We were so happy with the outcome of New Zealand’s Te Araroa Speaking Tour! We are so grateful to all our friends and family that came out to support us. We are also so appreciative of our sponsors for the support/giveaways. Thank you Hi-Tec, GSI Outdoors, Gregory, Superfeet, Big Agnes, Sawyer, Princeton Tec and Therm-a-rest. During our 8 stops, we gave away more than $8,600 in outdoor gear because of them!! Unbelievable!
In total, we had 374 people attend the presentations, for an average of 46 people per stop! Sign ups for every stop were maxed out and we were pretty much at room/space capacity for each. Of course our biggest event was in Denver with 133 people.
I said this already once, but we love talking about our passions and we get so much energy from the audiences. We initially thought most people coming out would be interested in the trail itself, but we had a great mix of people who had been to New Zealand and were coming to relive their memories and those dreaming of going to New Zealand. To our surprise, we did not meet anyone else who completed the whole TA (a few sectioners), nor did we have a single Kiwi (native New Zealander) in our audience!
The tour was so successful, we hope to do a second tour at some point, but that’s TBD.
If you didn’t get to attend, don’t worry, you still have a chance to win some of the great gear from the tour in our ONLINE GIVEAWAY!!! There will be TWO winners and both prize packs are sweet, if I do say so myself.
I am forgoing our old ways of picking a winner out of a hat and using Rafflecopter (a free service) to host the contest. What this means is all entries will run through this widget below; Rafflecopter will collect your name and e-mail address and randomly select our 2 winners! So please remember to use the Rafflecopter widget (below) for all entries!
So here are the details:
- Enter the contest simply by commenting–tell us which hike we should do next, or pick a state or country where we should hike. You will leave a comment as you normally would through Blogger, but click on Rafflecopter to be officially entered.
- Gain ADDITIONAL entries by taking any or all of these actions below. Again, verify these actions through the Rafflecopter widget below to get the extra entry.
- Follow us on Instagram – 1 extra entry
- Subscribe to our You Tube channel – 1 extra entry
- Follow our blog through Bloglovin – 1 extra entry
- The contest will run through Feb. 2, 2016 (Groundhog Day!)
- Winner will be chosen at random on Feb. 3, 2016, and announced on our blog on or about Feb. 3, 2016.
- The prize package will be sent via USPS within 30 business days of prize confirmation by the Wandering La Vignes. Any unclaimed prize within that period will be forfeited. Entrants must provide a valid mailing address to the Wandering La Vignes upon announcement of the winner.
- Odds will depend on how many entries we receive. Winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter. No purchase necessary to enter. The contest is the sole responsibility of the Wandering La Vignes with prizes provided by various companies.
- The contest is only open to U.S. residents (for shipping purposes).
This is just a sample comment to test the system! And I have SO MANY TRAILS on my list, I don't know where to begin!!!
Northern Minnesota, especially in the fall. It's gorgous!
We need to repeat the couples backpacking trip to Grandfather Mountain – that was an awesome trip!
Bolt
Somewhere in Oregon!
I say hike the Long Trail. It doesn't get half the credit it deserves being the little brother of the AT. It's tough and it kicked my butt!
My favorite place to hike is in the white mountains of New Hampshire, or in Baxter state park in Maine
I think you should hike in the mountains of North Carolina. My grandparents live near Mt. Airy and it is beautiful.
Minnesota has some good hiking spots.
South Caroling, you wouldnt expect such beautiful scenery
North Carolina, It is gorgeous there!
You should go hiking in Norway – it's breathtakingly gorgeous there.
You should hike mt. fuji in Japan!!! 🙂
-Katrina
Check out the Enchantments in WA if you can! Love backpacking there!
You need to do that trek through Iceland…I can't remember the name. But it looks outstanding. Not long, but remote.
If you're looking for a path less hiked, Armenia has some great places.
I second the Long Trail in Vermont. It's supposed to be amazing, but challenging – hoping to hike it this fall.
I would love to go hiking in New Zealand or Costa Rica.
You should hike in Colorado, USA!
west virginia
– judith
I'm not sure which one you should do, but my fave hike is Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
Hike the Appalachian mountain trail! It is absolutely gorgeous!
We had such a great time hearing you guys speak. My resolve to get to New Zealand was renewed. Can't wait to hear you again!
Ya'll should through-hike the Colorado Trail! Or the PCT, then go on tour again 🙂
Lost Coast trail in California
northern minnesota is beautiful, there are so many lakes too
(stacey h)
Colorado! The Colorado Trail has 500 miles of amazing views!
I think you should hike the Appalachian Trail.
Sadie B.
I think you should hike the PCT
I think you should hike the PCT next!
I second the Northern Minnesota recommendation and I'm talking right on the Canadian border! It's a little flat around here, but the winters sure are fun 🙂
Amy @ http://www.livinglifetruth.com/
Iceland should be your next trip!
A hike in my state NM.
My brother hiked the Applacian Trail before he turned 50, we are now past retirement age and he still talks about how beautiful it was, I think you should hike at Denaldi in Alaska
I love hiking in Arizona! One of my favorite hikes is to Fossil Springs a beautiful part of the river with crystal clear water and a nice waterfall!
My home state Minnesota has the most beautiful places to hike. Tons of lakes too! 🙂
Southern Oregon. More specifically, my absolute favorite place on earth, Ashland, Oregon.
Resurrection Trail in Chugach National Forest, Alaska.
I have heard that Colorado has good hiking
My favorite place is Acadia National Park.
Lets go snowshoe to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park after this storm passes mid week.
Then someday go string together three backpacking trips in Hawaii – on Hawaii Island from Kilauea to Mauna Loa staying in the National Park cabins, on Maui to the Haleakala cabins, and on Kauai along the Napali coast.
Finish the international at? Is that even a thing still?
Defiantly Mount Rainier National Park, in Washington!! It's so beautiful!
Hike in Wisconsin!
I'm thinking Colorado or North Carolina.
heymissvirginia at embarqmail dot com
Combine the JMT and SHR to make one epic yo-yo!
I live in NY state and there are tons of great places to hike/climb!
San Diego! You can enjoy the beaches and then be on tons of hiking trails within 30-60 min depending on what you want to check out! Best of both worlds.
I think North Carolina is a nice state to go hiking in. It has a lot of pretty scenery.
You should hike at Mount Diablo in Northern, CA! It's the second widest view behind Mt Kilimanjaro (not highest). It's beautiful!!
-Natalie A
Maybe Pennsylvania. My family lives there and it's beautiful.
Glacier National Park in Montana – there are some great hiking trails and gorgeous scenery
The UP of Mi even has trail the national guard helped build for wheel chair access. I Love hiking in MI.
You are invited to come and backpack in Minnesota. Superior Hiking Trail, The Kek, Border Route Trail, The North Country National Scenic Trail. It would be great to get out on a trail with you both for a few or several days. So enjoyed when I met you both as Backpacker's Get Out More ambassadors.
Joe Johnson
The McKenzie River trail is beautiful during the summer.
Mantario Trail. Northwest Ontario Manitoba border. Long, boggy and oh so cool.
The Presidential Range Traverse in NH. Its one of the best hikes on the east coast. about 16 miles straight above treeline on the highest peaks on the east!
i love hiking here in NM!
The Florida Trail's Southern Terminus located in Big Cypress National Preserve. This section of the Florida Trail passes through the great swamp of dwarf pond cypress and crosses pine islands, hammocks, giant ferns, and prairies with cabbage palm and saw palmetto. Watch for gators!
Same-day round-trip Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon and lots of photos of the Grand Canyon from dawn to dusk!
I see it's too late to enter the contest… But yall should DEFINITELY stop by the beautiful and scenic Danville, VA!! We can put Violet in a back pack and hike down Main St for a beer and a burger at Me's (Rod and Emily's new restaurant).
Van