Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast

Paddle for Purpose is a group of four mates: Cared, Connor, Kurt & Drew. The team set off from Cape Reinga with a mission to sea kayak along the East Coast of the North Island to raise money for mental health and the environment. Over the 75 day journey, the group had huge challenges - from weather to physical pain to the overwhelm of the expedition before them. They discuss their "why,&q...

Jono Collins spent his childhood on a Hawkes Bay orchard, where his love for the outdoors began. His passion started with building forts and climbing trees, now he shares his love of camping with others. Through a large Facebook community group, Jono has created a space for other kiwis to share tips, advice and tricks on camping - from how to find the right tent, how to manage tasks between a fami...

Growing up between Whangaparoa and Seattle gave Auckland firefighter Nicole Koch an adventurous spirit, inspiring her solo bikepacking trip from Queen Charlotte to Cromwell. On a $500 mountain bike, Nicole chased freedom and slow travel in the South Island, choosing a route of her own. Following a difficult break up, the 1200km journey gave her 14 days of biking to take time off work, a mental esc...

Red Paterson set off on a solo kayak circumnavigation, even after many told her it would be "impossible." Instead of listening to the naysayers, Red decided she would find out for herself whether the 5800km sea kayak journey around New Zealand was actually impossible or not. She shares about her strong determination, right from getting the idea, gaining sea kayaking skills, right until c...

Two-time canoe slalom Olympian, Mike Dawson, spent a lot of time outdoors as a child and has a deep love for whitewater. While kayaking expeditions are within his comfort zone, Mike takes on a new challenge, journeying to the South Pole on a fifty day ski expedition inspired by Messner’s 1989 epic Antarctic crossing. We discuss the logistics of a journey in such harsh conditions, operating camera...

Barbie Sharma is multi-passionate and loves spending her weekends exploring local gems. Based in Auckland, we talk about some of the natural attractions that are often overlooked in surrounding regions. One of Barbie's most memorable trips was a birthday getaway to Waikawau Tunnel Beach, where they had the beach to themselves and saw, "the best sunset I've seen on the North Island.&qu...

Jack Laurent has travelled over 600,000 km in his Land Cruiser Prado, saying he has explored every corner of New Zealand. Based in Taranaki, his favourite places to travel are the Far North and "anywhere" in the South Island. Jack shares about a mission up the Godley Valley and Havelock Valley in the central South Island. He shares about their unique experience, likely being the first people ever...

Matt Butler says he was born with an innate desire to fish, although his family wasn't outdoorsy. He started fishing in local Waikato rivers at age twelve and it took Matt three years to catch his first fish. After moving to Wanaka to pursue his passion for fly-fishing, he decided to spend his 20s doing what he loved. Matt would spend a few months each year as a fly fishing guide, then travel...

Katy Binchy is in New Zealand on a working holiday visa and decided this is the year to try new things and enjoy being in nature. Together with a friend, they bought second hand bikes off TradeMe and went on their first bikepacking trip from Christchurch to Nelson. While in New Zealand, Katy is house-sitting in different cities so when they were moving from Christchurch to Queenstown, Katy thought...

Shanti Mathias is an Auckland-based journalist who is passionate about getting around without a car. Shanti also loves tramping and trail running, and uses public transport or a bicycle to get to her destination. She shares about a recent adventure from Auckland to Miranda, using a train, bike and ferry for the weekend trip. For Shanti, travel without a car leads to creativity and fun, poring over...

Mother of three, Deanna Gerlach says the idea to walk Te Araroa was conceived during covid lockdowns, from their suburban home in Sydney. The family sold everything in Australia, spent two weeks in hotel quarantine in New Zealand and then started walking the length of the country from Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga) to Motupo-hue (Bluff). Day 1 on the trail was the family's first overnight tra...

Hami Tangiora lives on the West Coast and a recent annual family tradition is to catch a helicopter to remote back country huts to spend the night. While the familly do lots of hiking together with the young kids, Hami decided that they would treat themself to something special. The first trip was to Chancellor Hut above Fox Glacier for an overnight stay, where their only company was two dozen kea...

Helena Sodergren is a multi-passionate adventurer and a scientist. From horse-riding to skiing to surfing to mountain biking, it really seems like she does it all, alongside holding a PhD in physics. Helena grew up on a farm in remote Sweden, and say this is where her sense of adventure began. She shares about a recent mission with a group of seven, spending nine days on Tasman Glacier and sitting...

Katie Johnstone's love for the outdoors started young and grew with her annual father-daughter tramping trips. After going on her first solo hike, she decided to jump in deeper and tackle Te Araroa. Katie soon learnt the importance of carrying a personal locator beacon (PLB) when one of her fellow trampers got injured and Katie had to pull their PLB for them. Later on the trail, Katie got into a s...

Heather Marston had a mantra that she would never visit the same place twice...but that was before she had been to Aoraki Mount Cook. From ski trips as a child, to a study abroad program during uni and later moving to New Zealand, Heather says the curiosity for adventure was sparked early on in life. She shares about a particular trip to Mount Cook National Park in winter, where the weather looked...

Jordan Pratt set himself a challenge that would test his physical and mental limits - 10 Great Walks in 10 days across the North and South Islands. The complex logistics meant that Jordan was supported by a team that were the 'glue' of the challenge. They provided a morale boost and banter at the end of every trail, as well as sorting transport, accommodation, food and telling Jordan when to eat,...

Host Abigail Hannah set out to do the longest hike she'd ever done - solo! Abigail breaks down the how she decided to set out on the Old Ghost Road on her own and all she did to prepare for this. Knowing and preparing her gear was a significant part of the journey to independence and Abigail breaks down her gear list (below). While Abigail absolutely thrived in the first three days of her jour...

Olly Dow is 17 years old, based in Tauranga with a huge love for the outdoors. When he's not at school or on a weekend adventure, he's working at macpac or training with youth search and rescue (YSAR). He shares about the first time he went tramping without his parents - and how it was a pivotal moment that has enabled him to have many more trips with his mates. Olly shares about a recent...

Based in Wanaka, Nick Pascoe is surrounded by opportunities for adventure. Combining his passions, Nick had the idea to ski, packraft and tramp from Mt Aspiring to the Tasman Sea, down the Waiatoto River. After convincing two mates to come along, they got started on planning their route, based off trip reports, satellite imagery and topomaps. The 7 day mission took them skiing over glaciers, packr...

Meghan Maloney is an award-winning professional landscape photographer in New Zealand. Her work has let her travel all across New Zealand and she describes herself as an obsessive compulsive checker of weather apps, as weather is absolutely everything when it comes to landscape photography. We talk about the stories behind every photo, including driving silly distances to get sunrise shots on the...

Without being able to run a 5 km race, Simon Patton set the goal of walking five NZ Great Walks in just five days. Born and bred in Southland, Simon lived overseas and worked around New Zealand before moving back to Invercargill. He realised that five of New Zealand's Great Walks were located nearby in Southland and set out to run them all in just five days. It was a logistical challenge, but...

Ryan Lucas remembers his first time in a kayak at 13 and soon he was hooked on the white water sport. With the Kaituna as his home river, Ryan spent all his free time kayaking and it was his main passion for 10 years. In 2017, Ryan had an accident after paddling a 20 metre fall and describes it as the worst case scenario. He was knocked unconscious and stopped breathing before being rescued by a f...

As part of their travels around the globe, Charlotte and James opted to spend a year in New Zealand on a working holiday visa, taking advantage of flexible working arrangements and travelling as much as possible in their van. Based out of Auckland, they share their favourite spots for weekend escapes and adventures, including Rangitoto, Waiheke and the beaches and maunga in Tāmaki Makaurau. For a...

Amber Holyoake discovered her love for surfing in Portugal and found herself hooked to the sport from then onwards. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, she loves the east coast and west coast beaches that are so easily accessible. Amber breaks down the sport for beginners, sharing some of the surfing lingo, the best way to get started, while sharing her own journey and her passion. She has noticed...

Howie McFadyen grew up in Christchurch and got interested in the outdoors through his Outdoor Ed classes at school. He shares about his attempt to hike all six of the the Great Walks in the South Island and getting between them hitchhiking. Although Howie didn't manage to complete them all, he had an incredible time over 5 days, completing some of the walks in days and travelled over 800kms in...