Trail builders tackle Pirongia summit

Hamilton High students (from left) Luke Taylor, Rab Heath, Tom de Malmanche, Courtney Bertram and Luke McKey, and construction manager Noel Sandford (at rear). Picture / Amos Chapple

One of the longest walkways in the world, stretching nearly 3000km from Cape Reinga to Bluff, has taken big steps up a Waikato landmark.

The walkway, started in 1999 by the Te Araroa Trust, is due for completion in three years.

The latest leg is being built across Mt Pirongia summit, with wood being dropped by helicopter up the mountain this week.

Volunteers, including students from Hamilton Boys High School's outdoor education class and Te Awamutu College, are helping to build the walkway, which will eventually link to trails towards Waitomo and Te Kuiti.

Trust chief executive Geoff Chapple says the idea is based on overseas walks such as the Appalachian trail in the United States, which stretches across more than 3000km.

Walkways in the South Island are also under way, with a trail across singing star Shania Twain's station in the Motutapu Valley being pegged out.

"The idea is that Kiwis will be able to walk the length of New Zealand," Mr Chapple said.

Completed sections meant people could now walk nearly 1000km of tracks in the North and South Islands, he said. The trust has built about 200km of walkway, which link with existing trails and roads.

"The trails we've put in mean it is possible already to legally walk half of the North Island," Mr Chapple said.

The nationwide project has been kept alive by public funding and grants and is expected to have cost about $10 million when complete.