Backpack New Zealand’s Best “Great Walks” and Tramping Trails

Nelson and the Abel Tasman Coast Track (ATCT) (Feb 1-7):   We flew into Nelson (a subgroup of 8 of us) and spent that day and the next day exploring this lovely relaxed city out of the Harbourside Lodge (proprietor amazingly helpful, the location pretty good though still about a 15 minute walk from the center of town).  Then we took a bus and then a boat (organized through Wilson's ) to the northernmost camp on our trek, Totaranui.  That day we walked north on the ACTC to Mutton Cove - a lovely walk, with track in great condition, but with lots of gain and loss!  Signage not always clear so watch your map.  The next morning we headed south, timing our departure from Totaranui to arrive at Awaroa Bay in time to catch the low tide at the huge estuary crossing (this year it was a convenient 9AM timing, but one past year we had to leave before dawn to catch it!) and walked on to Onetahuti camp.  The third day I had arranged with Kahu Kayaks for each person to contract with them individually for a full-day kayak trip from Onetahuti to Anchorage Bay with lunch (~$200 NZD), and this was a highlight for many of the group members - highly recommended!  All double kayaks and lovely side trips into lagoons!  From Anchorage Bay we had a short hike to the loveliest and loneliest camp of all, Te Pukatea Pay.  Then on the last day we headed to Apple Tree Bay and met our boat at around noon to start our way by boat and bus to our hotel in Nelson.  The weather was excellent, even a bit hot.  Some sandflies but not awful for most of us.  The local omnipresent wild 'chickens' (the flightless birds called the Weka) were everywhere and got into vestibules, packs and even through a small gap in someone's tent zipper to pull stuff out and carry it off into the woods, so we learned to keep everything stored tightly in a fully zipped tent!

Queenstown and Aoraki/Mount Cook Park (Feb 7-12):  The Abel Tasman folks met 4 new arrivals in Queenstown on Feb 7 and we had an amazing dinner at the Skyline Restaurant at the top of the gondola overlooking the town - a wonderful (though expensive!) way to set the tone for a fun and special trip.  I selected the Premium Dinner package with gondola and a table by the window.  Amazing buffet suitable for all diets.  We spent another full day in Queenstown which everyone loved, and stayed at the Melbourne Lodge (a simple place but with good facilities including washer and dryer and amazing helpful proprietors;  not as close to the town center as I might have liked with a very steep climb back up, but everyone did it multiple times without complaint.) Then my backup leader and I took a taxi to the airport to pick up two rental vans, came back and picked up the group (we all stored our town bags with the Melbourne Lodge folks) and we drove to Aoraki/Mt Cook park, stopping at the standard viewpoint looking over turquoise Lake Pukaka to Mount Cook at the northwest end of the lake.  We arrived at our hostel the Haka House (everyone absolutely LOVED this hostel with modern and clean facilities including a full kitchen;  but note that you need to book the multi-bed rooms larger than the number of people who you will have in there because the rooms are tight and there is not enough room for people to put their gear unless there is an empty bed!)  That afternoon we hiked up to Red Tarns (steep uphill but short, some rocky sections and a bit of path with steep dropoff below, generally great trail), and chose the Old Mountaineer restaurant for dinner (terrible, avoid it!).  The next morning it was low clouds and drizzle so we hiked out to Hooker Lake and everyone enjoyed it - no high views required to enjoy this route.  The trail was well formed and easy until the lake, and then it became a boulder scramble beyond that.  (Just one small iceburg in the lake - global warming in action?)  That night we had dinner at the Chamois Restaurant outside the Mt Cook Alpine Lodge and it was excellent.  On our last day, we started before sunrise (turned out to be a very good idea!) and hiked up to Sealy Tarns and Mueller Hut.  The trail to Sealy Tarns consists of over a thousand wooden steps, and we hiked in the low clouds the whole way.  From the tarns we undertook the 'route' (not trail) to Mueller Hut.  This required a couple of hours of hopping among big boulders and steep scree, following orange posts (lots of different routes available).  Good to keep people in sight here because the low clouds made it hard to follow the way!  And anyone not comfortable with boulder hopping and steep rolling-rock descents would not enjoy this route.  The hut was really fun (lots of Kea on the porch railings) with a lot of people from other places.  By the time we headed down, the sun and the views were out as were the crowds, so we were very grateful to have started early!  It was REALLY hot by the time we did the steps down from Sealy Tarns.  That night we had dinner at the Hermitage buffet restaurant with the great view of the mountain, and everyone loved it! (also highly recommend the breakfast buffet there, which we took advantage of on our second and our fourth mornings).  After breakfast at the Hermitage we got in our vans and drove back to Queenstown, picking up our luggage and moving just downhill to the Heartland Hotel where we stayed that night before heading to Te Anau the next morning (nice rooms but a cranky desk staff).  Dinner at Yonder which we all really liked and great vegan options!

Te Anau and the Routeburn Track (Feb 13-16):   This morning we stored our town bags at the Heartland Hotel and caught a pre-booked Tracknet shuttle from Queenstown to the Divide (the start of the westbound Routeburn) which picked up outside the Marmolada Cafe (a great breakfast spot, opens early!).    The shuttle stopped briefly in Te Anau and then went on up the Milford highway to drop us at the Divide parking lot by around 10:30AM.  We headed up the lovely forested trail (so many different kinds of ferns in NZ!) to the cutoff to the Key Summit which is a side walk of about 2 miles uphill to lovely views of the Hollyford Valley and Darran Mountains.  (I had people stash their packs and bring their lunches up, but I hadn't made arrangements ahead with people to have this ready so there was quite a bit of fumbling around.  Note to self!)   We ate lunch by the first tarn at the top.  Outhouses along this trail!  Returning to our packs, we went on along the main track, mostly uphill in forest though it was warm.  Earland Falls was a nice break where some people dipped their feet.  Some rocky spots but generally excellent track conditions.  Finally we reached MacKenzie hut where we found spots in the upstairs bunk room (just mattresses, on bunk beds or side by side on large platforms).  We discovered here that the water is not certified potable and they didn't have pots for people so we were supposed to have brought our own!  I missed this because I recalled different from my previous times here)  We mustered together our water filters and the pots that some of us had brought, and though it took forever we brought our water up to a rolling boil to make our dinners and fill our bottles.  (Later we would be told by hut wardens that the water really WAS ok to drink - they just hadn't tested it so they couldn't make an official certification.)  Some people went over to swim in the lake (be aware that the shallows are VERY mucky!)  On the morning of day 2 of the Routeburn we continued around the lake and steeply up the wall beside it.  By the time we reached the big corner where we would turn to traverse the hillside across from the Darrens, the clouds were lifting, and as we did the traverse we had increasing views of the snowy peaks and the Hollyford valley.  After a couple of hours traversing, we turned back west and uphill to find the Harris Shelter at the base of Conical Hill.  We stashed our packs in the shelter and climbed Conical Hill (definitely a challenging 'trail' with lots of boulder and slab climbing with hands, steep scree, and even a little shimmying up chimneys).  Everyone managed it and we got stunning 360-degree views from the top!  By the time we came down from Conical Hill it was really hot and exposed in the sun - we had lunch and set out on the trail down past Lake Harris and around and down to the Routeburn Falls hut, just about everyone's favorite!  Bunk-bed rooms shared with quite a few others, similar cooking facilities.  Most of the group donned swimsuits and camp shoes and climbed down the steep short trail to the falls and the pools below - very refreshing!  (Be sure to bring grippy shoes if you want to do this!)  The next day we walked steeply down to the Routeburn Flats with a nice stop at Routeburn Flats hut (gorgeous views across the golden grassland and river to snowy peaks).  From there it was short work through gorgeous old-growth forest along the river.  Our bus wasn't until 2:15 so we stopped for lunch along the river and then waited awhile under the Routeburn Flats shelter until the bus came and took us back to Queenstown and the Heartland hotel.

Te Anau and the Kepler Track (Feb 16-22):   We dragged our town bags down to Marmolada cafe to have an early breakfast and catch our next Tracknet shuttle, to Te Anau.    (Note that 12 town bags and our backpacks required a large trailer (mention that when you book the shuttle!).  We spent that afternoon exploring the lovely lakeside town of Te Anau and stayed at the Lakeside Motel and Apartments which is wonderful and an easy walk into town and to the Fiordland Visitor's Centre.   Everyone grocery shopped for Kepler track provisions and shopped, and we had a really nice dinner at Ristorante Pizzeria Paradiso.   The next morning we left our town bags at the hotel, had a wonderful breakfast at the Sandfly Cafe, and walked down to the dock to meet our water taxi (also booked through Tracknet - look for Kepler Track Transport) that took us across the lake to Brod Bay.  (Note:  this isn't the actual start of the Kepler - it starts at the Control Gates about 3 miles south - but those miles are pretty dull and starting at Brod Bay gives you more time to explore after you get to the alpine!)  The trail switchbacks through lovely forest with increasing views out to the lake and the plains around, until popping out into the alpine suddenly and winding around with amazing views of the  lake and surrounding mountains until we reached the Luxmore Hut (my favorite hut on the tracks I've done in NZ) with it's stunning panoramic lake views.  More bunks and lots of keas!   Most of the group got installed in the hut and then hiked up to Mount Luxmore in the beautiful weather.  The track is in great condition until the Mt Luxmore turnout and then it's a very steep rolling-rock and slate path to the top.  Stunning views from here, highly recommended!  After heading down from Mt Luxmore, several people went to explore the nearby Luxmore Caves - really fun, headlamps required!  The next morning after breakfast at the hut we lucked out with a clearing weather pattern, scattered clouds but generally great views and excellent track conditions for one of the best extended ridge walks in the world.  Just keeps on going!  But sadly it eventually did come to an end with 200 steep metal steps and then steep switchbacks to the next valley, the Iris Burn.  The hut there is nice, we claimed our own bunk room, but watch for the sandflies!    Some people went out at midnight to look for kiwis.  The next morning we set out along the mostly flat trail through pretty forest, passing lake Maanapouri and the Motohau hut (we didn't stay there, too close to the end) and then endlessly winding along the Waiau river  to Rainbow Reach where we met our bus back to our hotel in Te Anau (booked with tracknet as part of the Kepler Track transport package).  We had a wonderful dinner that night at the Fat Duck (excellent!  must book ahead!)   I had set the next day aside for people to do optional touring around Te Anau - some people took a floatplane flight, some people did a glowworm tour - both were enjoyed greatly - and some people road bikes on the Lake2Lake trail (all gravel with quite a few steep hills!) explored and relaxed in town.   The next morning after another great breakfast at the Sandfly we met another bus (booked through Southern Discoveries) for the incredibly scenic drive up the Milford highway and up through the Homer Tunnel to Milford sound for a boat ride out through the sound to the Tasman Sea and back.  (These buses are amazing because they have windows on the roof so you can see the towering cliff walls above you!)  Back to Te Anau for a final dinner (we really enjoyed Mizu Japanese Fusion) and night at the Lakeside.  Early on the morning of the 22nd we trundled our town bags to the Fiordland Visitor's Centre and were picked up by Tracknet to take us to the Queenstown airport.  All but 5 of the group members caught flights home that afternoon or to Auckland for another day of exploring.

Wanaka and the Aspiring National Park: