Your NZ Hiking Guides
A small team of many talents.
Chef, entertainer, historian, musician, therapist, planner, sherpa… there’s no end to the list of roles our guides play. We’ve gone out of our way to assemble the very best – a small, highly dedicated team of legendary guides, who will ensure your holiday is one you won’t soon forget!
Brad Taylor
Brad is a hiking veteran with over 21 years experience in the North Island outdoors. Originally trained as a whitewater rafting guide, Brad made the switch to trail adventures early and has never looked back. Brad holds a Pre-Hospital Emergency Care First Aid Qualification.
Brad takes a particular interest in the Lake Waikaremoana, Coromandel and Great Barrier Island areas and has hiked the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk over 100 times!
He’s quick with an interesting story about our native New Zealand flora and fauna and loves his 80’s pop culture and vintage Star Wars memorabilia.
‘Brad possessed a wonderful combination of experience, humour, knowledge and a fantastic way with people. These few days were really a highlight of my year!’
DEBORAH, Waikaremoana Discovery Tour
‘Brad had us on his own for 4 days. He was friendly, courteous, knowledgeable and yet gave us space and time on our own. We couldn’t fault him. And we learnt a lot about the Coromandel environment in a most interesting way.’
SUE, Coromandel Explorer
‘Brad is very knowledgeable, and he is always willing to share his knowledge about Te Urewera and also about his secret recipes. Thanks Brad!’
SARMILA, Waikaremoana Guided Walk
Bobbi-Jo Burkitt
Bobbi-Jo is Canadian-born but resident of Wellington for the past 8 years where she’s been immersed in early childhood education. In 2023 she tackled Te Araroa Trail, walking 3,000km from Bluff in Southland to Cape Reinga in Northland. This was a ground-shift moment sending her in a new direction professionally and right to the doorstep of Walking Legends.
With an innate ability to relate to people from all walks of life, Bobbi-Jo is a delight to have on the trail.
‘Great walks, excellent accommodation, top food and looked after so well by Brad and Bobbi-Jo. It’s more than walks! It’s a fantastic way to see and experience Taranaki.’
IAN, Taranaki Discovery Tour
‘We had a great guide, Bobbi-Jo, very pleasant to be with and most helpful, really enjoyed her company.’
SUE, Taranaki Discovery Tour
‘We did the Taranaki Discovery Tour trip and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The accommodation, catering, hospitality of the hosts, and enthusiasm and helpfulness of our guide, Bobbi-Jo, together with the fantastic views, swimming and other activities were fantastic. Thank you Walking Legends.’
BOB, Taranaki Discovery Tour
Dylan Arthur
Our Dylan is a fresh-faced, enthusiastic young hiking addict who takes a particular interest in the Tongariro area. His side hustle is landscape, outdoor and travel photography. To say he’s handy with a lens or two is an understatement.
Check out his considerable talent here – https://www.dylanarthur.com/
One day soon Dylan will be the hiking coach to watch as he builds up a profile as a hiking-specific personal trainer. Imagine the expert advice you can make use of to keep those knees and hips in good order as you put in the km’s!
‘Dylan was lovely - thoughtful and always trying to meet our needs; a great driver (important with so much driving to feel in safe hands); good company and shared information about places.'
JOANNA, Coromandel Explorer
‘Big ups to Dylan for getting me past my fears and to the summit of the Pinnacles today! I'm elated!’
JILL, Coromandel Explorer
‘Dylan was so calm, informative, polite, helpful and patient with us. He has a lot of potential. Loved the food! Great attention to detail - right through to the drinks and fries at the end! That was perfect..’
KIRSTIN, Tongariro Northern Circuit Great Walk
Hamish Tills
Hamish is a passionate, outdoor professional with many strings to his bow. An accomplished kayaker and qualified teacher, Hamish takes a dedicated approach to Health & Safety and holds a Pre-Hospital Emergency Care First Aid qualification.
When he’s not shooting down a frothy rapid or surfing barrels in the big blue Pacific, Hamish enjoys spending time in South America maintaining his Spanish language skills.
Hamish is undertaking a full-immersion te reo Māori programme so feel free to test him out on his vocabulary and help us keep him sharp!
‘Hamish was awesome. Love the banter. We were never rushed but always got to where we needed to be on time .’
NGAIRE, Coromandel Explorer
‘Hamish was super knowledgeable, friendly and encouraging. Totally unjudgmental so felt like going any pace was fine. Nothing was a problem. He was fantastic and made the trip lots of fun.’
JAN, Coromandel Explorer
‘Very considerate, patient, noting any trouble, encouraging, made you feel you could do anything. Fantastic guide’
PAT, Waikaremoana Discovery Tour