South Island walks

[brissifirey]

Hi everyone,

Going over to NZ shortly for 2 weeks, ATM I am walking the Milford track, can any one recommend another track nearby which would take around 4-5 days to walk.

Cheers

[icefest]

The dusky track with double distance days

(Just Joking)

Jokes aside, Greenstone and Caples are popular,if you can get beds?

[forest]

4 days on Milford
Spend night at Milford Sound (Or back at Te Anau but Milford sound is closer to the Routeburn)
Transfer to Routeburn Track. (Depending on transfer company you might be in luck and they could drop your next 5 days supplies after Milford Track at the Milford Accomodation if you stay down there, Kiwi's are pretty good with that kind of thing, even if a modest fee is involved)
Then walk the Routeburn and the Caples or Greenstone Track ?? (Transfer between Routeburn Shelter and Greenstone trail head)
Depends where your next stop is or if you are just there on a walking holiday.

Highly recommend the Routeburn. It's a lot more alpine than the Milford (for the most part)

When are you going ?? We were there in the first week in Nov 2011 and the Routeburn was closed still between McKenzie and Falls hut due to avalanche danger. Distance to far for the choppa to be economical, they bombed it open the day we walked out and then commenced short flights over Harris Saddle in the danger zone (Wasn't that an interesting experience in the alps with explosives resounding off the Holyford Valley)
Or you could just do the Routeburn and a day walk or 3 around Queenstown. Ben Lomond which is straight above town is a great walk.

Planning another venture over there next March / April with the family. Can't get enough of the place, trip 5 for me.

[wayno]

food supplies at milford sound are very basic, i didnt see much to choose from at all there,... if you have specific food needs and you're going straight from the milford track to another , then you might have to pack the food the whole way. cant recall whats at gunns camp but i think thats basic too. othwerwise the nearest supermarket is at te anau... routeburn is by far the most scenic walk in the area but thers avalanche danger at the mo, no idea when they will clear it or start with teh helicopter,
still if you can get to mackenzie hut it's well worth the trip, get up to ocean view corner above mackenzie hut if its safe enough for a great view.. you'll probably have to book the hut at that time, theres still spaces.. then duck back down the caples and book the bus from info and track to pick you up at the road end...

track condition alert here
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... reat-walks

pay attention to the forecast and plan accordingly

http://www.metservice.com/mountain/fior ... ional-park

[Rod-o]

Hello Hello!

I am also planning a hike on the south island for Feb 2014. I would love to have your advice

Could anyone please let me know what the best hike would be?

I've done a fair bit of hiking in Aus (Tas/NSW), mainly solo or just 2-3 people. So I like a quiet - close to nature (tents only), moderately challenging, for at least 4-7 days .

Any advice would be great.

Thanks,

Rod.

[wayno]

do some homework first, look at the info links provided at the top of the NZ topics and provide more information about what sort of trip and track difficulty and terrain you are after....

[Rod-o]

Thanks Wayno.

I had a look around, and I was thinking to do either the Travers-Sabine walk or the Gillespie Pass Circuit.

What do you think? I heard that Travers is pretty quiet, but not sure if it is as challenging, and beautiful as others?

I tried to break it down into the following;

1. 4-7 days
2. Tent camping (not going to sleep in a hut)
3. Moderate - difficult hiking
4. Alpine is good/OK
5. Quiet with not too many people
6. No guided tours etc


Thanks,

Rod.

[wayno]

travers in nelson lakes is infested with a high wasp population in summer through to march, someone estimated a nest every 50m.....

theres no end of options with those parameters... look at the doc.govt.nz website and tramper.co.nz

[livingakiwilife]

I would recommend the Kepler Track - that has been my favorite of the Great Walks so far and we have done 6 of 9 to date!

Check out our video from Kepler here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzpEZqNw ... vQu4XbRkcr

We have videos from Abel Tasman, Milford Track, Tongariro Northern Circuit, Lake Waikaremoana and many more to come!

Feel free to check out the Great Walks section of our blog too that has loads of photos and our experiences on the Great Walks!

http://livingakiwilife.blogspot.co.nz/

[wayno]

people who've been at nelson lakes this summer are saying wasp no's are generally down on what they have been in past summers due to cooler than normal weather...while their not's are still noticeable , they are nowhere near as many this summer.