199: Building NZ's First Public Via Ferrata on Tākaka Hill with Till Middelhauve

Aotearoa Adventures: The New Zealand Travel Podcast · Oct 22, 2026 · 55m

Till Middelhauve moved from Germany to New Zealand in 2020, after years of family via ferrata trips across the European Alps. Finding no public via ferrata here, he wrote the first concept during two weeks in managed isolation. Till shares about two and a half years of permits, surveys and landowner agreements before a small team of volunteers built New Zealand's first public via ferrata on Tākaka Hill. He talks about scaling loose rock off the cliff, securing fridge-sized boulders to the bedrock and the 150 climbers who turned up when the first route opened. He reflects on how rewarding it…