Teenage girls to cross three national parks back to back
Saturday 30 November, 2024
School is out for year 12 students, and three from Motueka are doing anything but lazing about.
The all-girl trio are about to take on a 362km trek across three neighbouring national parks in the top of the South Island, on an expedition expected to last at least 18 days.
Isabelle Schwarzenbach, 17, Hannah Roborgh, 16, and Harriet Arnott, 16, plan to cross the Nelson Lakes, Kahurangi and Abel Tasman national parks in succession.
That would involve traversing the first two by foot and the third by kayak, travelling by bike in between.
The mountainous trip covered 15,075 vertical metres in total, Hannah said.
“That’s almost two Everests. Saying it out loud definitely makes it quite scary. But it’s important just to break it down day by day ... [and] remind ourselves to just enjoy every little moment."
The three, all students at Motueka High School, were inspired by three male friends who walked the full length of Kahurangi National Park last year, Isabelle said.
“We heard some stories from their trip – what a cool experience it is to be away from society for such a long amount of time and just purely be with two of your friends and that’s all you’ve got.
“We thought, well, why can’t three girls do ... a similar mission?”
The girls were due to set off from Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes on Sunday, where they planned to visit all of its named lakes - before biking about 50km to Owen Junction to start the Kahurangi leg.
They would then hike 127km, climbing nearly 9000m in total over at least six peaks, to Anatoki Valley near Tākaka in Golden Bay.
From there, they would bike to Wainui Bay and kayak along the Abel Tasman coast (weather permitting, otherwise they would walk). There would be stops for swimming in every named bay.
Their parents would drop food at three locations, one halfway through Kahurangi, which is New Zealand's second largest national park.
A third of the expedition would be off-track.
The three had “a good level of experience in the outdoors” with some experience of navigation from adventure racing, Isabelle said. They would be equipped with maps, GPS and compasses.
But the longest tramp she had been on, Dusky Track in Fiordland, lasted nine days with family. Four days was the longest hike the girls had done together, so this would be “a bit of a step up”.
Harriet said: “Tramping and being outdoors is quite a big part of our lives for all of us, so it’s quite an awesome opportunity to be able to do something this intense and really just push our skills and try and develop and feel more confident in the outdoors.”
They were looking forward to the challenge, Hannah said.
“We also want to try to inspire more women to get into the outdoors and prove that women are just as capable in the outdoors as men.”
After lots of emails and organising, they couldn't wait to start.
Tramping brought a simplicity, Hannah said, with just walking, eating and sleeping to focus on each day.
“When you get out there, it makes you realise how small you are ... It kind of puts you back in your place.”
The girls have been supported with a Federated Mountain Clubs youth expedition scholarship, a photographer, and food and gear from several sponsors.
