The Queen Charlotte Track with its stunning scenery of sparkling turquoise waterways is a strong contender for most beautiful coastal walk.
TOBINKA
tobi + ninka = tobinka, obviously
Welcome and thanks so much for visiting!
We are Anninka and Tobias, and tobinka is our hiking and travel website.
We love the outdoors. The glorious mountain panoramas and earthy scents of a forest floor soaked with rain, the calming quiet and simplicity found in the vast outback wilderness, the birds, the springtime wildflowers, the fresh air, and the sun as it dissolves the damp early morning fog and floods across big, open skies.
Walking through nature is what makes us happy. And it’s a splendid way to discover new places abroad and at home. If you’re looking for a new trail to explore, you’ve come to the right place – it’s lovely having you here!
we share.
1. Inspiration for hikes, cycle tours, city walks, and other exciting outdoor adventures around the world
2. Detailed hiking and travel guides to make trails and off-the-beaten-track ventures more accessible
3. Full track details, a proper map, and gpx files for download to help you hike, cycle, run and walk safely
4. Recommendations for restaurants, cafes, and pretty accommodation, because every slog up a hill deserves to be celebrated (also, I only started drinking coffee a few months ago, so I have a lot of catching up to do)
5. No ads, flashing banners, pop-ups, industry guest posts, sponsored gear reviews, or newsletters … we want this to be a calm and uncluttered place – feel free to write us if you have questions or want more information, we love to hear from you!
our favourite trails.
Every outdoor adventure you find here is our personal experience. If we mention a trail for the sake of completeness that we didn’t get around to doing ourselves when we hiked in the area but believe you might enjoy it, we’ll mark it as such. If a hike was not exactly overwhelming, you will not find it here. We only post what we enjoyed.
In case you’re wondering what sort of hikes we tend to enjoy the most, know that we’re not the adrenaline-driven, competitive kind drawn to extreme, “overcoming-your-fears” adventures or ultralight thru-hiking.
We love the exercise and a good challenge – just as much as a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. We hike because it’s fun and rewarding, not because we revel in knee-deep mud or consider ourselves bush-bashing experts.
In our view, overnight backcountry hikes with private accommodation are paradise (amazing walk, stunning scenery, meet lovely locals, comfy bed, hot shower, proper food, lighter pack …) We seek out these gems wherever we are unless they’re exclusive to tour operators of all-inclusive, guided walks (kudos to anyone who enjoys hiking in a group, but we do not).
Hiking paradise
Best multiday hikes with upscale amenities
Our 5 favourite multi-day hikes that provide upscale amenities for freedom walkers (namely a hot shower and private room) without compromising on solitude and splendid vistas:
The Hump Ridge Track in Fiordland and the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds (both New Zealand), the Tour du Mont Blanc that runs through three countries in Europe: Switzerland, France, and Italy, the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, and climbing Kilimanjaro on the Lemosho Route – no hot showers or king-sized beds on this trail, but we did have a “personal butler” who made us popcorn every day, so this hike definitely makes it into the “luxury” category.
Short and sweet
Our favourite day hikes
Day hikes or walks* are brilliant in that they don’t ask you to rough it, usually require less preparation, offer a great variety of scenery, and often cater to trail runners as well.
From leisurely half-day walks to the 45-kilometre Tongariro Northern Circuit (it was either a very long day walk or sleeping in a crowded DOC hut), you’ll find a wide range of day hikes on this website.
Our 10 favourite day hikes (we had a rather lengthy argument over what to put here, so this list might change if one of us decides to secretly edit this post): Avalanche Peak Track, Rigi Mark Twain Trail, Mount Pilatus, several day hikes in the West Macs, Kings Canyon, Ben Lomond, Tongariro Northern Circuit (note that this 45-kilometre trail is usually completed in 3-4 days), Hooker Valley Track, Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, and the Mt Arthur Summit Track.
Into the wild
Backcountry hikes we love
Then there are times when you need to get lost in a backcountry that knows no comforts. You happily swap a shower and bed, cell phone reception and TV for the raw, unmatched beauty of a trail winding through a thick understorey of ferns and gnarled trees and across tussock covered grasslands flooded with a golden glow of first sunlight breaking across towering mountain ranges in a remote, enchanted wilderness.
Our 5 favourite backcountry hikes: Torres des Paine O-Circuit, Jotunheimen National Park, Rondane National Park, Overland Track Tasmania, and the Rees Dart Track in Mt Aspiring National Park.
the adventures you can expect to find here
The focus of this website is on hikes and walks*, but you will also find some fabulous cycle trails, city walks, canoeing adventures, and road trips. We try to choose whatever travel style fits the landscape best. We don’t exclude hikes that regularly make the “Best hikes in xxx”-lists simply because they’re popular (very often they deserve to rank highly), but we frequently seek out less-visited, remote walks.
On a side note: If you have so far ruled out scenic cycle trails because of their reputation for catering particularly well to golden agers as we did until recently, I urge you to reconsider.
We cycled six of New Zealand’s 22 Ngā Haerenga (‘The Journeys’) Great Rides, the country’s premier cycle trails, and count these trips among our favourite experiences in New Zealand – despite the fact that almost all of our lovely fellow cyclists were oldies cruising along on eBikes and frequently beating us to the finish.
We warmly recommend the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, the Otago Central Rail Trail, the West Coast Wilderness Trail, the Queenstown Trails, the Hawke’s Bay Trails, and the Hauraki Rail Trail to anyone planning to travel New Zealand.
trail classification on this website.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to make a distinction between hikes, walks, and runs, because people use trails differently. One person may hike the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand in 5 days (heavy backpack, hiking boots, tent and freeze-dried meals), another easily walks it in 3 (luggage transfers, private accommodation, spa bath, and great food and wine), while yet another person runs the same trail in a day (I’m in awe!). Now then, do you call this track a hike, walk, or run?
A similar question arises in connection with describing the difficulty of a track. Based on different fitness and experience levels, people have different understandings of how difficult a hike is.
Often grading systems are used to classify tracks, but these tend to vary between countries and even states within a country, as is the case in Australia, making comparisons between trails difficult.
* We thought about possible classifications and grading systems for this website and in the end, decided to keep things simple: if you could (theoretically) walk a track in flip flops (not saying that you should!), we’ll call it a walk, all other day hikes and overnight trips are put in the hiking category.
If a track is suitable for running or trail running, it’s noted in the track details. Often, we don’t assign a difficulty rating to trails (if we can find an official difficulty rating, we put that), but always provide full track details.
Most seasoned hikers will be familiar with this information. Those of you who’re new to hiking and unsure whether a trail is suitable for you – write us, we’re more than happy to help!