Emilie Walks Te Araroa Emilie & Victoria Bruce

Emilie Walks Te Araroa Emilie & Victoria Bruce Author:Emilie & Victoria Bruce Illustrations: Photographs by Emilie & Victoria Bruce Title: Emilie Walks Te Araroa Full title: Emilie Walks Te Araroa: A 7-year-old, a backpack and 3,000 kilometres of mud, magic and adventure through New Zealand Potton & Burton, (2025) 72 pages, paperback. ISBN 978 1 98855 073 2

This book’s subtitle tells it all: ‘A 7-year-old, a backpack and 3,000 kilometres of mud, magic and adventure through New Zealand.’ Emilie Bruce was only 7 when she and her mother started their trek on Te Araroa [The Long Pathway], the connected series of tramping tracks which run through New Zealand’s high country (and some of its low country). She also kept a written record which formed the basis of this book. ‘For six months, my mum and I lived between a little yellow tent and back country huts, carrying everything we needed on our backs.’ Emilie writes well and her account is always interesting and often amusing. When they complete the first leg of the journey, they camp at a holiday park. Emilie goes to the reception desk, ‘We’ve just finished walking Ninety Mile Beach! Do you have any ice cream?’ She describes their food and equipment, as well as the variety of experiences on their journey. Their canoe sinks on the Whanganui River, and a flood forces them to retrace their steps for ten kilometres in the Tararuas. A weka steals her Baby Kiwi doll at Queen Charlotte Sound and Victoria retrieves it. There are falls, hostile insects, river crossings, bogs, mud and more mud but Emilie enjoys the challenge and takes delight in every new experience. She builds a snowman in the Richmond Ranges, goes bug-spotting with a head torch and wears a thrift-shop tutu as her hut dress. When bad weather traps her in a hut, she reads Joy Cowley’s Snake and Lizard – an inspired choice. Some of the illustrations are Emilie’s own creation using felt pens, but most are colour photographs taken on the journey by Emilie and her mother. Victoria Bruce is an able photographer and the changes in weather (and the two trampers’ moods) are beautifully captured. The photos of the landscapes and wildlife are magnificent and perfectly placed to match Emilie’s cheerful narrative. ‘The mud is thick and glorious and we pretend we are dipping our shoes in chocolate sauce.’ Emilie Walks Te Araroa is a lively, readable account of a remarkable journey, a testament to the pleasures of hiking and a chance to share the childhood excitement of a new experience. Those who wish to know more about this mother-daughter team’s tramping adventures and their achievements for two charities, can read Victoria Bruce’s memoir, Adventures with Emilie (2023). Trevor Agnew, 29 Sep 2025 (Review 3806)