Has anyone hiked in New Zealand?

[ukbballrulez33]

Hi all, new here and looking forward to contributing to the forums.

I'm headed on a two week trip to New Zealand in March of 2018. Currently I'm trying to plan out the logistics of the trip and figure out what I really want to do since this might be my only chance ever to go. I've settled that two "must-do" hikes are the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is a day hike, and the Routeburn Track on the South Island.

The logistics for the Tongariro trek should be fairly easy, but I'm wondering if anyone has done the Routeburn and has any advice on logistics, camping and general tips for the trail. Also, if anyone has recommendations for other trails that they think might be better than the two above, I would love to hear about those as well.

Thanks!

[ChrisJHC]

Try bushwalk.com - an Australian and New Zealand-focused forum that has lots of info to help you out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ukbballrulez33]

Try bushwalk.com - an Australian and New Zealand-focused forum that has lots of info to help you out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks Chris. I appreciate it.

[Hike Monkey]

I hiked the Routeburn trail this past December, but I used the cabin system. There are good trees for hanging though. If you have a car there are services that will shuttle the vehicle but it is expensive, around $200. You can catch the bus from Queenstown and start at the Te Anau end. There is a cool little place called Kinloch on the north end where you can stay the night then catch a ride back to Queenstown.

[tollermama]

Hi, I hiked both the Routeburn and Able Tasman coastal walk. The Routeburn is not to be missed. We started from the Te Anau end and went north. We paid to have our car shuttled which saved us tons of time (Trackhopper the shuttle company was great!). We stayed at Lake Mackenzie tentsite which I highly recommend as you are right at the lake. There are trees there which you may or may not be able to hang from. I think they are pretty close together and I don't know what the hammock scene is there. Then we stayed at Routeburn flats. I recommend you DO NOT MISS the opportunity to spend 2 nights at Routeburn flats. There are side hikes you can explore from there and it is absolutely gorgeous. I wished I had another night there. Even if you start from the North I recommend you stay a night at the flats campsite. No trees, but absolutely gorgeous and water right there for pumping. Stay away from the huts they are crowded. There is no wild camping allowed on the Great Walk tracks.

We then did the Abel Tasman coastal walk and if you do that I recommend you just stick to the northern part as the southern part is way crowded. It is much prettier and way fewer people. We stayed 2 nights at Anapai (we were supposed to stay at another camp site, but got there and it sucked so we called the reservations office and they switched us over to anapai and gave us another night instead of staying at that other site. Beautiful campsites right on the water. The beach is beautiful and great places to explore. Highly recommend that spot. You can start at Totaranui.

In terms of the Tongariro crossing. Not sure if you can still do the original route. When we were there they closed that and rerouted it into a long dry dusty trail. We decided to just do a day trip to the top since the original crossing was closed. The trip to the top was great and if you give yourself enough time you can climb Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) from the Lord of the Rings movie. If it is rainy and the cloud cover is low don't even bother to to that trip as you will see nothing and will be slogging behind many people who also see nothing. Very worth checking out though.

If you canoe, a cool option is to do a canoe camp trip on the Whanganui. It is also considered one of the Great Walks and I wish I had time for it. I will have to go back another time to do that. The Milford track is supposed to be really good too, but we could not fit it all in. Good luck! Lake Mackenzie Routeburn.jpgLake Mackenzie Routeburn.jpg Lake Mackenzie Routeburn.jpg

[tollermama]

sorry about the three pics of Lake Mackenzie, I thought I was attaching other photos as well here they are: route burn flats view from the hut and then a view from the campsite itself. It was dry when we were there, otherwise the grass would be very green. Routeburn flats from Routeburn Falls HutJPG.jpgView form Routeburn Flats camp.jpg

[hutzelbein]

I have done the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, but not the Routeburn (did the Caples Greenstone Track instead, which was great). If you can spare the time, consider spending more time at the Tongariro, though. There's a track that I would pick if I were to go back. The Tongariro crossing is very popular, and you'll be walking with loads of people, even in the shoulder season. I think I did it in April, and it felt like a school trip... The thing is, though, that all people will hike the crossing in the same time frame. If you don't have to get to the bus stop on the other side by late afternoon, you can take your time and have the landscape to yourself.

But even with loads of people (some of which were pretty strange; I think they would have been better off staying in the pub from whence they obviously came...) it was one of the best hikes I did in NZ! Don't forget your camera and enjoy!

[ofuros]

Another forum with helpful info...https://tramper.nz

[ukbballrulez33]

Hi, I hiked both the Routeburn and Able Tasman coastal walk. The Routeburn is not to be missed. We started from the Te Anau end and went north. We paid to have our car shuttled which saved us tons of time (Trackhopper the shuttle company was great!). We stayed at Lake Mackenzie tentsite which I highly recommend as you are right at the lake. There are trees there which you may or may not be able to hang from. I think they are pretty close together and I don't know what the hammock scene is there. Then we stayed at Routeburn flats. I recommend you DO NOT MISS the opportunity to spend 2 nights at Routeburn flats. There are side hikes you can explore from there and it is absolutely gorgeous. I wished I had another night there. Even if you start from the North I recommend you stay a night at the flats campsite. No trees, but absolutely gorgeous and water right there for pumping. Stay away from the huts they are crowded. There is no wild camping allowed on the Great Walk tracks.

We then did the Abel Tasman coastal walk and if you do that I recommend you just stick to the northern part as the southern part is way crowded. It is much prettier and way fewer people. We stayed 2 nights at Anapai (we were supposed to stay at another camp site, but got there and it sucked so we called the reservations office and they switched us over to anapai and gave us another night instead of staying at that other site. Beautiful campsites right on the water. The beach is beautiful and great places to explore. Highly recommend that spot. You can start at Totaranui.

In terms of the Tongariro crossing. Not sure if you can still do the original route. When we were there they closed that and rerouted it into a long dry dusty trail. We decided to just do a day trip to the top since the original crossing was closed. The trip to the top was great and if you give yourself enough time you can climb Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) from the Lord of the Rings movie. If it is rainy and the cloud cover is low don't even bother to to that trip as you will see nothing and will be slogging behind many people who also see nothing. Very worth checking out though.

If you canoe, a cool option is to do a canoe camp trip on the Whanganui. It is also considered one of the Great Walks and I wish I had time for it. I will have to go back another time to do that. The Milford track is supposed to be really good too, but we could not fit it all in. Good luck! Lake Mackenzie Routeburn.jpgLake Mackenzie Routeburn.jpg Lake Mackenzie Routeburn.jpg

Thanks for all of the information! A couple of questions though, as you are talking to someone who knows very little about the Routeburn. What exactly are the Routeburn Flats? Is this an area on the trail or do you have to get off of the trail in order to access it? You seem to think this is something that can't be missed so I want to make sure that I do it.

Also, if you can remember, how much roughly was it to have your car shuttled with Trackhopper? I've read from multiple accounts that this is very beneficial and would save me a ton of time when I reached the end. Do they shuttle it directly to the end of the trail to a parking lot of some kind?

Last note - planning on doing Milfound Sound but most likely not a hike. They have cruises and kayaking packages that I'll likely take advantage of simply due to my time-constraints and wanting to see other areas of NZ. Definitely looks incredible in photos though.

Thanks!

[ukbballrulez33]

I hiked the Routeburn trail this past December, but I used the cabin system. There are good trees for hanging though. If you have a car there are services that will shuttle the vehicle but it is expensive, around $200. You can catch the bus from Queenstown and start at the Te Anau end. There is a cool little place called Kinloch on the north end where you can stay the night then catch a ride back to Queenstown.

How exactly does the cabin system work? I'm assuming you have to pay per night similarly to a hotel, but do you also have to have a permit of some sort to use them? I'm going by myself and think it might be beneficial to stay in a cabin in order to meet other people. Thanks for the information!