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The 270-km markup
Over the next three months the Department of Conservation will sign through 270 kilometres of DoC track as part of Te Araroa's route through New Zealand.
Nelson Lakes National Park tracks are being marked up already. The Queen Charlotte and Richmond Range tracks will be next. In Northland, the Whananaki walkway, the Raetea Forest track and the newly upgraded Bream Head track will also be flagged as part of Te Araroa.
Under Te Araroa Trust's agreement with the Department of Conservation, destination signs at the entrance to all relevant track systems will feature Te Araroa's logo, but within those track systems it's also necessary to flag which tracks are part of the New Zealand route. That's being done with a small metal logo which identifies the through trail.
One third of Te Araroa's 2,920-km route is DoC track - 884 km in all. Programmes are now being put in place with DoC conservancies to sign up a further 614 kilometres of track in the out-years 2009 and 2010, in time for Te Araroa's scheduled opening in December that year.
