Te Araroa's popularity has skyrocketed since opening more than a decade ago, but a recent coroner's report into the death of a tramper has highlighted some dangerous trends.
Photo: Zac Collier
Would you walk the length of New Zealand in a pair of Crocs?
Since opening in 2011, Te Araroa trail has attracted thousands of visitors from around the country and the world. About 2000 completed it last year alone, and many more hiked parts of it.
Zac Collier was one of them, and came across another tramper wearing the controversial shoe choice.
"There are people who just wing it. I met a Kiwi girl from Hawke's Bay who did the entire South Island in Crocs and apparently there were three other people who did that last year as well," he says.
Collier is a med student at Auckland University and for him it was a chance to escape for a while.
"I wanted to get as far away from the uni as possible, and that was the best way to do it for me," he says.
But the tracks making up the trail are not for the faint-hearted. They wind through rugged, at times treacherous terrain, and as Te Araroa's popularity rises so does the concern for those taking on the challenge.
Petr Čech, 46, from the Czech Republic, was walking last May when he went missing. His body was found in the Wairoa River almost two weeks later.
It's understood he was attempting to complete the tramp within three months before his visa expired in June 2023.
The report detailing the circumstances leading up to his death was released last week. Coroner Heather McKenzie ruled that, though she couldn't be certain it was time pressure which led Čech to press on in bad weather and fall and drown in the Wairoa River, it is a possible scenario.
According to the Department of Conservation, there is an increasing trend of fast and competitive tramping on the walk.
Collier admits he had that mindset too: he shared Čech's motivation to 'get the job done', which is what made him decide to speak to The Detail about his story.
"I can remember the urgency and the push to go through at pace," he says.
"For me it was equal parts challenge and boredom. I didn't really enjoy getting to a campsite at 3pm and sitting there doing nothing for the rest of the afternoon. I enjoyed walking for the 12,13, 14 hours."
For Collier, completing the walk in three months was less of a target and more of an unexpected result, but he can see how this culture can cause tunnel vision that leads people into conditions where they become vulnerable.
He remembers walking with a group of Americans who were not only walking at pace, but with minimal gear.
"That really changed my perception on hiking. They had their ultra-light packs, they were quite comfortable walking 35-40km because that's how their long-distance hikes work over in the States," he says.
While it may work in the US, Andy Roberts, who is DOC's manager for visitor safety, says New Zealand's 'gnarly' environment can be unpredictable and 'ultra-light tramping' can leave hikers unprepared and vulnerable.
"It's removing the safety odds; it's lowering those odds for each person who is pushing it in that way if they're not very careful about it," he says.
Roberts says Aotearoa's terrain is quite distinct and the section where the Czech tramper's body was found is particularly challenging.
"There's ridgeline travel, there's narrow, steep, really windy sections, there are slippery areas, there are river crossings," he says.
The Mountain Safety Council made five recommendations following Čech's death, which include avoiding solo tramping in back country terrain, walking during the recommended seasonal windows, researching track conditions, becoming familiar with signs of unsafe rivers and becoming experienced crossing them.
Listen to this episode of The Detail to learn what to watch out for and how to stay safe.
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