PODCAST · society
Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast
by Abigail Hannah
Explore New Zealand with Aotearoa Adventures - your ultimate guide to travel, adventure, and the outdoors.Each week, host Abigail Hannah brings you inspiring stories from everyday people, covering tramping, vanlife, bikepacking, road trips, and so much more.Get beginner tips and practical advice for every adventure, from camping under the stars to multi-week expeditions. Whether you’re a local, on a working holiday, or visiting, this podcast will inspire you to explore New Zealand deeper and connect with nature.
Episodes
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192: Six Week Road Trip in the Top of the South Island with Abigail & Isaac
Abigail & Isaac share all that the Top of the South Island has to offer and how they spent six weeks road tripping around a region that most people skip. From multi-day hikes on the Old Ghost Road and Abel Tasman, to long drives on gravel roads, to hidden caves and hidden coves, they share plenty...
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191: Backcountry Huts as Art and Tiny Home Living with Kemi & Niko
Niko grew up on the West Coast near Punakaiki and is one half of Kemi & Niko, who are artists that create miniature backcountry huts. She shares how seven huts placed in the Wellington bush in 2014 grew into a Hut of the Month practice, built from salvaged timber and tin cans. They research a…
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190: Family Tramping on a Budget and Child-Free Trips with Shoshannah Shand
Shoshannah Shand is a solo mum who shares tramping and camping adventures with her two kids to her large online audience. She shares how she gets her family outdoors often and on a budget. She talks through her non-negotiables, decent rain gear and merino layers, hunting secondhand gear, and…
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189: Moving to Aotearoa from Chicago and Building a Life in Queenstown with Viktoria De Dominicis
Viktoria De Dominicis left the rat race in Chicago a decade ago and now calls Queenstown home. She shares how a spur-of-the-moment first trip to India in her twenties opened up years of travelling through Southeast Asia and South America, before she landed in New Zealand and knew within a year…
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188: Bikepacking 3,000km in New Zealand on Tour Aotearoa with Laura Bell
Laura Bell is a Kiwi living in Melbourne who came home this year to cycle the length of the country. With time off between jobs, she took on Tour Aotearoa, the 3,000 km bikepacking route from Cape Reinga to Bluff, riding it with her dad. She shares how they rode semi-supported over 31 days,...
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187: From Beginner Trail Running to Setting Course Records with David Haunschmidt
David Haunschmidt is an emergency medicine doctor who moved from Scotland to New Zealand. Working around shift work, he shares how days walking DOC tracks turned into trail running, then ultramarathons. In just two years David found himself on podiums, with course records, an XTERRA world title…
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186: Packrafting and Tramping 48 Days Through Fiordland with Penzy Dinsdale
Penzy Dinsdale works in expedition medicine, from Antarctic ships to Everest Base Camp. She shares her 48-day traverse of Fiordland, the sequel to her 85-day Southern Alps journey, which together complete a full South Island traverse from Farewell Spit to Slope Point, a goal she has had since...
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185: Thru-Hiking New Zealand Before Te Araroa Opened with Shalane Hopkins
Shalane Hopkins is an author, speaker and coach based in Otago, originally from Canada. In 2010 she walked the length of the country on Te Araroa, more than 3000 km from Cape Reinga to Bluff, before the trail had officially opened. She shares how she walked it with friend, a backpacker she had...
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184: Turning New Zealand Work Trips into Solo Great Walk Adventures with Nick Thompson
Nick Thompson is a squash court engineer from the UK who builds all-glass courts for events like the New Zealand Open. Since 2022 he has returned almost every year, tagging on extra days to explore New Zealand and leading him to run Great Walks in a single day. He shares about that first year,...
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183: Four Years of Aotearoa Adventures and No Home Address with Host Abigail Hannah
To mark four years of Aotearoa Adventures, the tables turn and Abigail is interviewed. She shares her story, from growing up in India and moving to New Zealand at 18 to the 2020 South Island road trip in a 1990 rust box van that first opened her eyes to life on the road and made her world a…
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WE'RE HITTING PAUSE
After four years and exactly 182 weekly episodes (plus a few bonuses) we are taking a pause. Since 2022, every single Friyay without fail (minus Christmas and New Years), a new epiosde has landed in your feed. Adventures from the tops of mountains, remote coastlines, hidden trails, icy glaciers,...
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182: Finishing a Two Month Slow Paddle Sea Kayak Expedition with Isaac and Abigail
Host Abigail and husband Isaac are reflect on the last section of the Slow Paddle sea kayak expedition from Cape Reinga to Tauranga. They share a day-by-day breakdown and decision making leading up to the end of the journey, challenges encountered, favourite moments on the water and what's coming...
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181: Scuba Diving in Wellington and Motorbikes with Tyla Bow
Tyla grew up a gymnast, spending long hours inside - and found her freedom outdoors, especially underwater. Now based in Wellington, she shares how a childhood love of the ocean turned into a career as a scuba instructor, and why diving became her way to explore, teach, and slow things down. Tyla...
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180: Hiking the Cascade Saddle Route, Tramping Clubs and Influencers with Alice Milne
Alice is a tramper, blogger, speech & language therapist and mum, based in Southland. She shares about a special trip with her Dad to Cascade Saddle in Mt Aspiring National Park. Waiting for a rare bluebird weather window, they tackled the demanding route in late summer. It involved a relentless...
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179: Vanlife and Revisiting Favourite New Zealand Hidden Gems with Daniel Mauden
Daniel Mauden is a German-born traveller and photographer, who now lives full time on the road with his partner Dinah. He shares about childhood family trips, volunteering stints in the US, India, and the Bahamas, and the spontaneous decision to move to Aotearoa. Daniel worked in Hamilton for...
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178: One month into a 1000km Sea Kayak Expedition with Isaac and Abigail
Host Abigail and husband Isaac are halfway into a 2 month sea kayak expedition. They share about preparation for the expedition, waiting out weather, their favourite sections of coastline, what they loved most and what has been challenging. Get an inside look into a self-supported sea kayak...
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177: First-Time Packraft Adventures and Hiking to Lake Crucible with Charlotte
Charlotte grew up outdoors, studied outdoor education, and has spent recent years with new pursuits - from canyoning and whitewater to learning to packraft. She shares about an epic South Island summer trip with her boyfriend, that was shaped by weather windows, flexibility and spontaneous...
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176: A Local's Guide to Northland and Building Hiking Communities with Hannah Whittaker
Hannah Whittaker grew up loving travel and now based in Auckland, she shares how exploring New Zealand on weekends, rather than chasing big overseas trips, reshaped how she thinks about adventure, time, and comparison. She shares about her favourite Northland spots, from the Bay of Islands and...
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175: Starting Tramping in her 40s and Lake Waikaremoana as a Family with Lois Baldwin
After up on a farm in rural Waikato, Lois Baldwin travelled and lived around the world through her 20s and 30s, raising a family overseas. It wasn't until her 40s that she started tramping and she's now gone on to complete all New Zealand's Great Walks. Lois loves bringing people together for...
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174: Fastpacking the Travers-Sabine Circuit in 2 Days with Zeb Harris
Zeb Harris @backcountrykiwi is a fast packer, trail runner, and YouTuber. He explains what fast packing is and how he loves to see how much ground he can cover with a light pack and a tight timeframe. Zeb shares about a weekend adventure - a 2 day fast pack of the Traverse–Sabine Circuit in...
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173: Section Walking Te Araroa over Multiple Seasons and Battling Cancer with Te Aroha Hohaia
Te Aroha Hohaia grew up moving around the North Island, lived in a caravan as a child, and didn’t discover tramping until adulthood - starting with a summit climb of Taranaki. She shares how that first mentally and physically demanding experience reshaped her relationship with the maunga, leading...
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172: Hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and Tongariro Northern Circuit with Ben Boland
Ben Boland is a born-and-bred Kiwi who didn’t grow up loving the outdoors - and once weighed close to 190kg. He shares how getting active in his 30s led him to walking tracks he never imagined tackling, starting with a humbling first Tongariro Alpine Crossing done mid–weight loss and with minimal...
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171: Planning an Adult Gap Year to Full-Time Van Life with Sagar and Ami
Sagar and Ami moved to New Zealand separately 10 years ago; then after years of saving and planning, decided to take an "adult gap year" to travel the world. Coming from India, they share the cultural mindset shifts and safety nets required to leave their stable careers and the intentional steps...
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170: 122-Day Self-Supported North Island Sea Kayak Expedition with Joel Buckley
Joel Buckley is an outdoor instructor who kayaked around the North Island solo and self-supported. He talks through how the idea formed early, what finally pushed him to commit, and how little he really understood about the scale of the challenge at the start. He shares about long paddle days,...
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169: Tramping, Hut Bagging Goals, Cancer and Recovery with Verity Jackson
Verity Jackson has been tramping across New Zealand for decades and joining a tramping club opened up off track travel, navigation skills and lifelong friendships. Actively blogging and documenting her tramps online, Verity has bagged over 350 huts, a mix of easy-accessible hut and remote bivvys....
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BONUS: Kiwi Yarns with Brodie Kane and Abigail Hannah
This episode was originally published on Kiwi Yarns with Brodie Kane. Today’s guest has a job that, on the surface, many would describe as a "dream job" and say, "oh, how lucky!"While there’s no denying that the titles “travel blogger,” “travel writer,” and “travel photographer” have a certain...
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BONUS: Creation in Isolation Podcast with Billy Nunweek and Abigail Hannah
This episode was originally published on the Creation in Isolation podcast with Billy Nunweek. The time has finally arrived, the Creation in Isolation Podcast is back, 5 years on from episode one. This time, I go full circle by inviting my good friend Abigail to sit down and chat about her…
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BONUS: 2025 wrapped
Please review Aotearoa Adventures wherever you listen. The annual wrap up - a summary of host Abigail Hannah's year - her travels, her podcast, her business, her life. Links: Support our fundraiser: www.slowpaddle.nz Find out more about Feijoa Social: www.feijoasocial.com Follow Abigail on...
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168: From First Tramp to Paparoa and all the Great Walks with Nicola Harvie
Nicola Harvie is a travel blogger, tramper and mum. In her twenties, she set a goal to complete all of NZ's Great Walks before turning thirty. Starting out new to tramping, Nicola finished the full list by age 27, squeezing in the Whanganui Journey while 26 weeks pregnant and ticking off tracks...
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167: Finding Hidden Places and Getting Lost with Cat Macnaughtan
Cat Macnaughtan never thought getting lost would become the heart of her life, but that is exactly what happened. After reconnecting with her teenage sweetheart and blending their families, Cat started a travel blog called Getting Lost, capturing the messy, joyful chaos of their new adventures...
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166: Caravan Living as a Family and Writing Music on the Road with Emily & Charles
Emily and Charles, the pair behind Aro, live full-time on the road with their two kids under 5. They packed up their home in Pukekohe, fitted out a custom caravan, and set off to tour Aotearoa - writing music, playing shows, and raising their kids along the way. Emily shares how she wanted to...
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165: An 18-Day Mission Through Nelson Lakes, Kahurangi and Abel Tasman with the National Park Trifecta
Hannah, Isabel and Harriet are three friends from Motueka who set out to link their local national parks in one continuous 18-day journey and why connecting the Nelson Lakes, Kahurangi and Abel Tasman felt meaningful after growing up in the region. They share what it was like to climb five ranges...
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164: Five Months SOBO on Te Araroa and Finding Community with Deni Estivill
Deni Estivill left her corporate job in Brisbane and found herself walking the length of Aotearoa SOBO on Te Araroa with only one overnight hike behind her. She shares how climate anxiety pushed her toward the trail, what it was like to start as a complete beginner and how quickly community…
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163: Best Spots and Hidden Gems in the Bay of Plenty & Coromandel with Ciska
Ciska de Jong grew up sailing around places like Waiheke, the Bay of Islands and even remote parts of Fiji, which set the tone for a life built around adventure. After a long solo trip overseas, she moved from Auckland to Tauranga and found a slower rhythm, with more time to chase waterfalls,...
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162: We are Kayaking From Cape Reinga to Tauranga to Raise $20,000 !!!!
Host Abigail Hannah and Isaac Naylor are kayaking from Cape Reinga to Tauranga in 2026 to raise $20,000 for the ocean and mental health. This sea kayak expedition will take them 800km (or more), exploring one of the most beautiful sections of New Zealand coast - while slowing down, stripping life...
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161: Empowering Kiwi Women in Hunting & Fishing with Wild Chix Isabell Zitzelsberger
Isabell Zitzelsberger moved to Aotearoa in 2012 to be closer to nature. She now spends her weekends exploring the bush and the sea, whether that’s chasing fish, deer stalking in the Kaimai Range or teaching other women to back a trailer with confidence. After years of being the “partner who just...
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160: Hut Etiquette in DOC Huts and Exploring the Whitcombe Valley with Renee Cadigan
Renee Cadigan shares about how her love for the outdoors has evolved as her boys have grown older. Renee now explores solo, and loves discovering hidden valleys and remote huts close to home on the West Coast. She talks about her latest obsession, the Whitcombe Valley, where countless routes and...
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159: Exploring Northland and Living on the Road in a 12-Ton Unimog with Kyla and Louis
Kyla and Louis are the kiwi couple behind Out the Gate Off Road and live full-time in their 1988 Mercedes Unimog. With a background in carpentry and a shared love of adventure, they designed and built every detail of their home-on-wheels themselves. They share favourite Northland locations...
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158: Mountain Biking, Towel Ponchos and a Brain Injury with Debs Brockelsby
Debs Brockelsby is based in Rotorua and deeply passionate about adventures outdoors. After a traumatic brain injury, she realised that life is short - do cool sh*t. Debs shares about quitting her dream job at Cycling NZ, the long journey of recovery, and how mountain biking helped her rebuild...
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157: Setting the Fastest Self-Supported Record on Te Araroa with Billy Meredith
Billy "Wahoo" Meredith set the record for the fastest known self-supported time on Te Araroa in 2025. With a background in thru-hiking and trail running, Billy had set records in the USA on the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails - including completing all three in one year.…
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156: Taranaki Three Peaks Traverse and Supporting Families in the Outdoors with Jenn Julian
Jennifer Julian is an outdoor education teacher from Canada now based in Taranaki, raising two daughters aged three and five. With her experiences in mountaineering and LandSAR volunteering, Jenn shares about the Taranaki Three Peaks Traverse, a demanding mission linking Taranaki, Pouakai and...
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155: Five days on the Sladden Glacier climbing Mt Sealy and Mt Jeanette with Kaleb Anderson
Kaleb Anderson, AKA @adventuringkiwi, is a freelance photographer and videographer. His love for the mountains began with the DoE Award and multi-day hikes in Tongariro. He shares about an adventure to Sladden Glacier in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park with friends, carrying a 22kg pack with…
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154: Working as a Sky Diving Instructor in Wānaka with Anne Bonfert
Anne Bonfert has been skydiving for ten years and worked as an instructor across the world, from Namibia to Spain. Living her long-time dream, she came to New Zealand with her husband to spend a season jumping over Wanaka and Queenstown. Anne shares her experience as an instructor, from taking...
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153: Arthurs Pass and Three Attempts at Mount Philistine with Amelia Hayes
Amelia Hayes works in the trucking industry, but one Instagram photo of Peak Hill reignited her love for the outdoors. Based just two hours from Arthur’s Pass, Amelia has explored the area more times than she can count. She shares about her three attempts at climbing Mount Philistine - long days...
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BONUS: Community Hike - Tāmaki Makaurau
The Aotearoa Adventures whānau got offline and out in nature for the FIRST TIME EVER to celebrate 3 years of podcasting and well...it's probably about time. Meet the legends that were there, they dropped some epic travel recommendations. I learnt some epic things too. Ashley: @littlekiwitravels...
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152: First Ascents on Mount Lindenfeld and Mount Haast with Justin Wimmer
Justin Wimmer grew up between Aotearoa and Europe, skiing in Austria and climbing in New Zealand from a young age while also being involved in YSAR. He shares the story of setting two new alpine routes in Aoraki National Park - Mount Lindenfeld and Mount Haast - with storms, rime ice, and long...
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151: House Sitting across New Zealand with Travel Writer Jessica Lockhart
Jessica Lockhart is a travel writer with Lonely Planet and has spent 3 years house sitting across New Zealand. She shares about the concept of being a parachute journalist and the importance of getting to know a country on a deeper local level. Jessica shares advice for anyone that wants to...
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150: Hunting Wapiti in Fiordland with Jarrod McLachlan
Jarrod McLauchlan is an aircraft engineer based in Nelson with a love for alpine hunting. Growing up, his weekends were filled with motocross and mountain biking and later discovered a love for hunting as a way to connect with others. Jarrod shares about drawing a coveted Fiordland wapiti ballot…
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149: Solo Expedition on Rakiura and ADHD with Wild Boy Brando Yelavich
Brando Yelavich AKA Wild Boy has spent the past decade chasing knowledge of the world and of himself through epic expeditions. He has walked the coastline of New Zealand, skied across Greenland, sea kayaked around Vancouver Island and cycled across Australia. He shares about his Solo Expedition…
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148: A Mountaineering Career and Climbing Mt Aspiring with Dom Huxley
Dom Huxley made a name for himself after climbing Aoraki Mt Cook as a teenager. The outdoors became a safe haven for Dom early in his life and since then, he's climbed Mt Aspiring more than a dozen times and spent seasons mountaineering in Nepal. Dom shares about a recent Mt Aspiring trip and how...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Explore New Zealand with Aotearoa Adventures - your ultimate guide to travel, adventure, and the outdoors.Each week, host Abigail Hannah brings you inspiring stories from everyday people, covering tramping, vanlife, bikepacking, road trips, and so much more.Get beginner tips and practical advice for every adventure, from camping under the stars to multi-week expeditions. Whether you’re a local, on a working holiday, or visiting, this podcast will inspire you to explore New Zealand deeper and connect with nature.
HOSTED BY
Abigail Hannah
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast have?
Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast currently has 196 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast about?
Explore New Zealand with Aotearoa Adventures - your ultimate guide to travel, adventure, and the outdoors.Each week, host Abigail Hannah brings you inspiring stories from everyday people, covering tramping, vanlife, bikepacking, road trips, and so much more.Get beginner tips and practical advice...
How often does Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast release new episodes?
Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast publishes regularly with 196 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast?
You can listen to Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast?
Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast is created and hosted by Abigail Hannah.
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