New Zealand Tramping Resources

The Te Araroa Trust is an organisation dedicated to the formation of a walkway down the entire length of New Zealand. Currently (January 1998), Geoff Chapple has walked the North Island along their proposed route. As he went, he updated a very good Web site on his travels - good pictures, great maps and wonderful tales of the peoples he has met and the country he has traversed.

This very popular track takes you from Te Anau Lake over a high alpine pass to the usually placid waters of Milford Sound. It is part of DOC's "Great Walk" system, so you have to book well in advance (months or even a year for the most popular times). Each day up to 40 independent trampers and an equivalent number of guided walkers start the walk. The track is not as crowded as it might appear since the independent and guided tramper huts are staggered, people soon spread out along the track at their own pace and the traffic is all one-way. Most of the walking is done in a rainforest that receives 5-8 metres of rain per year. This gives luxuriant vegetation, wonderful waterfalls and unique surroundings at a cost of a usually wet walk (waterproof boots and good coats are needed). Luckily all the huts have drying rooms (along with gas stoves, running water and a resident warden).

For independent walkers the trip schedule is:

• The first day starts with a boat ride from Te Anau Downs (a half hour bus ride from Te Anau town) down to the start of the track. Clinton Hut is reached after 3.5 kilometres of easy walking beside the Clinton River.
• A slightly steeper days walking takes you up the Clinton Canyon with the high Mackinnon Pass visible at its head. The Mintaro Hut is situated next to the crystal-clear Mintaro Lake. If you arrive mid-afternoon and the weather is clear then rush up to the pass (about an hour climb without a pack) for glorious views.
• An early start will allow plenty of time at the top of the pass. The numerous zigzags on the climb ease the effort needed and there is a shelter at the pass handy for a brew. The steep descent on the other side is the hardest part of the trip. On reaching the private Quinlan Hut, drop your packs for the side-trip to Sutherland Falls - a massive 850 metre drop forming the highlight of the track. The day ends a gentle hour away at Dumpling Hut.
• Walking to a timetable to catch either the 2pm or 3pm boat from Sandfly Point (yes, there are lots of sandflies) to the Milford Sound village.

• "the finest walk in the world" by Scott A. Yost (1996).
• Ducky's NZ Trip - Milford by Kaitlin Duck Sherwood (1993).

• "a completely different character from the Milford Track" by Scott A. Yost (1996).

• The Abel Tasman Coastal Trackby Scott A. Yost (1996).

• Tongariro Northern Circuit by me (1998).
• Tongariro Northern Circuit by Scott A. Yost (1997).

• Tremendous walk up the Travers Valley, crossing of an alpine saddle (1787 metres high) and down the sublime Sabine valley by me (May, 1996).

• A sub-alpine route over the southern tops of the Tararua Ranges (highest point on Mt Hector at 1527m) by me (April, 1995)
• Many more trips by the Tararua Tramping Club...