New Zealand is now home to one of the world's longest walking trails.
Te Araroa - the Long Pathway - runs the length of the countryfrom Cape Reinga to the Bluff.
Sixteen years after the establishment of the first section between Kerikeri and Waitangi in 1995, the Governor-General, Lieutenant-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, opened the 3000-kilometre trail at a ceremony in Wellington on Saturday.
He says the trail links modern day New Zealanders to the past.
Te Araroa Trust chief executive, Geoff Chapple, who conceived the idea of Te Araroa, says he'd like to see walking the track become a goal for all New Zealanders.
"I remember Mao Zedong saying every Chinese has to see the Great Wall at some time. Cultural goals are fun...so we'll put it up as a goal: walk New Zealand in your lifetime."
The trust estimates that about 350,000 people a year will walk some part of the track, about 200 of whom will attempt the whole journey. It's also estimated that it will take between five and six million footsteps to complete.
At Saturday's ceremony, speakers paid tribute to William Macrae, the Department of Conservation worker who died in a helicopter crash in the Far North on Wednesday.
DoC deputy director general Sue Tucker said Mr Macrae had been a passionate supporter of Te Araroa.
