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One Step at a Time: 3,000 km of Grit, Growth & Grace on Te Araroa
362 pages, Paperback
Published February 10, 2026
About the author
Shalane Hopkins
2 books2 followersShalane Hopkins is an author, creative strategist, and life coach based in Otago, New Zealand. After walking 3,000 km along Te Araroa, she brought the lessons of resilience, authenticity, and courage into her writing and coaching.
Through her work, Shalane empowers people to overcome challenges, embrace their authentic selves, and take brave steps toward meaningful change. She writes for those who want to grow without losing themselves in the process.
Her debut memoir, One Step at a Time, shares her journey of adventure, self-discovery, and learning to move through fear one step at a time. You can find her work on her website at www.shalanehopkins.com, where she also shares tools and insights to support personal growth.
Through her work, Shalane empowers people to overcome challenges, embrace their authentic selves, and take brave steps toward meaningful change. She writes for those who want to grow without losing themselves in the process.
Her debut memoir, One Step at a Time, shares her journey of adventure, self-discovery, and learning to move through fear one step at a time. You can find her work on her website at www.shalanehopkins.com, where she also shares tools and insights to support personal growth.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Full Disclosure: “One Step At A Time” author Shalane Hopkins emailed me to ask if I would read and review this book. I looked up some further information about it and decided that, yes, this would be a good choice for me to read and review.
First, let’s start by talking about the author. Shalane is Canadian, but she was living in Austrailia when she decided to explore New Zealand. She googled trails in New Zealand and found out about a new trail that was just being built. It is called, Te Araroa and it runs the entire length of New Zealand from North to South. It is 3,000 kilometres which is 1,860 miles American.
Luckily for her, she was able to find a friend who wanted to go with her – another young lady, named Alex. At first, Shalane was perfectly willing to do the trail alone, if she had to, but I’m glad she didn’t have to. Hiking Te Araroa is not like hiking a well-travelled trail such as the Appalachian or the Pacific Crest. This was a brand new, unfinished, not well-organized trail that had few hikers who ever hiked it, let alone completed it! It wasn’t well-mapped and wasn’t supported by Trail Angels. Trail Angels are people who meet up with hikers at different points along a well-established trail and provide water, food and shelter to hikers. Many Trail Angels are former hikers themselves, so they know what kind of support those hiking will require and they are prepared to provide it. But not on this trail.
Alex and Shalane actually did this walk in 2010 – 2011. The book is a new version of a previous release and now is going to be available to a wider audience worldwide. It will be available from Amazon and Shalane’s website on February 10th
From the time they started, there were doubts as the route took them along a beach called, Ninety-Mile Beach. With 50 pound packs on their backs, the blisters and aches and pains began almost immediately
Of course, there were other challenges all along the way. One big challenge they faced was navigating. The trail, being new and unfinished was not well-marked. Sometimes they had to make their best guess as to which way to go when they got to a fork in the trail. At those times, they would split up and one person explore one way, one person explore the other and then meet back in 15 minutes to see if they were able to notice any trail markers or signs that would help them out. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes the trail took them through or around privately owned land, land that was being used for livestock (like bulls!) and even through major cities where people, of course, looked at them like they were crazy and had lots of questions. Some reasonable and some kind of weird.
One of the things that impressed me about the trail were the number of water crossings they had to do. In some cases only to find out later that there was a bridge within a reasonable walking distance, unfortunately. .
As is typical with these types of long distance hiking trips, sometimes just sheer determination and will are all you have to rely on. And I think that makes for a great story. I’ve read a great many of these outdoor adventure memoirs about a great many trails. But never one from New Zealand.
I enjoyed this book. I went through it very quickly, it reads easily. I liked the author’s honest writing style. She tells us not only what is happening, but also her thoughts and feelings about the situation and she doesn’t shy away from being truthful about what’s going on inside her.
I would give this book a solid 4 star rating. It stacks right up to any other adventure story I’ve ever read but it has some unique features as well. I enjoyed learning a bit more about New Zealand.
So, by the end of this tale, Shalane and her friend, Alex walked 2,829 kilometers over 171 days. They even stopped to help following the earthquakes in New Zealand.
"One Step At A Time" is an interesting and unique outdoor adventure story that I recommend.
I want to say thank you to Shalane Hopkins for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book before anyone else! I appreciate that!
Here is a link to Shalane's website for futher information: https://shalanehopkins.com/
First, let’s start by talking about the author. Shalane is Canadian, but she was living in Austrailia when she decided to explore New Zealand. She googled trails in New Zealand and found out about a new trail that was just being built. It is called, Te Araroa and it runs the entire length of New Zealand from North to South. It is 3,000 kilometres which is 1,860 miles American.
Luckily for her, she was able to find a friend who wanted to go with her – another young lady, named Alex. At first, Shalane was perfectly willing to do the trail alone, if she had to, but I’m glad she didn’t have to. Hiking Te Araroa is not like hiking a well-travelled trail such as the Appalachian or the Pacific Crest. This was a brand new, unfinished, not well-organized trail that had few hikers who ever hiked it, let alone completed it! It wasn’t well-mapped and wasn’t supported by Trail Angels. Trail Angels are people who meet up with hikers at different points along a well-established trail and provide water, food and shelter to hikers. Many Trail Angels are former hikers themselves, so they know what kind of support those hiking will require and they are prepared to provide it. But not on this trail.
Alex and Shalane actually did this walk in 2010 – 2011. The book is a new version of a previous release and now is going to be available to a wider audience worldwide. It will be available from Amazon and Shalane’s website on February 10th
From the time they started, there were doubts as the route took them along a beach called, Ninety-Mile Beach. With 50 pound packs on their backs, the blisters and aches and pains began almost immediately
Of course, there were other challenges all along the way. One big challenge they faced was navigating. The trail, being new and unfinished was not well-marked. Sometimes they had to make their best guess as to which way to go when they got to a fork in the trail. At those times, they would split up and one person explore one way, one person explore the other and then meet back in 15 minutes to see if they were able to notice any trail markers or signs that would help them out. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes the trail took them through or around privately owned land, land that was being used for livestock (like bulls!) and even through major cities where people, of course, looked at them like they were crazy and had lots of questions. Some reasonable and some kind of weird.
One of the things that impressed me about the trail were the number of water crossings they had to do. In some cases only to find out later that there was a bridge within a reasonable walking distance, unfortunately. .
As is typical with these types of long distance hiking trips, sometimes just sheer determination and will are all you have to rely on. And I think that makes for a great story. I’ve read a great many of these outdoor adventure memoirs about a great many trails. But never one from New Zealand.
I enjoyed this book. I went through it very quickly, it reads easily. I liked the author’s honest writing style. She tells us not only what is happening, but also her thoughts and feelings about the situation and she doesn’t shy away from being truthful about what’s going on inside her.
I would give this book a solid 4 star rating. It stacks right up to any other adventure story I’ve ever read but it has some unique features as well. I enjoyed learning a bit more about New Zealand.
So, by the end of this tale, Shalane and her friend, Alex walked 2,829 kilometers over 171 days. They even stopped to help following the earthquakes in New Zealand.
"One Step At A Time" is an interesting and unique outdoor adventure story that I recommend.
I want to say thank you to Shalane Hopkins for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book before anyone else! I appreciate that!
Here is a link to Shalane's website for futher information: https://shalanehopkins.com/
February 25, 2026
Absolutely loved this book! I would look forward to nighttime so I could continue “walking” the Te Araroa Trail with Shalane and Alex. The book is written in very fluid language and is full of raw emotions. You truly feel as though you are walking the trail with them every step of the way.
A great story of resilience, friendship, respect, and humility. An authentic, honest memoir that transports you through New Zealand’s beauty and hardships.
Thank you, Shalane, for taking me on your journey and helping me discover a part of New Zealand I didn’t know. Congratulations on such an amazing endeavor!
A great story of resilience, friendship, respect, and humility. An authentic, honest memoir that transports you through New Zealand’s beauty and hardships.
Thank you, Shalane, for taking me on your journey and helping me discover a part of New Zealand I didn’t know. Congratulations on such an amazing endeavor!
February 28, 2026
A captivating account of how two women’s love for adventure brought them personal growth, friendship, and so much more. If you want to feel inspired then this is the book for you. A reminder that we can do anything we put our minds to.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews