A taste for adventure
Get your group together for a classic walking track that combines amazing scenery, a few hard yards, and some extremely moreish food. Photo by Mike Heydon, Jet Photography.
Now in its 26th year, this exhilarating three-day walk is the oldest established private walk in the North Island, and one of the most popular of its kind in the country. The magic combination of being both a challenge – it’s a three-day 35km walk with some aptly named Misery Yards – and an over-the-top treat makes walking Tora a great way to rekindle friendships or make new ones in a shared experience.
It’s popular with everyone from work groups, friends of all ages and family groups ranging from children over four to their fit 80-year-old grandparents.
Part of the Tora Walk’s charm lies in the range of countryside covered by its 35km track. Just 30 minutes out from Martinborough’s cafes and vineyards you find yourself walking broken hill country leading up to windy ridges from which there are astonishing views. Within a kilometre you can be walking river valleys filled with lush native bush or beside a wild coastline where you may just meet a seal or two.
The other attraction has to be the food. Made from local ingredients –some literally picked from the owner’s garden, it is so delicious the only dietary complaint from walkers has been that they emerged from a three- day walk slightly heavier. So many people asked about recipes that the owners published a cookbook – Tora Coastal Walk Recipes – A Second Helping.
Over the years accommodation – always comfortable – has moved with the times with one of the highlights being Stony Bay Lodge, purpose-built on the coast and overlooking the sea.
Your luggage, wine bottles and all, is transported for you – which definitely takes the sting out of the uphill climbs! Numbers on the track are limited to 14 so you and your group might sometimes feel like you have the walking track to yourselves. Bookings for the 2021/2022 summer open in June – get in quick because places are snapped up fast. For more details and to book, see www.toracoastalwalk.nz
