Three’s company on Te Araroa: Beloved pet primed for trail adventure

His tramping pack isn’t the largest, but then neither is Baxter.

The greyhound-heading cross cuts a slender figure as he sets the pace for an ambitious six-day hike through the Tararua Range with his owners.

Katie Edmead and Nic Durkin started walking Te Araroa trail from Cape Reinga in mid-October, and are excited Baxter can join them for the forest park section, one of the few that allows dogs.

“If you see us along the Tararuas, we’ll have Mr. B with us,” Durkin said.

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“He’s quite used to tramping, so he’ll be quite good.”

The Hawke’s Bay couple, who are in their late 20s, have been keen to complete the epic trek for some time and decided to make the adventure their honeymoon.

They tied the knot in February, just before the Covid-19 chaos hit, requesting Bivouac vouchers for wedding gifts, to ensure they would be appropriately kitted out.

Baxter had been staying in Palmerston North with friends, Stacey Hendriks and Jack Downing, while the couple made their way down the North Island.

Though an avian avoidance certificate isn’t needed to go into the Tararuas, Hendriks made sure Baxter was trained to avoid any wildlife that came his way.

Hendriks and Downing were also taking him out for 10-20km runs each a day to ensure he was primed for the trek.

“I think he’ll be better than all of us put together,” Edmead said.

Baxter has already completed three day hikes through the Southern Crossing, always sporting his trusty orange mini-backpack.

It holds his sleeping bag, jacket, food and water bowl.

The trio set off from Palmerston North on Tuesday, and were expected to reach Waikanae next Monday, when Baxter would be picked up by family, with Edmead and Durkin continuing their journey south.

Te Araroa, which translates to ‘’the long pathway’’, is a 3000km tramp running the length of the North and South islands.

A mix of old and new bush tracks and walkways, as well as sections along roadsides, it takes three to six months to complete.

Edmead, a veterinarian who works for the Ministry for Primary Industries, took six months off work while Durkin quit his job as a primary school teacher.

“It’s definitely a good year to do it, as it’s quite quiet,” Durkin said, referring to the absence of international travellers.

Their favourite sections so far have been the Hakarimata Range in Waikato and the kauri forests in Northland.

“There were these beautiful, massive kauri trees like all around you and you kinda forgot how bad [the weather] was,” Edmead said.

The experience has been different to what they expected.

“It’s a bit like a job, you get up in the morning and you gotta walk for eight hours, sometimes 10, sometimes 11, sometimes less.”

The couple had enjoyed leaving all their “stuff” behind and condensing their lives into two backpacks.

“That’s all we need. So, when we go back to real life, we will probably change a lot the ways we do stuff.”

The hard part has been being away from their dogs, hence Baxter’s inclusion.

“We have an older lady called Jet, and she has three legs,” said Edmead. “She would have loved to do this, but she doesn’t realise how old she is. She’s almost 11.”

Edmead and Durkin’s journey can be followed at https://www.facebook.com/durkmeadhike