Hiking adventures in New Zealand
Hiking adventures in New Zealand
This weekend's hike took us South West into Victoria Forest Park. If like me, you haven't heard of it before, it is roughly sandwiched between the Nelson Lakes National Park to the East, and the Paparoa range to the West. The nearest town is Reefton. There are lots of walking tracks in the park, and we walked the 'Big River Track' from Waiuta to Big River.
We chose this track because it is pretty low elevation (we didn't fancy...
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 Tablelands area of Kahurangi National Park accessible from Graham Valley Road or the Cobb Valley is a great spot for all kinds of weekend and multiday activities - for adventurers and beginner trampers alike. We were making the most of the weather on a quick weekend mission; over the tops of Gordons Pyramid on Saturday to Balloon hut and back along the river valleys of the Salisbury Track and the Flora Track on Sunday....
Mount Owen is the highest point in the Kahurangi National Park, standing at 1875m and overlooking a beautiful, glaciated, limestone karst landscape. There are several ways to walk to Mount Owen. Yesterday I took the easiest and most popular track from the Courthouse Flat DoC campsite up to Granity Pass hut, to the tarns past Sentinel Hill. DoC reccommend 6 hours to walk the 8.3Kms to Granity Pass hut, and I made it in nearly 4 hours. It took another leisurely...
The Lake Peel track, followed by a hike up to Mount Peel summit (1654m) in the Kahurangi National Park makes for a great day out. It boasts a great track, some lovely forest, a nice climb, two bodies of water and beautiful walking across the tops. Then of course, it has incredible mountain views as far as you can see in every direction. The Lake Peel track is part of a network of hikes you can access from the far end of the Cobb resevoir in the...
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...