Young @ Heart Book Club on the Te Araroa Trail

Spain has found fame with its 820 km Camino de Santiago trail, and there are many inspiring books written by those who have traversed it.

But New Zealand also has its own amazing trail – Te Araroa. From an idea germinated 35 years ago Geoff Chapple (Terrain; Te Araroa: Walking New Zealand’s 3000 kilometre trail;  A Walking Guide to New Zealand’s long trail: Te Araroa) turned his dream into a reality, forming a trust and establishing a continuous trail running the length of New Zealand. 

The trail opened in 2011, and the inspiring books have now begun to follow. A book club member has just finished two, from individuals walking the same trail but seeing it through vastly different eyes.

In Adventures with Emilie, Victoria Bruce says, “I’m here because I want to test the very limits of my own resilience and reassure myself that no matter what’s happened to me, I’m not ready to lie down and die.”  With PTSD and needing time out from the corporate world, Victoria took her 7-year-old daughter with her for 138 days – including the Covid lockdowns – to create lasting memories on the Te Araroa Trail.  But it was also a way for her to look inward, facing her traumatic childhood experiences in state care, assault, and battles with addiction as well as the challenges of parenting. It is a beautiful memoir of travelling together, celebrating Emilie’s bravery as she gets stung by wasps and has a serious fall, and Victoria’s resourcefulness in making Christmas special (think tramping socks as stockings...) and building her own mental fortitude.

The group has continued to pass around Not Alone by Tim Voors. A passionate, experienced hiker hungry for a new adventure, Tim left his home and family in the Netherlands expecting a solitary walk. But along the way he met other trampers who became his ‘trail family’, facing challenges and victories together. Our readers particularly enjoyed the many photos and sketches that Tim made along the way which perfectly capture the feeling of our wilderness areas. In his words “It is about the fun I had walking together with my new found family. It is about a rediscovery of my inner child, rediscovering wonder…..and….the magical connection I had along the journey…”

Great books which we hope you will enjoy. Or you may feel like another one of our members, stroking the warm pastel coloured cover of a Maeve Binchy epic, “I see absolutely nothing in all this walking about!”

Posted by Y@H Book Club.( Next meeting 1 February, 10:30 Havelock North Library)

28 December 2023

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