Whenua, whakapapa, whanau. In a new podcast series available from 16 October, Bruce Hopkins walks Te Araroa to take his father and brother's ashes back home to Stewart Island.

Bruce Hopkins wants to take the ashes of his dad and brother home to Rakiura/Stewart Island. He's just taking the long way to get there. The long, long way.

The Long Way Home is a unique RNZ podcast in which Bruce tells the story of walking Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail, from Cape Reinga at the top of New Zealand to Rakiura/Stewart Island at the very bottom. Every week for five months, as he carries the ashes south, listeners will travel with him as he bashes his way through the bush, pushes his endurance to new limits and meets a raft of Kiwi characters.

Part adventure story, part memoir, part travelogue, The Long Way Home will allow you to be with Bruce in almost real-time.

The Long Way Home - whenua, whakapapa, whanau.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Whenua, whakapapa, whanau. Bruce Hopkins walks Te Araroa to take his father and brother's ashes back home to Stewart Island.

Bruce Hopkins has a plan.

For the next five months, he wants to walk the length of New Zealand, from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island, along Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail.

It's a big plan, an audacious one, but it's just another bold move from a man who specialises in going all in. A mere 61 years old, Bruce Hopkins has lived several different lives, all of them unusual and none of them easy.

He's been a commercial crayfisherman in the deep waters off Cape Reinga. But he threw that in to become a contemporary dancer after watching just one rehearsal and feeling like he'd found his calling.

He later became an actor and was cast in one of the biggest movie franchises of all time; The Lord of the Rings.

He runs his own temp agency and also guides tourists around New Zealand's scenic high spots.

And now he's decided to walk the length of the country and make a podcast about the experience. It should only take him about five months of unbroken effort to complete the trail.

But this very long walk isn't all just about Bruce and what he wants to do. He's also raising money for charity, and wants to reflect on the land he was born and grew up in and about the history of his family.

In this, the first episode of The Long Way Home, Bruce talks about his inspiration for walking Te Araroa and the two men whose memory will sustain him as he heads south; his dad Bill and his big brother Doug.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

With a heavy pack and a lot of nerves, Bruce is underway, measuring the length of 90 Mile Beach and recalling dangerous days fishing off the Northland coast.

Loaded down under way too heavy a pack and with no small amount of nerves, Bruce Hopkins is underway!

During his first five days on Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail, Bruce measures the length of 90 Mile Beach and meets a long distance cyclist.

He almost certainly doesn't find treasure on the beach but definitely does find some good kai moana. And the sandflies find him.

And he recalls some dangerous days as a commercial fisherman off the Northland coast.

Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week One, 14-21 October 2017
Cape Reinga - Puketi Forest.

"Five days on 90 Mile Beach done. I am taking an early rest day here at Ahipara on Day Five, Wednesday 18 October 2017.

Including myself six walkers of Te Araroa (TA) showed up here after a rugged 31km slog into a nasty wind that blasted sand into my face for eight hours at about 30+ knots.

But the journey is underway and I will not be taking anything for granted. I am already uncovering some wonderful moments of connection with people and nature as well as some brutal encounters with what will be required in terms of perseverance over the next few months. It does feel great to have first 100km of coast & beach done & dusted.

Five days of slogging it through Northland forests from tomorrow to get to Kerikeri."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dreaming of ginger beer and ice cream, Bruce climbs the high hills of the Northland forests to get back to his old home in the Bay of Islands.

Week two and the honeymoon is already over between Bruce Hopkins and New Zealand's trail Te Araroa.

Having suffered the length of 90 Mile Beach, this week his big challenges are the high hills, deep mud and the "bloody gravel roads!" of the forests of Northland.

Bruce cuts inland and heads east, searching for Kerikeri and eventually, his old home town of Russell in the Bay of Islands.

Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Two, 21-28 October 2017
Puketi - Helena Bay

"Some bloody full on days now done. Cannot express how happy I am to be having a rest day tomorrow with one of the numerous hard sections of Te Araroa now done.

Already these last ten days will stay powerfully in my physical & mental memory forever.

"I am personally pushed to various limits every single day thus far, so looking forward to being blister free!"

"It is already shaping up to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. To cap today off my iPhone died!"

"Only about 2500 kilometres to go..."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bruce meets old friends and new on the trail south of Russell but an unexpected event puts the future in doubt.

It's week three and Bruce Hopkins has fallen in love again with Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail. But does the trail love him back?

Bruce heads south out of Russell, trekking the east coast of Northland and aiming for Pakiri Beach. The punishing gravel roads are behind him and coastal trails with beautiful bays are ahead.

But is this a good time for him to relax and let down his guard? Maybe not...

Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Three, 28 October - 4 November 2017
Helena Bay - Pakiri

"The last week has been so packed full of variety. Amber and Mark gave me the pounamu I had lost on the second day of the trail. A french tramper named Antoine found it! Amber and Mark had also found my lost trail notes and maps and my missing hat!"

"Spent the night in a stunning Waikahoa bay beach camp but I was vomiting all night having been given some day old unrefrigerated chicken by a well-meaning group of school teachers who were leaving the bay as we arrived."

"Next day walked coastal track to Whananaki. Glorious."

"I stayed with kiwi icons Malcolm and Melanie Rand at their eco village in Ngunguru. Walked to Pataua north to stay with Derek Barnston, a school friend I had not seen for 40 years. Derek and his wife Anne exemplify the spirit of trail angels. Five of us had a superb beer and lunch of fresh vegies out of the garden."

"What happened in your week??? I'm raving, more to come."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After an accident on the trail, The Long Way Home gets just that little bit longer for Bruce Hopkins.

Bruce Hopkins' leg is bung.

A nasty fall last week means he's off Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail and is back home in Auckland recovering from a deep and serious infection in his left leg.

What does this mean for his goal to walk to Rakiura/Stewart Island? Has the curse of big brother Doug struck again?

Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Four, 4 - 11 November 2017
Helena Bay - Auckland

"I continue to exercise patience as a patient, waiting for my cellulitis infected left shin to heal. This infection developed after my left shin laid a heavy kiss upon my hiking poles on the glorious sands of Ocean Beach as my left foot slid out from under me, thanks to some seaweed and jellyfish providing a form of mini ice rink.

"Following the smash of my shins onto said hiking poles I still had six hours of hard-out climbing and descending of the Bream Head ridgeline on the Whangarei Heads. When I fell I had just finished three-plus hours tramping over Kauri mountain and along Ocean Beach."

"Once again I am facing the prospect of what will probably be 10 days of lay off while the medication rids me of the infection. The cellulitis is almost gone and I have finished the course of antibiotics so will have to check with the doctor about my options.

"I cannot risk starting the challenge of 9-10 hours walking in testing terrain with an 18kg pack on my back and maybe reigniting the whole affair.

"Bloody, bloody, bloody, bloody hell!"

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

While he recovers from injury, Bruce recalls a conversation with Te Araroa founder Geoff Chapple.

It's been two weeks since Bruce Hopkins injured his left leg and had to come off Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail.

While he recovers, Bruce takes us back to an interview with Te Araroa founder Geoff Chapple that he recorded before he began walking the trail in October.

Geoff offers his hard-won wisdom as well as some good advice but the question is; did Bruce listen?

Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Five, 11 - 17 November 2017
Auckland

"A bloody long time walking The Long Way Home has become even longer. By the time I restart I will have spent as much time off the trail as on it.

"Still heaps of colour where my left shin kissed my hiking poles, but I'm confident it is now bruising not infection. Walked for about two hours today, now icing it, but felt like it is doable.

"Still two days of medication to take, but looking at restarting Friday on Te Araroa from Marsden Point.

"Starting to feel as nervous as I was when I first started on October 14.... looking forward to stepping off into the unknown once again."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After a frustrating injury break, Bruce Hopkins is back on the trail once more, beginning again from where he was forced to stop.

Te Araroa - Take Two!

Bruce Hopkins is back on the trail after a two-week injury break.

He picks up where he left off, on the beach at Marsden Point and aiming to make it to Auckland by the end of the week.

His infected shin is still sore and his left little toe has made it quite clear that it doesn't want to walk the length of the country, but with so many obstacles overcome and so many good people there to help him, could anything stop Bruce now?

Bruce Hopkins Trail Diary - Week Six, 17 - 24 November 2017
Marsden Point - Auckland

"I've enjoyed whiling away the hours resting up in my wee hobbit hole in Auckland but I'm ready to get going now.

"From time to time my daughter Francesca shares an opinion that resonates with me as being wise. When I said to her I was keen to start again last Wednesday, she replied 'Dad, add two days to whatever date you think you want to start' and I could tell she was correct. ​I restarted Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail on Friday 17th November.

"My old mate Noel McLeod drove me up to Marsden Point on Friday 17 November and I got started at about 10am.

"The trail just keeps on giving; the good, the bad and the ugly. The shin's still pretty ugly but that matches the rest of the body!

"Te Araroa Trail, here we come - Take Two!"

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details