Northbound

By: Naomi Arnold

Narrated by: Naomi Arnold

Alone in the wilderness

Shortlisted for the General Nonfiction Award at the 2026 Ockham Book Awards

Award-winning journalist Naomi Arnold spends nearly nine months walking the length of New Zealand on Te Araroa, fulfilling a 20-year dream. On her own, she traverses mountains, rivers, cities and plains from summer to spring, walking on through days of thick mud, blazing sun and lightning storms, and into cold, starlit nights. Along the way she encounters colourful locals and travellers who delight and inspire her.

An upbeat, fascinating and inspiring memoir of solitude, love and friendship, and the joys and pains to be found in the wilderness.

Gorgeous, blunt, and bursting with compassion

It's hard to imagine being mostly alone in the near-wilderness for the large part of a year, but this book wills you along with her as she pushes past all sorts of human boundaries I might never dare. Arnold's grit is stunning, a stubborn but deeply compassionate force of nature. She tells the story as if you're along with her, somehow, to confide in. I highly recommend this audio book as a companion for your car rides, grocery trips, and chores at home, because it sure kept me great company!

Engaging account!

I appreciated that I didn't hear about every single night on the trail. Yet the author/hiker captured enough detail about the segments of the trail and sufficient descriptions of personalities encountered on the trail that I was kept interested and engaged. It did not drag.
In listening to the audiobook, I may have deprived myself of having a MAP of the trail to follow along with. I trust --hope!-- the book contains maps.
The narrator did a great job of reading the text.

What an experience!

Initially, I wasn’t convinced and was about to give up. There was a lot about sore feet, complaining, falling over and some odd emotional issues. It seemed there wasn’t much of a story. But then it changes. From around midpoint I was hooked. It becomes much richer and quite a transformation. highly recommended. The lovely New Zealand accent and expressions were a joy to listen to.