A long-distance walker has kicked off New Zealand's Te Araroa trail, and the opening stretch is proving to be exactly the baptism of fire everyone warns about. Writing in an online trail diary, the hiker describes five days from the official start at Cape Reinga at the very tip of Northland, including the infamous 90 Mile Beach section — which, despite the name, is not actually 90 miles long.
The adventure began with a short 12.5km day from the northern terminus, after a night spent sleeping in an orange grove near Kerikeri and the emotional farewell every thru-hiker knows: a partner watching from the ridge as the trail finally begins. That first night at Twilight Beach camp brought together the group who would share the next 85km of sand — the Mental Challenge section of a trail that runs roughly 3,000km end to end.
Then came the big days: around 23km of hard-packed beach between camps at Maunganui Bluff and beyond, timed around high tide so feet stay on firm sand rather than sinking into dunes. The beach is relentless — flat, featureless, and brutal on shoes — but it delivered one standout moment: wild horses grazing a few metres from the tent in the middle of the night, a genuine highlight of the Raetea-to-Reinga stretch.
Practical realities shaped the rhythm. Camps ranged from basic to surprisingly comfortable — one private site offered hot showers, a kitchen, gas stoves and $5 bags of chips. Lunch breaks doubled as blister prevention, with hikers airing their feet at stream crossings. By day four morale had cratered — the quote of the section: "somebody get me the HELL off this beach" — before a lift to Ahipara, a 100km milestone celebration, and a well-earned rest day in Kaitaia with a private hostel room, a home-cooked meal and a glass of wine from fellow hikers. One cautionary note from that hostel: several guests were laid up with injuries from the beach section, a reminder that repetitive sand walking is no joke.
Why should a traveller care? Because this opening week captures what Te Araroa actually feels like — equal parts meditative, tedious and unforgettable. You don't need to thru-hike to taste it: the Cape Reinga to Ahipara beach stretch is walkable as a standalone multi-day trip, with campsites, a holiday park at the end, and resupply in Kaitaia. The blogger's next challenge is the Raetea Forest climb through Northland's forests, expected to take four to five days.
It's a candid, funny account — complete with a 3am scare that Snoop Dogg had died, relayed secondhand after three days of airplane mode — and a genuinely useful window into the trail's toughest opening move.
Original reporting via The Trek.
