Te Araroa Trail
High Achiever
Q&A with accommodation provider and trail legend Bill Trolove By Mark Weathrall
B
ill Trolove is a man of the mountains. He’s also a bit of a legend amongst the Te Araroa community. Bill owns The Sanctuary – a bunkhouse on Arthur’s Pass with the byline: “quiet enjoyment of the mountains”. It provides a refuge for backpackers, trampers, and casual visitors, with his main clientele being Te Araroa trail walkers. The thing that really makes Bill tick is the people he meets. He puts them at the heart of everything he does, offering hot showers, good company, a place to lay their heads, and all the home comforts a weary traveller could want. He even volunteers his time maintaining and clearing dangerous parts of the trial,
to help keep people safe on their journey. We were lucky enough to catch up with Bill and interview him about his time working on the trail. Here’s what he had to say… How long have you been hosting Te Araroa walkers at The Sanctuary, and how many do you think you have hosted over the years? The Te Araroa community crept up on me. The first walkers came through about six years ago, just two or three people. This suddenly grew to significant numbers, so I decided to jump in and tailor my services to them. I’ve hosted many thousands over the years. Do you provide any services tailored specifically to Te Araroa walkers? How popular is the bounce box/ resupply box service?
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22 Walking New Zealand, issue no 284 - 2021
I have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the Te Araroa market to cater to their needs: cheap dorm beds, tent sites, inexpensive private rooms, a $2 hot shower, laundry and hot water, USB charging stations. For the past three years, I have been promoting the idea of “slack packing” the Goat Pass section of the trail, where people can hand off their pack and do the section unimpeded. It cuts a two day slog into a nice outing, with a soft bed, cozy restaurant, and lots of beer on offer at the end. This summer, I will run a return bus service to Morrisons Footbridge to facilitate the slack packing of Goat Pass, so I’m encouraging walkers to get their satellite communicator pre-programmed with a text message to book a ride. In terms of bounce boxes, these are very important to the business, because even though I lose money on them, I have the opportunity to sell other services. They’re also very important to walkers, and I make sure to give them 24/7 access. Pre-covid, we did close to 400 boxes per season. What percentage of your business do Te Araroa walkers make up? 95%. That is how important the community is to this business. With the rise of campervans, bootpacking, and AirBnB, the backpacker www.walkingnewzealand.co.nz
