Hiking adventures in New Zealand
Hiking adventures in New Zealand
The great thing about living in Nelson, is the accessability to so many great hiking spots on your doorstep. The Dew lakes and Dun Mountain loop starts from the Maitai dam just a 20 minute drive from the city. This awesome day walk is around 23Kms and takes you through a variety of forestry, bush/scrub, beech forest and open tops. Be prepared for a great workout - it's a decent climb up to 1143m over Little Twin and 1129m over Dun Mountain. With...
The Hooker Valley Track is a stunning shorter walk in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in Canterbury, and you'll get some of the best views in New Zealand for very little effort. Don't miss the chance to see the spectacular alpine scenery including glaciers, mountain rivers and glacial lakes. On a good weather day you are treated to uninterrupted views of New Zealand's highest mountain Aoraki/Mount Cook (3,724m). Be warned though, this is one of the most...
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...
I started today thinking I would do a quick jaunt up Mount Robert in the Nelson Lakes National Park. Nothing too strenuous, just a quick up and down. As it turned out it was such a glorious day that I just carried on walking, with a bit of running thrown in. It ended up being the most incredible return to Angelus hut along the Robert Ridge route, which took around 6 hours in total .
Note that DoC rate the Robert Ridge Route as...
The Nelson Lakes National Park is approximately 1.5 hours drive South of Nelson. This magical area boasts a couple of beautiful glacial lakes - Rotoroa and Rotoiti, which are surrounded by mountains. These mountains form the beginnings of the magnificent Southern Alps which stretch most of the way down the South Island. The small town of St Arnaud is the hub of the area with some accommodation and a small shop and garage.
There are a...
The Hakatere Conservation Park is a beautiful area of Canterbury, a couple of hours drive inland from Christchurch. Situated between two mighty rivers, the Rakaia and Rangitata, you'll find a little bit of everything. It has beech forests, open tussock, huge mountains, rivers, lakes and wetland habitats. It is an area of natural importance which harbours a huge variety of native plants and wildlife.
During my...