Northbound: Four seasons of solitude on Te Araroa

by Naomi Arnold

Alone in the wilderness


Award-winning journalist Naomi Arnold spends nearly nine months walking the length of New Zealand on Te Araroa, fulfilling a 20-year dream. On her own, she traverses mountains, rivers, cities and plains from summer to spring, walking on through days of thick mud, blazing sun and lightning storms, and into cold, starlit nights. Along the way she encounters colourful locals and travellers who delight and inspire her.

An upbeat, fascinating and inspiring memoir of solitude, love and friendship, and the joys and pains to be found in the wilderness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Adventure, Walking, Travel, Nature

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2025

About the author

Naomi Arnold is an award-winning journalist based in Nelson, New Zealand.

Reviews

[Jacqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this, with one caveat that dropped what was going to be a strong 4 down to maybe 3.5. And maybe my caveat is prudish and silly? But when the (married) author describes her big crush on a guy she walks with for a while, and how heartbroken she was when they separated, it made me feel sad even though she says her husband basically gave her a free pass to go for it if she wanted (?!?).

Ignoring that, an excellent story that definitely transported me right onto the trail!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2024 I was addicted to the show that was Naomi Arnold walking the last few 100 kms of Te Araroa through the brutal Raetea forest and eventually making it to the end point of Cape Reinga. It was like watching the best kind of emotional reality tv and I remember eagerly refreshing my Insta stories to see if she'd survived the night and I cried when she got to the end.

This book is the result of 9 months on the track, from Bluff to Reinga, the length of the country. Apart from being funny and tear jerking, emotional and heart warming, it's really well written, enticing readers into our stunning outdoors through her evocative and beautiful language. A must read for any lover of tramping and doing insane things.

[Emma Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Kiwi and someone who enjoys hiking, this book bought me a great deal of joy. From the beautiful descriptions of our stunning country, to the blunt, witty “she’ll be right” humour of the quirky individuals met along the journey, I found myself smiling, laughing and thoroughly absorbed with every chapter.

Highly recommend to anyone who calls this place home. A good reminder that kindness and beauty is everywhere if you know where to look.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Northbound was by turns savagely honest and frustratingly private, each chapter captivating as a section of Te Araroa coaxing me along the path (and keeping me up past hikers’ midnight).

If you’re reading Northbound to find out why people walk Te Araroa (or the PCT or AT), you’re barking up the wrong kauri. Asking ‘why the TA?’ should return the same answer as ‘Why do you drink so much wine on a Wednesday?’: ‘Fuck you for asking.’

Others’ complaining of Naomi’s frankness about her crush on ‘Stefan’ are prudish, immature and boring; welcome to the real world. Imagine the conversations she had with Doug both about the situation, and about publishing it, knowing he and their loved ones would sit with it. Regardless of their personal arrangements, she was honest that in this life, we often forge connections with people in unexpected, partly transgressive and still deeply human ways, and pretending they don’t exist doesn’t make them go away.

But Naomi also clearly hid some details from us, too, to protect herself, or Doug, or both, or because we don’t actually have ownership of them. I think the beauty of us not knowing the full story is that despite the fact she wrote a book about her experience, we’re not entitled to the entirety of it; she documented the parts that are well-rendered publicly, and kept the rest of her nine months of bittersweet agony to herself. If you want to know the rest of the story, go and walk it yourself. But actually, do go and walk it for yourself.

The bit I was disappointed about was how invested she made me in her toes at the end, and we never found out if they’re ok?!

Nga mihi nui, Namoi.

Ka kite.

[Sonya Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I walked Te Araroa South Island NOBO a year before Naomi so was cool to relive my own journey through her. She did it much tougher than me in barely meeting anyone along the way, and continuing her North Island journey over the winter. Was amazing to read of her 60 odd kilometre walks overnight and with minimal food by the end. Cool also to read how she felt changed by the trail.

[✧.*aleks·˚ ༘ · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is just awesome.
many people talk about wanting an "ordinary person" competitor in the olympics to guage just how good professional sports people are, and this is what i would count this memoir as.
Arnold provides an authentic and beautifully recounted description of her trip on the famous Te Araroa in an attempt to fufill a 20-year dream and i couldn't be more thankful to her for curating all those adventures into an insightful reflection.
she tackles harsh concepts like faithfulness, self doubt, pushing your body to absolute limits, and how love and friendship triumphs the deepest struggles.
as an asipiring journalist, it's unique for me to see how writing styles can be adapted from news to longform non-fiction through novels.
one day this will be me, but for now i look over Arnold's shoulder.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Te Araroa on my list to hike confirmed. Loved the hike your own hike mantra and the tenacity to get it done. Didn't love the light suprise dose of polyamory that felt like a huge left turn, but bookends of harrowing/joyful hiking was a delight. Made me miss home and kiwiana. The description of the people and their stories made this.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has walked the North Island leg of Te Araroa, I can't recommend this book enough. I listened to the audio book which was read brilliantly by Naomi herself. She has captured the essence of all the random interactions and happenings along the way, and I loved her descriptions of all of those mini interactions. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and grinned away while listening too. She's also nailed the way it feels to be a woman walking alone.

[Lisa Brandl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because of the different setting. I know virtually nothing about the geography of NZ, except for what I saw in LOTR, so the descriptions were fascinating. It was also the downside to the story as well, because it was hard for me to follow exactly. I was listening as an audiobook, so it wasn’t like I could grab a map or look it up on my phone. I went with it though and enjoyed the story and her journey. This is at least my 10th book on a thru-hike, and as it compares to others I thought it was pretty good since I didn’t feel she was self-pitying, or did dumb things. She did a pretty amazing feat by doing this hike alone most of the time. I can’t imagine trudging through all that mud - I would have given up. I found the differences between NZ and USA thru-hiking culture fascinating.

[Trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I needed to read at exactly the right time. It helped ease the ache of homesickness as I escaped into her life on the trail. Like a warm blanket to my nervous system. I had to intentionally limit how much I read in one sitting so that I could drag it out. So fun knowing so many of the places and being able to “see” some of the areas she describes. Got to the end, went back to the start, and read it all over again.

“The rain would cease, the world would turn into the morning sun and I would get up again.”

[David Bowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The raw emotion and honesty of Naomi Arnold lifted this book way above the usual "travelogue".
Extremely well written as well, which made it impossible to put down!

[Gayle Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps 4.5

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read - a raw, honest and very vulnerable account of self-discovery and the realities of walking Te Araroa

[Sarah Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read, thoroughly enjoyed reading through Naomi’s journey as she traversed the Te Araroa trail. While I don’t think I’d travel it myself, it has inspired me to explore and hike around more of our beautiful country. Would recommend!

[sheerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’d like to do more hikes if only men didn’t exist

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 star
Enjoying reading books on Te Araroa at the moment. Found parts of this book interesting and others less so, with some parts feeling rushed.
It fascinating the types of self discovery that happen on these walks. Such an awesome feat to have walked all that way.
Amazing effort from Naomi.

[Freya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so enjoyable and hard to put down! Naomi writes with such immediacy and her descriptions of nature and food were so good. Her interactions with people she met on trail were often hilarious but also touching and indicative of how cool our country can be. I’ve fantasised about walking Te Araroa and this only made me want to do it more!!

[Sarah Cleland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I began this book dreaming out when I could carve up time to walk Te Araroa, having just started my own walking club. I was left wondering if I had the spirit and stubbornness that drove Naomi to complete the trial and make it all the way to Cape Reinga. This is a true grit story of the pain and determination to complete what you have set out to do. I was in awe of the level of loneliness that was found on the trail and the ability to walk through it and come out the end as someone new, someone more connected, someone who found an underlying strength that all of must have hidden away - dormant until me push ourselves to the limit amongst the elements of nature. I highly recommend joining Naomi as she walks the length of New Zealand, you will learn more about our country, the nature of thru-hiking, and be inspired to push yourself towards that adventure that has been calling to you.

[Heloise Jacobs · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Ruthita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wowsers! She did it hard! Not to say the Te Araroa (the thru hiking trail that covers the length of New Zealand) is in anyway easy, but boy!
I’ve read another book ‘Bewildered’ about a woman heading Southbound (from top of north island to bottom of south) known as SOBO’s, but this northbound (NOBO) experience was difficult.
It took nine months as she was determined to walk every inch, which meant pausing it through injury, waiting out storms and retuning back to do sections she missed.
South Island sounds do-able but the North island sounded like hell with all the road walking. Defo won’t waste my time doing that section! She did attack it over winter though and the trail was devoid of people!
Regardless I really did enjoy journeying along the trail with Naomi, and she has such an easeful writing style. And I am still inspired to keep hiking - I promise ahaha!

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book so good I’m already looking forward to re-reading it

[Jess Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve got to walk this goddamn trail

[Barry Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Te Araroa is the national tramping route, running the length of New Zealand - formed from existing routes it officially opened in 2011 but had life before then. Naomi Arnold spent more than six months walking it (north from Bluff to Cape Reinga) in 2024. I was so sure I remembered her posting from the walk but I can't find whatever posts I thought I'd seen. Naomi spoke at Word 25 in Christchurch in August: that tipped me over the edge into finding a copy of this book to read.

I'm not a tramper (I did a few tramps when I lived in the UK many years ago and do a lot of walking around cities when travelling) but I loved Northbound. Starting at the height of summer was no guarantee of good weather: Naomi faces putting up an unfamiliar tent in icy rain and lashing wind. For the first few days of the walk, I thought it sounded nice, but then she hits the Longwoods in Western Southland, with days of struggle through mud "biblical in scale", sometimes up to her thighs.

But I was not ready. I could never have been ready for what was to come that day, and the next, and the next. The delight soon faded to astonishment, then betrayal, then rage, then despair.

This is just the beginning! That sort of thing plus a fear of heights mean I could never undertake a walk like this. Naomi, on the other hand, is determined to follow the line Every *** Inch (EFI).

She writes wonderfully about the experience - the brutality of the landscape at times, its beauty at others , and its occasional banality, particularly when she has to walk on roads. While night walks are sometimes needed, she actually chooses to walk at night to enjoy the stars - there's a great passage as she walks alongside a canal towards Tekapo. There are times when her body needs rest and repair (the state of her feet at the end sounds gruesome!) and understandably the trail walker's diet gets a little tiresome.

Her hope is to meet and join up with trail buddies, but because there are breaks in her walking for work and other reasons, she ends up walking through winter, and barely encountering anyone going her way. Obviously, it became lonely for her, spending days without company, not knowing when she might encounter the next human. At a point somewhere near Whanganui, she writes

But this was no life. It wasn't even what I desired; I'd originally wanted to find a trail family. But I knew loneliness now, and how it sat in your gut as a yearning, as a hunger, a twisting, radiating pain that on the worst days would make me stop on trail and double over in agony, gasping heaving sobs. I was desperate to lock eyes with another person, to have the relief of talking, of being perceived and understood.

[I've been there: years ago, I reached a point where I understood the appeal of drinking to erase, and of more permanent measures.] Naomi does, of course, meet various people along the way - sometimes her friends or family, sometimes other walkers, sometimes locals, and her partner is often contactable (and equally lonely). She doesn't really dwell on loneliness - it gets maybe ten mentions, and brilliantly evokes what it is to encounter someone after a long period of not doing so.

I thought the best was when she comes across the teenage girls in Northland with their quad bike - tears were imminent as I read through this part - but better was to come, when she finishes the walk at the Cape, has 1% on her phone, is broken and battered after two solid days and nights of walking with no food, and needs to somehow get to town. The tour bus driver had me in full flow.

Someone at Word asked Naomi what she felt when she got to the end: "I wanted to turn around and walk back"!

[Simon Smithies · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a bit of a Te Araroa (TA) kick, I’ve finished Stefan Fairweather’s ‘North to South’ and Naomi Arnold’s ‘North Bound’ in rapid succession. The two books are living together in my head so I’m going to review both together - hope it’s not too confusing.
Both books are must-reads for anyone interested in the TA. Both describe their author’s journey sequentially, with Stefan travelling south bound (SOBO) from Cape Reinga to Bluff, and Naomi north (NOBO). Although there are many similarities between the two reads, each author emphasises different aspects of the experience. Both authors do a great job of bringing you along on the walk with them, describing both the country travelled and their consequent ‘inner’ journeys - the very real mental challenges and rewards. The difference between the two books is one of emphasis. Stefan’s focus is external, emphasising the ‘country traveled’, whereas Naomi’s focus is internal, emphasising the personal impact of the journey. Naomi’s book is a real page turner - you’re dragged along on a sometimes harrowing and ultimately life changing trip which is very hard to put down. If you’re planning to walk the TA, read her North Bound to understand just what you’re getting in for.
Stefan’s book is a detailed and comprehensive account, with a wealth of information about the trail itself. Read this to kick start your planning. North to South is rich with anecdotes, history and background around NZ and the trail, along with snippets of poetry and philosophical musings. The appendix has a variety of resources, from useful websites and references through to a daily schedule and even a list of his ten favourite pies.
Highly recommend both books.

[Deirdre E Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a New Zealander, I was disappointed by the whingeing experienced tramper, who sounded totally unprepared for the Te Araroa Trail.
What with a tent she forgot how to put up, thank goodness for wifi hotspots and youtube, lack of standard tramping apparel, in plastic bags for added protection against spillage of ANYTHING in your only backpack with your only possessions for the next however long the stretch was.
Sadly the author included all our lovely Native Flora and Fauna and forgot her manners leaving out the english translation for the foreign nature lover, as a multi-cultural country Maori and English are expected on Crown Land.
The outburst of bullshit from whatever age angst the author suffered throughout the book was reasonably tolerable, for me this is an example of the lone, unprepared, female, loose in Nature that will kill you. One you hope will not be a Search and Rescue fund user as family men and women volunteer their family time for unfortunate accidents not stoopid holistically ill equipped phone homers trying to find themselves in our Native landscape.
Thanks your experience in your words Naomi Arnold, much appreciated :-)

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

How I rate:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Rare, Perfection
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommend.
⭐⭐⭐ It was okay.
⭐⭐ I didn't enjoy it.
⭐ DNF

This was actually more like a 4.25 star read.

I am not a hiker. I like gentle forest or coastal tramps of a couple of hours duration, thanks to various chronic injuries sustained over the years, so walking the Te Araroa trail is not something I would ever contemplate (with or without injuries, I strongly suspect) . I picked this book up on a whim because I love anything about nature and also because it's written by a fellow kiwi. I was hooked almost immediately. Naomi has such a pleasant writing style. Misadventures happen but she doesn't wallow in them and overall the book is upbeat and inspiring. And every page is interesting. I burned through this book in a couple of days and enjoyed every minute. Now I'm hoping to find her instagram because I so desperately want photos to see some of what she experienced.

[lucy black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Northbound is an immersive memoir of one woman's long walk. Naomi Arnold walks the length of the country along the Te Araroa track, relaying to the reader her decisions, fears, triumphs and low points. The memoir, like the track starts of in pretty straightforward motion but diverts and halts and winds around, the pace is tentative, then speedy, then tentative once again.

Arnold describes physicality especially well, the sweaty merino, the munted feet and the soul sucking mud. Surprisingly, three quarters through the memoir she also shows real emotional vulnerability describing her complicated and intense friendship with a fellow hiker. Arnold touches on the way her brain works and she is transparent about her obsessive nature and her disregard of some hiking rules, the way she talks about her nutrition and sleep patterns is refreshing and fun.

This isn't your usual fitness, inspiration memoir, Arnold is original and honest, she won't necessarily convince anyone to do the trail with this book but I would say she will inspire readers to achieve their own goals and reflect realistically along the way.

[Carl Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Naomi Arnold recounts her trek along New Zealand's Te Araroa, a 3,000 km trail along both the North Island and South Island. I enjoyed many things about the writing: her honesty about its challenges and the impacts they had on her, her pace that let her see the trail in all four seasons, and her ability to relate her mental and emotional state. Not being a New Zealander hampered me a bit, as I wasn't familiar with the names of the flora and fauna she encountered, and frequently referring to a more detailed map to fix the place and her progress in mind, but they didn't hinder the narrative. A rich addition to hiking memoirs!

[Barnaby Haszard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would've thought that the muddiest book of the year would also be the funniest and most romantic? I love Naomi Arnold's writing in any genre: there's a precision and seeming effortlessness in her work, honed over decades as one of New Zealand's best journalists, a weight of words that never feels like a burden. So a 3000km, nine-month, thru-hike feels like a subject to match her talent (with apologies to past subjects, including the sky itself). The real-time Instagram stories of her Te Araroa progress felt definitive, but here is a lightning-fast account that will stay with anyone who reads it for a long time.

[Lyn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I enjoy this book? Not completely. I admire the commitment and stamina it took to undertake such a journey, but if I am completely honest I found the book repetitive in many parts. There were interesting characters along the way, and the generosity of strangers that helped Naomi to make it to the end. It takes a lot of courage to persevere with an arduous journey like this, especially a woman walking alone, so kudos for having the guts to continue when many would have given up.