Te Araroa Ready 2-Day Backcountry Skills Intensive

A 2-day course aimed at essential bush skills, navigation, river crossings and bushcraft skills. Appropriate for recreational trampers, hunters, trail runners or anyone adventuring outside.

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Introduction

Prepare for the realities of long-distance tramping in Aotearoa with this practical two-day course designed for Te Araroa walkers and anyone planning multi-day backcountry adventures.

Spend time building real-world navigation, river awareness, and trip planning skills in the Peel Forest environment. This course focuses on judgement, preparation, and confidence; helping you make safer decisions when conditions change and the trail gets challenging.

Whether you’re walking sections of Te Araroa or preparing for extended trips, this intensive course combines essential skills into one focused learning experience.

Overview

$599 inc gst

2 Days

Location:

Start and finish at the Peel Forest Outdoors Centre base located 20 minutes outside of Geraldine.

Time:

Day 1: 9:00am – late afternoon
Day 2: 9:00am – approximately 4:00pm.

Age requirements:

Suitable for adults and older teens (16+).

What you’ll learn

Navigation & Route Planning

Reading Topo50 maps and understanding terrain features
Route selection and travel planning for multi-day journeys
Bearings, navigation strategies and decision-making in changing conditions
Using GPS and smartphone tools alongside traditional navigation

River Awareness & Decision Skills

Recognising river hazards and assessing conditions
Decision-making frameworks — when to cross, when to wait, and alternative options
Understanding how weather and terrain influence river risk

Backcountry Systems & Preparation

Packing for multi-day travel — what matters and what doesn’t
Trip intentions and emergency communication
Weather interpretation for long-distance journeys
Developing personal systems for safer travel

What to expect

This is a hands-on, field-based course combining practical skill sessions with real-world scenarios. Over two days you’ll build experience navigating, planning routes, and thinking through decisions commonly faced on Te Araroa and other long-distance tracks.

Our focus is not just on techniques, but on helping you develop confidence and judgement in dynamic environments.

Who this course is for

This course is ideal for:

People preparing for Te Araroa (NOBO or SOBO)
Section hikers planning multi-day backcountry trips
Trampers wanting stronger navigation and river awareness
Anyone wanting to feel more confident travelling independently in the outdoors.

Accommodation Provided

Off-grid cabin accommodation is available onsite, for participants wanting to stay overnight between course days. This is included in your course registration fee. These insulated bunk-style huts offer a simple DOC-hut style experience with solar shower and composting toilets.

Food

Participants provide their own food. Please bring meals, snacks and water for both days.

Our Guarantee

No cancellations. We have many sites to choose from to help make our courses resilient. We’ll do our best to run no-matter the conditions. In the unlikely event we have to postpone due to extreme weather, we’ll find a date that works for you.
No minimum numbers. Even if you’re the only person on the course – we’ll run! Lucky you.
No stress. Feel like you need a bit more time to soak in the learning? We can arrange private instruction at a discounted rate to help you get that bit further – so you don’t need to pay for another identical course.

Look at some of our participants in action!

Course Schedule

Day 1

Day 2

Day 1

Day 2

Ready to book!

26 Sep