier task on the more populated North Island where she will pass through the city of Auckland. In addition to food stops, Hedderman must make scheduled internet stops in order to update her progress.  

In spite of the technological aspect of her journey, Hedderman expects “there will be a shock “disconnecting,” she says pointing to her phone, “but it will be a great experience.” 

There will be many things that Hedderman will miss from home, her boyfriend and cat first and foremost, but also a shower.  

She is preparing mentally and physically knowing that the unexpected is part of the adventure. “I get weird advice on what to carry,” she says. “And someone asked me how I was going to do my makeup on the trail – you know, for the camera,” laughs Hedderman. 

Most of all, people ask her why she is choosing to embark on this journey. “Many women explorers seem to need emotional reasons for their excursion. Why can’t you go because it’s fun? I don’t know how else to explain my reasons,” says Hedderman. “I am not going so that I can cross off an accomplishment. I’m sure it will be the adventure of a lifetime – at least, until the next one.”

Follow Hedderman on her journey through her website:  http://newzealandonfoot.com.