Hi, I’m Peter Roche — a Kiwi with a passion for walking, cycling and exploring the world at a slower pace.
WalkingKiwi began with my love of New Zealand’s outdoors. I started by walking many of New Zealand’s Great Walks and back-country tracks, and later added mountain biking and cycling many of the New Zealand Cycle Trails from Northland to Otago.
Those adventures eventually gave me the confidence to venture further afield and start ticking off a rather ambitious bucket list.
I’ve trekked to Mt Everest Base Camp in Nepal and Tibet, crossed the spectacular Annapurna Circuit, climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Fuji, walked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and explored the Great Wall and Mt Huashan in China.
I’ve also walked the remote Larapinta Trail across Australia’s MacDonnell Ranges, Tasmania’s Overland Track and the ancient Kumano Kodo and Nakasendo trails through Japan.
But some of my favourite journeys have been the great pilgrimage routes of Europe.
I walked the 800km Camino Francés across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela and later returned a few times to walk the Camino Portuguese. I’ve since walked sections of Italy’s Via Francigena through Tuscany and Lazio to Rome. There is something special about travelling for weeks under your own steam, carrying what you need and watching the landscape slowly change around you.
From Walking Boots to Two Wheels
In recent years I’ve increasingly swapped my walking boots for a bicycle — I first travelled to Europe in the 90s with my trusty 10 speed named Wilson but these days have moved on to an e-bike.
Cycling has opened up a different way of travelling. I can cover 50 or 60 kilometres in a day but still travel slowly enough to enjoy the countryside, small towns, cafés and people along the way.
I’ve cycled through UK, France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary — following canal towpaths, rivers, coastal trails and quiet country roads.
Some particularly memorable journeys have included cycling the Danube from Passau to Budapest, the Canal de Garonne from Bordeaux to Toulouse, Portugal’s Atlantic coast and a wonderful journey through Puglia in southern Italy.
Back home, I continue to explore New Zealand by bike, particularly the growing network of cycle and rail trails through Central Otago and around the rest of the country.
Why WalkingKiwi?
For me, these adventures have never been about speed, distance or breaking records — they’re about enjoying the journey.
I enjoy working out how to get from one place to another, finding an interesting route, stopping in small towns, discovering a good café, taking plenty of photographs and finishing the day somewhere comfortable with a decent meal.
As I’ve got older I’ve also discovered that adventure doesn’t have an expiry date. I may travel a little differently these days — and I’m very happy to have an e-bike helping me up a long hill — but the desire to see what is around the next corner hasn’t changed.
That’s really what WalkingKiwi is about.
This website is my personal record of those journeys, with photographs, videos, maps and stories along the way. I also include practical information about routes, distances, accommodation and transport that might help someone planning a similar adventure.
If something here encourages another person to put on their walking shoes, get on a bike or simply head somewhere they haven’t been before, then WalkingKiwi has done its job.
The adventures continue…
Peter Roche
The WalkingKiwi