The Long Way Home

Whenua, whakapapa, whanau. In a new podcast series available from 16 October, Bruce Hopkins walks Te Araroa to take his father and brother's ashes back home to Stewart Island.Bruce Hopkins wants to take the ashes of his dad and brother home to Rakiura/Stewart Island. He's just taking the long way to get there. The long, long way. The Long Way Home is a unique RNZ podcast in which Bruce tells the story of walking Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail, from Cape Reinga at the top of New Zealand to Rakiura/Stewart Island at the very bottom. Every week for five months, as he carries the ashes south, listeners will travel with him as he bashes his way through the bush, pushes his endurance to new limits and meets a raft of Kiwi characters.Part adventure story, part memoir, part travelogue, The Long Way Home will allow you to be with Bruce in almost real-time. The Long Way Home - whenua, whakapapa, whanau.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Whenua, whakapapa, whanau. Bruce Hopkins walks Te Araroa to take his father and brother's ashes back home to Stewart Island. Bruce Hopkins has a plan.For the next five months, he wants to walk the length of New Zealand, from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island, along Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail. It's a big plan, an audacious one, but it's just another bold move from a man who specialises in going all in. A mere 61 years old, Bruce Hopkins has lived several different lives, all of them unusual and none of them easy.He's been a commercial crayfisherman in the deep waters off Cape Reinga. But he threw that in to become a contemporary dancer after watching just one rehearsal and feeling like he'd found his calling.He later became an actor and was cast in one of the biggest movie franchises of all time; The Lord of the Rings.He runs his own temp agency and also guides tourists around New Zealand's scenic high spots.And now he's decided to walk the length of the country and make a podcast about the experience. It should only take him about five months of unbroken effort to complete the trail.But this very long walk isn't all just about Bruce and what he wants to do. He's also raising money for charity, and wants to reflect on the land he was born and grew up in and about the history of his family. In this, the first episode of The Long Way Home, Bruce talks about his inspiration for walking Te Araroa and the two men whose memory will sustain him as he heads south; his dad Bill and his big brother Doug.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

With a heavy pack and a lot of nerves, Bruce is underway, measuring the length of 90 Mile Beach and recalling dangerous days fishing off the Northland coast. Loaded down under way too heavy a pack and with no small amount of nerves, Bruce Hopkins is underway!During his first five days on Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail, Bruce measures the length of 90 Mile Beach and meets a long distance cyclist.He almost certainly doesn't find treasure on the beach but definitely does find some good kai moana. And the sandflies find him.And he recalls some dangerous days as a commercial fisherman off the Northland coast.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week One, 14-21 October 2017 Cape Reinga - Puketi Forest."Five days on 90 Mile Beach done. I am taking an early rest day here at Ahipara on Day Five, Wednesday 18 October 2017.Including myself six walkers of Te Araroa (TA) showed up here after a rugged 31km slog into a nasty wind that blasted sand into my face for eight hours at about 30+ knots. But the journey is underway and I will not be taking anything for granted. I am already uncovering some wonderful moments of connection with people and nature as well as some brutal encounters with what will be required in terms of perseverance over the next few months. It does feel great to have first 100km of coast & beach done & dusted.Five days of slogging it through Northland forests from tomorrow to get to Kerikeri."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dreaming of ginger beer and ice cream, Bruce climbs the high hills of the Northland forests to get back to his old home in the Bay of Islands.Week two and the honeymoon is already over between Bruce Hopkins and New Zealand's trail Te Araroa.Having suffered the length of 90 Mile Beach, this week his big challenges are the high hills, deep mud and the "bloody gravel roads!" of the forests of Northland.Bruce cuts inland and heads east, searching for Kerikeri and eventually, his old home town of Russell in the Bay of Islands.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Two, 21-28 October 2017 Puketi - Helena Bay"Some bloody full on days now done. Cannot express how happy I am to be having a rest day tomorrow with one of the numerous hard sections of Te Araroa now done. Already these last ten days will stay powerfully in my physical & mental memory forever."I am personally pushed to various limits every single day thus far, so looking forward to being blister free!""It is already shaping up to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. To cap today off my iPhone died!""Only about 2500 kilometres to go..."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce meets old friends and new on the trail south of Russell but an unexpected event puts the future in doubt. It's week three and Bruce Hopkins has fallen in love again with Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail. But does the trail love him back?Bruce heads south out of Russell, trekking the east coast of Northland and aiming for Pakiri Beach. The punishing gravel roads are behind him and coastal trails with beautiful bays are ahead.But is this a good time for him to relax and let down his guard? Maybe not...Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Three, 28 October - 4 November 2017 Helena Bay - Pakiri"The last week has been so packed full of variety. Amber and Mark gave me the pounamu I had lost on the second day of the trail. A french tramper named Antoine found it! Amber and Mark had also found my lost trail notes and maps and my missing hat!""Spent the night in a stunning Waikahoa bay beach camp but I was vomiting all night having been given some day old unrefrigerated chicken by a well-meaning group of school teachers who were leaving the bay as we arrived.""Next day walked coastal track to Whananaki. Glorious.""I stayed with kiwi icons Malcolm and Melanie Rand at their eco village in Ngunguru. Walked to Pataua north to stay with Derek Barnston, a school friend I had not seen for 40 years. Derek and his wife Anne exemplify the spirit of trail angels. Five of us had a superb beer and lunch of fresh vegies out of the garden.""What happened in your week??? I'm raving, more to come."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After an accident on the trail, The Long Way Home gets just that little bit longer for Bruce Hopkins. Bruce Hopkins' leg is bung.A nasty fall last week means he's off Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail and is back home in Auckland recovering from a deep and serious infection in his left leg.What does this mean for his goal to walk to Rakiura/Stewart Island? Has the curse of big brother Doug struck again?Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Four, 4 - 11 November 2017Helena Bay - Auckland"I continue to exercise patience as a patient, waiting for my cellulitis infected left shin to heal. This infection developed after my left shin laid a heavy kiss upon my hiking poles on the glorious sands of Ocean Beach as my left foot slid out from under me, thanks to some seaweed and jellyfish providing a form of mini ice rink."Following the smash of my shins onto said hiking poles I still had six hours of hard-out climbing and descending of the Bream Head ridgeline on the Whangarei Heads. When I fell I had just finished three-plus hours tramping over Kauri mountain and along Ocean Beach." "Once again I am facing the prospect of what will probably be 10 days of lay off while the medication rids me of the infection. The cellulitis is almost gone and I have finished the course of antibiotics so will have to check with the doctor about my options."I cannot risk starting the challenge of 9-10 hours walking in testing terrain with an 18kg pack on my back and maybe reigniting the whole affair."Bloody, bloody, bloody, bloody hell!"Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

While he recovers from injury, Bruce recalls a conversation with Te Araroa founder Geoff Chapple. It's been two weeks since Bruce Hopkins injured his left leg and had to come off Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail.While he recovers, Bruce takes us back to an interview with Te Araroa founder Geoff Chapple that he recorded before he began walking the trail in October.Geoff offers his hard-won wisdom as well as some good advice but the question is; did Bruce listen?Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Five, 11 - 17 November 2017Auckland"A bloody long time walking The Long Way Home has become even longer. By the time I restart I will have spent as much time off the trail as on it."Still heaps of colour where my left shin kissed my hiking poles, but I'm confident it is now bruising not infection. Walked for about two hours today, now icing it, but felt like it is doable."Still two days of medication to take, but looking at restarting Friday on Te Araroa from Marsden Point. "Starting to feel as nervous as I was when I first started on October 14.... looking forward to stepping off into the unknown once again."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After a frustrating injury break, Bruce Hopkins is back on the trail once more, beginning again from where he was forced to stop. Te Araroa - Take Two!Bruce Hopkins is back on the trail after a two-week injury break.He picks up where he left off, on the beach at Marsden Point and aiming to make it to Auckland by the end of the week.His infected shin is still sore and his left little toe has made it quite clear that it doesn't want to walk the length of the country, but with so many obstacles overcome and so many good people there to help him, could anything stop Bruce now?Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Six, 17 - 24 November 2017Marsden Point - Auckland"I've enjoyed whiling away the hours resting up in my wee hobbit hole in Auckland but I'm ready to get going now."From time to time my daughter Francesca shares an opinion that resonates with me as being wise. When I said to her I was keen to start again last Wednesday, she replied 'Dad, add two days to whatever date you think you want to start' and I could tell she was correct. ​I restarted Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail on Friday 17th November. "My old mate Noel McLeod drove me up to Marsden Point on Friday 17 November and I got started at about 10am."The trail just keeps on giving; the good, the bad and the ugly. The shin's still pretty ugly but that matches the rest of the body!"Te Araroa Trail, here we come - Take Two!"Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

On a rest day in Auckland, disaster strikes when Bruce loses something irreplaceable. Bruce has made it to Auckland but while on a rest day, disaster struck. The pouch containing the ashes of his brother and father have gone missing along with the red waterproof pouch they were stored in and a red Olympus camera. Bruce was on a rest day in Auckland, visiting his mokopuna and planning for the next stage of the walk when they were lost.They may have been left at Cornwall Park, in at New World Supermarket on College Hill, at Cafe 121 in Ponsonby or at Ralph's Cafe on Dominion Road. Someone might have found them and not known who they belonged to, or they could be sitting safely under tree somewhere. Bruce is distraught over losing them.If you've found the ashes, please get in touch. Bruce is back on Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail but you can reach him at thelongwayhome@radionz.co.nz, on Twitter @BruceHop or on Instagram @brucehoppy. Alternatively, you can email Justin Gregory, the series producer, at Justin.gregory@radionz.co.nz.Please resend this message, retweet it, and share it as widely as you can. Let's get Bruce back together with his dad and big brother and get them all back home.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Seven, 24 November - 3 December 2017Auckland - Hamilton"I'm currently in Hamilton having had an unscheduled rest day following an absolute gut busting 11hr /34km slog from Rangiriri to Ngaruawahia on Friday followed by a relatively easy five hour hike to Hamilton yesterday."The Mercer to Rangiriri trek prior to the 11 hour day was also a very taxing session. "Every day delivers its own style of challenges, be it harsh road walking (Auckland Airport to Clevedon, Clevedon to Mercer) or awkward, head-high pollen infested grass and cattle-rutted stop banks, electric fences, low tree branches and ugly swamp mud.Bruce's new, light-weight and so far pain-free trail running shoes."Since restarting I have acquired a new group of about seven fellow TA trampers who I criss-cross and connect with at campsites and stop over locales. Once again they are a superb mix of international peeps who I love catching up with when we do, be it in the bush or in a town."My time of staying with friends or friends of friends more often than not, is coming to an end. I will miss the beds, showers and wonderful hospitality. I will start catching up with contacts again when I get closer to Wellyville in the New Year…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce has a brainwave - but it's a bit too late. There has been a huge response to our plea for help in finding Bruce's missing ashes but so far, they haven't turned up. Please keep looking! We appreciate it.Bruce has left Mercer and is on his way to Te Kuiti but hot days and the high hills are giving his body grief.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Eight, 3 December - 10 December 2017Mercer - Te Kuiti"The vast array of daily physical/mental trials, tribulations and joyous experiences is a continual fascination. A thick shake is my new craving after a 9-10 hour slog."However my body and in particular my internal organs are beginning to demand that I pay much closer attention to my levels of dehydration and exertion, so I may need to restrict myself to 7-8 hours of tramping, each day with the 30km days being restricted to only when necessary. I also need to ensure I take rests along with almost doubling my intake of water. I'm currently on a three day hold awaiting the final results of a blood test I had to have when arriving in Te Kuiti from Waitomo on Thursday afternoon. I'm staying with a wonderful couple who are members of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust New Zealand. "The whānau of trampers that you meet while on this odyssey, even those you only spend brief periods of time with at a campsite or in passing in a forest, are people you feel an instant bond with. Then there are the trail angels, those who give you something as simple as water, or a meal, or a five star hot shower and bed, are truly that, angels. "I find it hard to express the depth of my gratitude to these wonderful folk."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins hunkers down in Te Kuiti and meets a couple with a fascinating tale to tell.Bruce hunkers down in Te Kuiti for a few days to recover from some health issues and stays with a couple who have a fascinating tale to tell. Obeying medical advice - mostly - he hops a bus to Whanganui, skipping an isolated section of the trail, and then walks to Palmerston North. But he's not cheating, honest; Bruce will come back and fill in the missing section in the New Year.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Nine, 10 December - 17 December 2017Te Kuiti - Palmerston North"I find myself in the company of more fascinating fellow trampers."When asked what is the the best or the highlight thus far, I really think it is the people, both fellow #TAers & #trailangels ."There is mighty competition from some of the stunning scenery and locales one finds oneself in but the people are consistently a highlight and a delight."Briefly we meet and all too soon must part; such is the life of a Te Araroa Trail Walker." Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins beds down in a DOC Hut - in someone's backyard!Having leapfrogged over a rough section of Te Araroa: New Zealand's Trail, Bruce Hopkins walks into Palmerston North and stays at a DOC tramping hut - in someone's backyard. He flies up to Auckland for a brief break over Christmas to reconnect with both whanau and his beloved Waitemata Harbour.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 10, 17 December - 27 December 2017Palmerston North - Auckland"I'm back in Tamaki Makaurau for 10 days. The tide is right, so I'm heading into the sea for my first swim in a long time. I've had enough of this walking lark!"If you live anywhere near the ocean, it's kind of like your civic duty to swim. If you don't know how, get someone to teach you. It's our duty to dunk ourselves into that briney every now and then."Much like I'm discovering that walking in these bloody forests, as much of a slog as it can be, it's kind of a duty. You're honour bound, as citizens of this country, if you're physically able, to go and have some time in that environment. It's here for us."Shivers, listen to him! I'm going off to see the doc soon. Merry Christmas, anyway." Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins takes time out from walking Te Araroa to catch up with RNZ producer Justin Gregory. Trail Diary by Justin Gregory, co-producer of The Long Way Home."For this latest episode, we've done something a bit different. Bruce is off Te Araroa - New Zealand's trail for a few days to go to his son's wedding and do a bit of personal admin, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to sit down in an RNZ studio and catch up."We crowd sourced some of the questions for this interview from the podcast's listeners and so what follows is a mix of my questions and yours. For the full interview, watch the video in this link."When Bruce arrives, it's immediately obvious that Te Araroa has changed him; he's skinny, a bit agitated at being indoors and has a gaze that looks past you into the far, far distance."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

4th generation Stewart Islander Bruce Hopkins chats to 3rd generation Islander Colleen Hopkins - his mum. During a break in Auckland for his son's wedding and to get his health sorted, Bruce Hopkins caught up with another ex-Stewart Islander; his mum Colleen. They talk about her early life, meeting and marrying his dad and what it was like to raise four kids on a small and isolated island.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 12, 28 December 2017 - 1 January 2018Auckland"Mum came down for the wedding and she brought me some more of Dad's ashes...sorry about that, Ma!"And I've got some more of brother Doug's ashes, too."I'm walking them back to Stewart Island where my mum, Colleen Hopkins, was born a third generation Islander, making me, my brother Doug and my sisters Lynley and Wanda fourth generation islanders!"It must have been an unreal experience growing up there."I just want to say thank you to the many people who've approached me and said thank you for sharing this journey and my story. Thank you so much, guys, it's humbling. It's a privilege to be doing this."Yeah, thanks for that Bruce. I've got to get myself all cleared up for the isolated and very challenging sections of the trail still to come. I thought I've already done some bloody challenging bits but wait, there's more!"Catch you later."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins fills in some of the missing pieces of Te Araroa jigsaw puzzle. Back on the road again! Bruce flies south and restarts his walk from Otaki Forks. His plan is to fill in some of the gaps in the giant jigsaw puzzle that has become his version of Te Araroa. Five days of walking lie ahead of him. His destination? Wellington! Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 13, 3 January - 8 January 2018Wellington"What a buzz!"Even though I still have two sections to fill in, here I am in Wellington at the end point of the North Island section of Te Araroa. Wicked!"I have done maybe 1200 kilometres so far...got some hard slog to go!"I've got two sections to fill in; five to six days in the Tararuas (which will be hard out). I've also got about nine days hiking and three days on the river between Te Kuiti to Whanganui. Some hard out days there, too."But what a buzz, what a buzz. Real cool to be here. Yee ha!"Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins faces yet another setback. This one might be a bit more serious.Bruce spends one more day in sunny Wellington before flying home. He has a wee medical issue that needs sorting out.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 20, 17 February - 25 February 2018.Ship Cove"Talofa! I'm hanging out to get back on Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail but it seems the gods of all things Te Araroa keep placing extra challenges in my path!"After making it to Wellington I had to get back home to Auckland for a medical procedure to remove a small cancer from my bladder."I had been experiencing haematuria (blood in the urine) following multiple long, hard and sweaty days on Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail. Scans showed a mass in my bladder but a neat bit of laparascopic surgery removed it all and the prognosis is looking good."As the song says, you've got accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and don't mess with Mr. Inbetween!"All going according to plan, I should be back on the trail in 10 days. As if walking Te Araroa wasn't challenging enough!"Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After an extended layoff Bruce is given a roaring send off when he resumes his journey. Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 15, 21 January - 26 January 2018Te Kuiti - Pureora Forest - TaumaranuiA friendly farmer lets Bruce use some prime real estate for a campsite before hitting the Trail. "This is my third kind of layup - you know... son's marriages, Christmas... that sort of thing... a small operation to remove a small cluster of cancer cells from my bladder."Boy, every time I've had to restart, I get this bout of anxiety... my schedule now has me finishing right at the end of April. Any later and you're into some extreme weather - some changeable weather - down in the South Island."I've prepared my food parcel for myself - the packages of food to last me nine days at a time for four or five of the long sections in the South Island, through the mountains."Tomorrow I 'phone the surgeon to see if he can give me the results of the biopsy and then board the bus back to Te Kuiti to James and Sharon and back on the trail"Here in Mangaweka still having a much appreciated cup of tea and talking with Daphne, Freedom and Latisha .. and I'm heading to Pureora forest headquarters to start the trek into Taumaranui"I've ended up here at Timber Trail Lodge - I feel like a draft dodger you know? I'm in the lap of luxury in the middle of the forest ... What it's indicative of is this amazing new wave of tourism and adventure tourism that's happening in New Zealand. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins fills in more of the bits he has missed on the Te Araroa trail. Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 16, 27 January - 2 February 2018.Pureora Forest Headquarters - Taumaranui"Pureora Forest Timber Trail. This trail is a winner. It's fantastic."Trail mates say allow 4 or 5 days to head through to Taumaranui, and it's just a glorious kind of trek proper - Formed, fine gravel walkways and also some forest floor."I'm doing another bit of my jigsaw puzzle."That was a 33 kilometre day coming out of the Pureora Timber Trail ... I've had a couple of 30+ kilometre days, so tomorrow I'll be into Taumaranui - about 26 or 28 kilometeres. "That's nice 'cos it'll give me a chance to have a rest day having started again after my break ....Whew! - the body's definitely getting hammered being back on this here Trail."The woman at the iSite (in Taumaranui), she said that I am the most organised person she has seen. Ha ha! Sheesh, if I'm organised ... man, those other buggers ... how'd they do it?"Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins takes on the Tongariro Crossing against the flow of trampers coming the other way.Bruce continues to fill in the blanks, taking on the big one - Tongariro . He still has the Whanganui River and the Tararuas to go before making it to the South island.Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 17, 3 February - 9 February 2018Tongariro Alpine Crossing"I'm a little anxious about this actually - Tongariro Crossing. Such a renowned climb ..."Whenever I go near a location that's meant to have spectacular views, the mist and rain clouds will come in, and I'll have no views other than the mist in front of my face"Once I complete all that it's into the Tararuas (Tararua Forest Park)... and then I've finished the North Island."... I've always thought New Zealand should just declare itself an organic farm for the world."I dunno, the idea of being in a hut with 18 or 19 other people ? ... I kinda thought, nah, I'll just go and get my little tent"We interrupt this program to bring you a self-indulgent moment just expressing how stunning this is!" The moments of joy and beauty and bliss only come because the walking was done ...... "That's why rich people get helicopters."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce Hopkins spends five fabulous days on the Whanganui River. He finds some amazing friends and (not-so-amazingly) retains his reputation for losing stuff. Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week 17, 4 February - 9 February 2018Taumaranui - Whanganui (5 days on the Whanganui River)"Whanganui River .. so calm just now. Lots of swallows darting 'round the river. Very, very peaceful."So I'm feeling very safe with you two on the river (Monica and John from The Yukon) - nothin's gonna come at us ... possums?"You guys (Hunter and Jacqui from Australia) ... honestly, just watching you last night and then today paddling the river ... wicked. Man, if more people your age were doing this kid of gig, we'd probably be destined for a very nice world"Is it different from doing this sort of thing in your own country where you guys have got all these bloody crocodiles, and snakes and spiders ... ?"It'll be my first time in a doc hut - not sure if I'm excited or not. But it's all tainted anyway with my having to come to grips with losing my bloody GoPro ... Ah well, my reputation is intact: 'He who loses things'!"Yet another mist-enshrouded morning on the tops of the forest surrounding the river, but a clear and green and rich vista down here on the river"A couple of good rapids coming up today. One called the '50/50' because fifty percent of people go over ... tip over! He, he... let's see how that goes." Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details