A walking guide to New Zealand's long trail : Te Araroa / Geoff Chapple.

This is the guidebook of Te Araroa Trail: The Long Pathway, a continuous trail running from Cape Reinga to Bluff, 35 years in the making, and which will officially open in 2011. The 3000-kilometre trail will be mapped in 40-kilometre sections by leading map maker Roger Smith of Geographx. Geoff Chapple, CEO of the Trust, will complement the maps with a running commentary describing the landscape, the flora and fauna encountered along the way, as well as any special features of particular parts of the trail. Stunning photographs from our top natural history photographers will illustrate each section. Each of the 12 regional sections will be opened with a stunning 2-page 3D map. A short introduction will describe the history of the trail as well as the variety of New Zealand's landscape along the way: forest, farmland, volcanoes and mountain passes, river valleys, green pathways and the urban areas of seven cities. Geoff Chapple is a modern-day visionary who took the concept of a continuous trail running the length of New Zealand and turned it into a reality. This book is an accessible guide for those who only want to walk parts of the trail but is also aimed at the dedicated tramper who will go the entire distance.