Sixty-eight-year-old Annie Simmons completed a 3000km thru-hike of Te Araroa and says if she can do it, so can other women her age.

Annie Simmons might have dodgy knees, but she didn’t let that stop her from walking the 3000km Te Araroa Trail with her husband Sylvan last year. 

Nelson-based Simmons turned 68 on the trail and believes she was the oldest woman to walk New Zealand’s long pathway that season, perhaps the only woman walking in her age group. 

“We met several gentlemen of a certain age but there were no women,” she says, and describes her experience of the TA, from an age perspective, as “quite lonely”. 

“Where are all the older women?” she asks. “I think what holds them back is that old adage that adventure isn’t linked with women – that it’s a male thing. It doesn’t occur to older women that they could have adventures too.” 

But they can, and that’s the message Simmons wants other women to hear. 

“When I retired from teaching I said to my husband: ‘I don’t want to sit at home watching TV and babysitting the grandchildren. Knitting booties isn’t me. I want to live every minute of the time I have left on earth. I want to go out and have an adventure.’” 

While the TA seemed more like a pipe dream at that stage, Simmons says ticking off most of the Great Walks made the idea of walking the TA more tangible. She told herself: “My body might be on the way out, but I can still do it.” 

And so, it was decided; the couple would be HOBOs, walking ‘home-bound’ to Nelson. They began in January 2024 and walked the South Island first, northbound, then started the North Island southbound in September. The trek was completed just before Christmas. 

“I’m not an extraordinary woman,” Simmons says. “But what I achieved last year has, indeed, been something extraordinary.”

It wasn’t without its challenges, she notes. Waiau Pass, the second-highest point on the trail, was one of those. It involves a steep climb with a fair amount of rock scrambling. Simmons achieved it on her sixty-eighth birthday. “During the ascent I had a small moment of panic – what on earth am I doing here? At my age? On my birthday? But one glance down was enough to convince me that the only option was to go up,” she says.

River crossings were also demanding when they involved having to scramble up and down steep banks. “I had to pull myself up and crawl – not always ladylike.” 

But the biggest challenge was her knees. “They don’t work anymore,” Simmons says. “That’s what I found hardest – the daily challenge of climbing into the tent.” 

Before the walk she found little relevant information for a woman of her age, but in hindsight believes Pilates or yoga would have been helpful during the planning and preparation.

“As a young person you’re more gung-ho. As an older person you have to be a little more conscious of your body. If I broke a leg it would take months to heal, and that would be the TA all over for me. But that idea wasn’t going to stop me.” 

Simmons says she did little fitness training in preparation – a walk around the streets once a week with a local walking group and a fortnightly bike ride. “You just have to be fit enough to start,” she says. “You get fit as you go.”

On the topic of ageism, Simmons says she experienced no more on the trail than in real life. However, she adds coyly, she and her husband did seem to get regularly upgraded to proper beds after asking for a tent site. But she never purposely pulled the age card. 

She hopes her age will inspire other older women to take the plunge. “Walking the TA is not just for young people. If you can walk, it’s achievable.”

So: one long-distance hike down, what’s next? 

Simmons smiles. A trip to Australia is in the planning stage, with the 221km Larapinta Trail at the top of the list. 

As Simmons says: “I’m still alive. Life isn’t over yet.”  

Annie’s TA tips for older women

⇨Get the all clear from your doctor 

⇨If necessary, arrange how you can order and pick up prescriptions at remote pharmacies, and carry sufficient medication in case you’re held up

⇨Ask a physio for advice on how best to support problem joints

⇨Do some yoga or Pilates as part of the training to improve strength and flexibility

⇨Consider nutritional supplements to support general health and the immune system

⇨Invest in lightweight gear

⇨Go at your own pace – even if that means shorter days – and factor in recovery time

⇨Monitor and keep on top of niggles before they become big issues

⇨Spoil yourself when you can.