In February 2024, I returned to New Zealand to complete a quest: my annual big hiking adventure.

Previous annual hoorahs:

2023: Kumano Kodo
2022: Wicklow Way
2021: Oregon
2020: Bonds + Zealand
2019: Hollyford Track [was planned to be Torres Del Paine in Nov 2019, and was bumped to Jan 2020, but we’ll call it 2019]
2018: Laugavegur Trail
2017: Trans Catalina Trail
2016: Engelberg Hut Hike

Completing all the Great Walks in New Zealand is on my bucket list. This is tricky because I live outside of Boston, which is very much not close to New Zealand. So, when my work travel calendar had me in LA and Australia in early 2024, I tacked on PTO with a goal of completing the Tongariro Northern Circuit.

The Tongariro Northern Circuit is a 27.5 mile loop around Mt. Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park. Mt. Ngauruhoe was used for Mt. Doom visuals in the Lord of the Rings films…so, this was a trip to Mordor.

Before heading to Aotearoa, I spent a few days in LA for work. Conference days are long, but I still snuck in some fun… notably a Sunday at Universal Studios with buddies, and my first ever in-person Dance Church on Valentine’s Day.

Friday night I returned to LAX, where I realized I was a huge idiot and missed the memo on needing a New Zealand tourist visa. Luckily, I was able to get it sorted before takeoff. Rookie mistakes, rookie mistakes.

I landed in Auckland Sunday morning, picked up my rental camper from Auckland Campervans, and had a groggy breakfast. My plan for the first few days was to galavant around the Coromandel Peninsula, stock up on food/gear needed for Tongariro, and take a trip down memory lane: a shakeout hike to the Pinnacles, and a night visiting my study abroad dreamboat, EcoQuest.

Jet lag is real, especially when driving on the wrong side of the road, so my memories of this road trip nearly two years later are hazy. I did a lot of random stops at waterfalls, beaches, and brunch.

The highlight and lowlight of this loop was an overnight in The Pinnacles, a redo of a very wet hike I did when I was 21. I remembered it kicking my butt then, and it certainly kicked my butt over a decade later.

While Pinnacles Hut is the largest Department of Conservation hut in NZ, my goal for this hike was to do a test run of my backpacking gear- so I camped at the Dancing Camp Campsite below the hut.

The trail to the hut winds upwards along a river, with quite a few stairmaster sections. I reached my campsite around dusk, and felt pretty wiped from travel, jet lag, and being out of hiking shape [it was February, ok??]. A stretch goal I had to catch the sunset from the Pinnacles went out the window, and I hunkered down to rest.

The next morning I felt refreshed, and enjoyed my hike back out to the trailhead.

As with all of my shakeout hikes, I determined that I had overpacked, and made some adjustments. Before leaving the Coromandel, I stopped in Thames for supplies and a really rad lunch.

*This is what a lot of towns in NZ look like- sort of honky tonk?*

My final stop was a visit to EcoQuest. EQ was a real “before/after” life event for me. 5 weeks studying environmental science in New Zealand with a great crew of classmates and teachers, incredibly beautiful and challenging days spent outside, and my longest [and furthest] time away from home. It toughened me up, but also made me a huge softie/sap.

I ate dinner with the current students, then caught up with Ria and Jono. I camped in my van in the parking lot, did some laundry, and enjoyed a contemplative sunrise- just like old times.

EQ and New Zealand will always have a piece of my heart, and I can’t understate how special it was to return to Kaiaua years later. Fueled up on good food, memories, and much-needed sleep, I headed south to Tongariro National Park.

tongariro prep days

there and back again