Joynz wrote:Bad form though - to use the gas if you haven’t paid
Indeed it is.
Also bad form to freeload the huts as well. There
are (pre-paid) charges to use all huts (other than a basic hut) and a booking is required for all Great Walks and a selection of other heavily used huts.
The categories of DOC hut are : Great, Serviced (inc Alpine), Standard and Basic.
For details, see
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/stay-in-a-hut/hut-categories/Although noisy huts is certainly one reason to carry a tent, safety is another. A tent can be life-saving if stuck on the wrong side of a flooding river, stopped by accident, seriously bad weather etc etc. (and always carry a PLB - not a substitute for thorough planning but ... ).
If I were tramping a Great Walk (benched track, major streams bridged, lots of people, booked bed), I'd probably not take a tent but I would still take a sleeping mat - those DOC vinyl mattresses seem to suck the heat out of you
If you make it to NZ and the Five Passes, I would recommend including Lake Nerine - shear magic.
- Lake Nerine - Mar 2013