9 days left in London, 4 weeks until I arrive in Auckland and a month and a half before  I start the walk.  The date I have in mind is 1/11/11.

I’m doing as much research as I can, yet apart from heading north to south, and visiting a few “must sees”, I have no set route laid out. Most people who walk the length of NZ follow the Te Araroa Trail. It’s an awesome trail, and I’ll certainly use it as a guideline, but I won’t confine myself to it. When I walk I like to wander and explore, to go off on my own crooked tangent. I get bored of  well worn trails.

On the North Island there are also many forests and volcanoes that the trail misses. I’ll also hear about many sights, places and people to visit while on the walk and I want the freedom to veer off. For me too much planning = less freedom once on the trip.

Thinking about this had me come up with a cool idea: interactive route planning! There will be times when I’ll be torn between two options.  Instead of worrying about it myself, I’ll hand it over to you, the audience, to vote on. I’m also very open to being steered in certain directions by recommendations made by yourselves. Maybe we could make the route map interactive…… Oh the possiblities.

I think it’s time for some feedback….