Any walk is a good walk. That’s one of the main takeaways for me from four years of doing the Walk1200km challenge. No matter how short or urban it is, or how miserable the weather, I have yet to find a walk I regretted. Each walk is a chance to explore, and even on a walk I’ve done dozens of times before, there is always something new to discover. 

Perhaps that is why I find myself drawn to the country’s many private walks. As if the public tracks we have aren’t already good enough, there’s now a burgeoning industry of landowners providing access to previously inaccessible bush, coastline and hilltops. One fabulous aspect of these walks, as we discover on p40, is that they are particularly well suited to giving non-trampers a taste of our wonderful pastime. Even experienced trampers love the lighter packs and social connection the tracks enable. I think I’ve found another dozen trips to add to what seems like a never-shortening wishlist. 

But the track that has jumped to number one on my list in recent days is in the central North Island. When it comes to Tongariro National Park, I’ve nearly done it all: on track, off track, Great Walks and Alpine Crossings; I’ve tented on the Summit Plateau, visited Crater Lake and descended glaciers; I’ve wild camped above Lower Tama and at the foot of Ngāuruhoe; I’ve traversed over Ruapheu from Whakapapa to Tukino and I’ve visited nearly all the huts. But there’s one trail I’ve yet to walk: the Ruapehu Round the Mountain Track (see p32). As writer and photographer Matthew Cattin shows, this week-long trip traverses incredible and diverse landscape that is unlike anything elsewhere in the country, and it is begging to be walked. Sign me up!

 – Alistair Hall
    Editor