The Tongariro Alpine Crossing runs over the shoulders of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, two of the three sacred peaks that Ngāti Tūwharetoa chief Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino IV gifted to the Crown in 1887, specifically to stop them being sold off and broken up. The gift became New Zealand’s first national park in 1894, and in 1993 Tongariro became the first place in the world recognised by UNESCO purely for its cultural and spiritual significance to an indigenous people, not just its scenery. The pairing with Rotorua, an hour or so north, extends the same theme into Te Arawa culture, geothermal life and performance.
At Cape Reinga, Māori believe the spirits of the dead travel north along Te Ara Wairua, the spirits’ pathway, descending the roots of an ancient pōhutukawa tree into the underworld before surfacing briefly at the Three Kings Islands for one last look back at the land. The Te Paki coastal walk takes in the same headland the spirits are said to cross, giving the walk a weight well beyond its scenery, paired here with the wider history of the Far North, the first part of New Zealand settled by Māori arriving from Hawaiki.
The Rim Walk circles the sandstone walls of Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park, Luritja and Arrernte country for more than 20,000 years, taking in the Lost City rock domes and the Garden of Eden waterhole. Nearby, sessions run by the Luritja community at Lilla or Karrke pair the walk with bush tucker, traditional tools and the area’s deep spiritual significance, told by traditional custodians rather than through a visitor centre display.
Ubirr and Nourlangie hold two of Kakadu’s main rock art galleries, kunbim, painted and repainted by the Bininj/Mungguy people over many thousands of years, since for them the act of painting mattered more than preserving any single image. A short, easy walk through both sites, best timed for the colour at Ubirr’s sunset lookout, pairs naturally with a guided cultural cruise on the East Alligator River or a visit to the Warradjan Cultural Centre nearby.
