About Us

Hi, thanks for dropping by!

I'm Jenny, the main blog writer and photographer for this site.

I've started this blog to record for ourselves, and share with friends and family, our journey on Te Araroa (TA). I have wanted to do TA for several years now (see full post on my whys), and finally the 2021/2022 season it's going to happen.

I am lucky enough to live in New Plymouth, NZ, which has fantastic beaches and an iconic mountain on our doorstep. The perfect environment for a nature lover.

I've recently retired from 30+ years working as an accountant, to have more time for travel, adventuring and enjoying life, while still young enough to make the most of it..

We are proud parents of two adult daughters, living in Auckland and Wellington. We're also parents to two cats, and two turtles.

My absolute loves are; travel, photography, being out in nature, learning, socialising, and cold water dipping.. Being on Te Araroa for 4-6 months will mean I can do these things full time. I can't wait!!

I'm Gerard.

To be fair walking the length of NZ was not on my top ten list of things to do. I have just completed a couple of milestone events being the sale of my business I had been in for 32 years, and therefore now being retired.

However I will take on board the challenge ahead of us of walking the length of NZ. I do like my creature comforts, so this is well out of my comfort zone. I hope both our bodies and minds hold together to get us through. It's not a race so rest days are fine and we can treat ourselves when the opportunity arises.

NZ is a beautiful place so I'm looking forward to seeing those places you don't generally see when driving the roads of our country and sharing them with Jenny.

Hopefully I'm still smiling at the end of this journey.