To Great Walk or not to Great Walk? – What to consider when choosing a hike in New Zealand

To Great Walk or not to Great Walk? – What to consider when choosing a hike in New Zealand

New Zealand is heaven for hikers. It’s stunningly beautiful, relatively uncrowded and absolutely full of trails, but how do you choose one that will suit your needs and desires? There are currently nine ‘Great Walks’, a set of popular hiking trails developed by the Department of Conservation showcasing a variety of the country’s diverse terrain …

Great Ocean Wanderings

What the hell was that? An alarming sound that was part pig grunt, lion growl and elephant wheeze pierced the air. I lay alone in my tent considering the options. I was either in a whole lot of trouble with some crazy marauding ‘pig-lion-elephant’ or… (I unzipped my tent and poked my head out to breathe …

Soultrekking

 (Photo credit:  marker pole) 146 days into this journey and I realise I’ve come a long way.  And I’m not just talking about the 2800km of trail behind me. In the last week I tramped alone along the Mavora Walkway, a stunning route through vast open valleys flanked by huge mountains.  Wandering for hours through …

Hurry up Laura, winter is approaching…

It’s been an eventful nine days walking from Methven to Tekapo.  After saying goodbye to several long term hiking buddies I found myself heading out alone into what was a potentially challenging high country section.  The trail notes and other hiker comments revealed I should expect around 60 river crossings, trail-less routes ‘lightly marked’ with …

It’s Business Time…

“…There’s a river crossing on a rock chute just above a 4m waterfall.  The water is flowing fast down the chute and if you lose footing you go over the waterfall… Some trampers may find this section challenging”. Hmmm…should trail notes really read like this?  Luckily for us we were blessed with hot and dry …