So, what can be so hard about getting food you may ask?

When Tramping in your own back yard there are most likely a couple of things you need to know;

• Where you can purchase food when need it, and

• Where food can be dropped of to you if you cant purchase food items.

Both of these factors are important, however in a lot of cases the local Tramper will have some home grown knowledge that will make re supply a lot easier i.e. Public Holidays, School Holidays, Trading hours, Locations & Accessibility. This knowledge will normally come to you quite easily.

When Tramping overseas these 2 factors remain in play plus a lot of others along with all of the knowledge that comes easy with being a local

• What food can I take into New Zealand (NZ), I have a friend that makes outstanding Beef Jerky, can I take it into NZ and then post it to re supply locations along with other items

• I also use Vegemite, in Australia it comes in a tube, can I get the same in NZ “ So Convenient”

• What packaging are certain foods sold in, it may sound silly however I use 1 Litre Pump Water bottles for my water filtration and carrying along with a bladder.

• Where can I get my foods from and will I need to change from de-hydrated to more commercially purchased items due to availability

I am one of the more fortunate Trampers this year, I have the envious privilege of spending 2 weeks, on holiday, in New Zealand prior to my Te ARAROA adventure starting in October so I can investigate and hopefully resolve a lot of the questions that have come up in my preparation.

Whilst I want to remain as easy going (Flexible) as possible in some cases like the Richmond Ranges when I will be carrying 8 - 10 days food this information will become critical.

I will post blogs with updates to this information throughout my Adventure!

Peter