Hiking adventures in New Zealand
Hiking adventures in New Zealand
On a fine summer weekend we're spoilt for choice for adventures, so we decided to head North for some sea kayaking in the Abel Tasman National Park. The forecast was perfect - sunny, with light winds, with no swell. We wanted a relaxed weekend rather than a mission, so started from to TÅtaranui with options of heading a few Kms South to Awaroa Bay and North to Mutton Cove and Separation point. The last time I was here was in the Winter...
The Kepler track in Fiordland National Park in Southland, is one of New Zealand's most accessible 'Great Walks'. It begins near the small town of Te Anau, and boasts beautiful forests, unique wetlands, waterfalls and alpine mountain scenery. It is a 60Km loop track (although we found out the mileage varies depending upon which brochure you read) and you'll climb to 1400m at the highest point.
DoC classify it as a 'moderate/easy' 3-4 day tramping track. We walked...
Peel Forest Park Scenic Reserve is 22kms North of Geraldine in Canterbury, close the Rangitata river. It has a variety of walks, a popular mountain climb, a great cafe, a lovely serviced DoC campground and a free freedom campground nearby. I sampled all of them :-)
My time in this area started with a trip down memory lane. I booked into the Peel Forest DoC campsite, and just as I was about to turn into it, I saw a...
If you're looking for a fantastic multi day tramp with beautiful dense forest, mountains galore, wide valleys, rivers and a beautiful lake, then the 58Km Gillespie Pass Circuit in Mount Aspiring National Park might be for you. It begins close to Makarora, a small settlement an hours' drive to the North of Wanaka.
The Gillespie Pass circuit is a loop track. You can start just South of Makarora up the Wilkin river, or from a few Kms North of Makarora up...
Located across the Kahurangi National Park in New Zealand's upper South island, the Heaphy Track spans the Nelson/Tasman and West Coast districts. It is one of New Zealand's 10 'great walks', which DoC describe as their 'premier' tracks. Generally these tracks are easy to follow and well graded, and take you through some of the most spectacular wilderness scenery New Zealand has to offer.
Note that on the great walks you must pre-book your accommodation, and...
This was probably one of the biggest and best days on Te Araroa trail, over the Little and Big Rintoul mountains.
We had set the alarm for 4am this morning. The forecast was looking good and we wanted to see the sunrise over the mountains. Flo got up with us and we all made breakfast outside the hut - trying not to wake the others. We left Slaty hut at 5.15am just as it was getting...