Hiking (tramping) in New Zealand

As an avid hiker from my Duke of Edinburgh days, nothing has ever come close to the beauty, splendour and variety of hiking (or as the Kiwis say tramping ) in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a maritime climate which means that it is very changeable (perhaps the Crowded House song "Four Seasons in One Day" attests to this). The best day hike in the country is thought to be in the Tongariro National Park and gives magnificent volcanic scenes and flawless craters. However, you will be walking with around 3,000 other people (I jest not).

In the South Island, you can walk in the fjord land, through rainforests and many changing landscapes (you've all seen Lord of the Rings - need I say more?).

New Zealand 's Department of Conservation (called DOC - as in "Doctor") runs and maintains hiking trails throughout the North and South Islands . Even better, it runs a network of huts that hikers can sleep in en-route. These huts vary in quality, most have an outside latrine and a stove so it is important to remember toilet paper and some matches.

Hut passes range from $4 - 12 (Kiwi dollars) per night. Early and later in the season, you may be the only hiker on the trail and may feel the urge not to use the hut passes. The DOC is a cash-starved organization that really needs funds so PAY YOUR HUT FEES! Of course you can always camp.Most hikers leave some firewood in a dry place for the next person, so you should too.

I was hiking for about 30 of the 100 days I was in New Zealand and loved every minute of it. As mentioned above, the climate is extremely changeable (read dangerous) and a friend and I got into difficulty on the Caples/ Greenstone track in late spring. We were in the second day of a 4-day tramp when the rains came down and the floods came up...

We had hiked to the Upper Caples hut on Day 1 and on Day 2 were forced to return to it after drenching rains. We were worn out after building makeshift bridges over rivers that didn't previously exist and wading through thigh-high water. The path had conveniently turned to rapids in many parts.

It took us most of Day 3 to make our way back to the Mid Caples hut, the Caples River had severely burst its banks and large parts of the track had been swept away. When we emerged on Day 4 to be picked up as scheduled by jet-boat we were told that parts of the road back to Queenstown had literally been swept away and it was the worst storm of the year.

A month later I led a group on the same track (Greenstone/ Caples this time). I almost didn't recognize the Caples track as all the rivers I remembered had simply disappeared. Heed the lesson - hiking can be hazardous - especially early spring and autumn. Though we were experienced hikers we should have turned back earlier when we recognized the extent of the rainfall. The flash-flooding was still a great experience though! To those saying we should have checked the weather - we did, but Kiwi weather can be gorgeous in the morning, torrential rain at lunch; tropical in the afternoon.you get the idea.

If you plan on doing more than one hike the Lonely Planets Tramping in New Zealand is an excellent book packed full of advice, maps and information. It was indispensable to me.

I have heard many say the same - I truly loved my time in New Zealand .

BY: Sam