NZ: Alternatives to "Great Walks"?

[dreamingof8a]

Hi,

I will be in NZ for six weeks (December mostly South Island, then about two weeks North Island) and want to do walking/hiking/camping.
Can you recommend overnight or multi-day hikes which can be done without booking ahead and (if possible but not neccessarily) without track fees or similar? We will have a car so on one hand we can reach remote points, on the other hand it would be good to walk circuits or have a chance to get back to the car via hitchhiking or public transport.

Mountains are probably what we are mostly but anything nice really is fine.

I have already checked the DOC webpage but I would like to hear some suggestions from people who have done the walks.

Thanks a lot!

Felix

[DaveNoble]

Too many!!!

Here are some -

Richmond Range - near Nelson

Travers/Sabine Circuit in Nelson Lakes
Wangapecka Track -Kahuarangi NP
Mt Arthur and the Tablelands nearby - Kahuarangi NP
Douglas Range - Kahuarangi NP
St James Walkway - near Lewis Pass
Three Passes Walk - Arthurs Pass to the West Coast
The Young and Wilkins Valleys - near Wanaka
Cascade saddle - Dart River - from Wanaka
Rees - Dart from Queenstown
The walk from Wananka to Queenstown (I cant remember its actual name - but some locals call it the Shania Twain Walk)
Caples - Greenstone

etc.......

Dave

[dreamingof8a]

thanks Dave. Yes, there re too many - I guess that's why I am having such difficulties planning my trip ....

[wayno]

wanaka to queenstown walk is the motuatpu.
constant steep hills.... only for the very keen...
just dig that track profile.... http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... apu-track/

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... apu-track/

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... and-walks/

[whynotwalk]

Hi Felix - as DaveNoble says, there are plenty! My favourites are the Rees-Dart and the Greenstone-Caples. I've described some of my experiences of the latter on this forum's blog, starting here http://bushwalk.com/blog/blog/2012/04/08/against-the-flow/.

On the question of fees, if you stay in a hut, you pay a fee, but the huts don't need to be booked in advance unless you're on a Great Walk. If you want to tent it, you still pay a $5 per person per night fee. Hut wardens rove around and check compliance - as well as offerening great advice and being typically friendly Kiwis

Happy choosing - you can't go wrong, really!

Peter

[wayno]

quite a few huts outside of teh great walks do need to be booked in advance and the bnumber is increasing steadily, a booking system is coming into place either this january or the next on the rees dart, the rees dart and grenstone caples huts are overloaded in mid summer, especially the dart hut

https://booking.doc.govt.nz/

[dreamingof8a]

Thanks for the info regarding the huts.
Some friends told me that it is possible to hike into Milford Trek over some pass rather than the original start, and then continue along the trail and that way avoid the trek and hut booking/fee (by staying in the tent). Is that true? Sounds a little dodgy to me to be honest ...

[eggs]

He was probably thinking of a subset of this:
http://www.southernalpsphotography.com/Tramping/Fiordland/Lake-Quill-Sutherland-Sound/15626250_2GZvhv#!i=1170851624&k=5Q9DWZ4&lb=1&s=A

Please note that Danilo's trips are hard core and rock climbing. So don't take them as straightforward.
Having said that - I believe the golden rule is camping must be over 500m away from the track.
And I ponder his route maps, not to repeat his routes, but for the odd idea of where a good spot to camp might be in the less extreme locations.
You can see in his camping spots over Dore Pass and then either side of Mackinnon Pass that that is what they were attempting to do.

[wayno]

you cannot camp within 500 metres of the milford track, because of the steep mountainsides its extremely difficult to even get to more than 500metres from teh track let alone fine a campsite... you would have to walk it in a day and jack up a boat to get you off and thats not easy, you'd get to the end too late for the shuttle boat service.

[Strider]

Richmond Range - near Nelson

I reckon I might have a crack here when I'm over there in February.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/marlborough/south-marlborough/mt-richmond-forest-park/

[JamesMc]

Thanks for the info regarding the huts.
Some friends told me that it is possible to hike into Milford Trek over some pass rather than the original start, and then continue along the trail and that way avoid the trek and hut booking/fee (by staying in the tent). Is that true? Sounds a little dodgy to me to be honest ...

You can do this if you are using the track for access to other routes like the Light Valley but not as a cheap way to walk the Milford Tk. Though in most places, if you are 500m from the track, you'll need a portaledge to camp on.

Talk to DOC, they are really helpful, unlike their Australian equivalents.

JamesMc

[wayno]

the knowledge of doc staff varies immensely, the reponse you get varies on who responds ..... if you dont like the answer try again later...., some staff are a mine of information, others are just there to make a buck
i was in a hut listening to a warden talk, they spoke about the different trees in the area, you could tell they'd been given a five minute rundown by someone else... they couldnt recall the names of the trees correctly