The New Zealand Site

Enjoy but don’t underestimate.
New Zealand is a great place for tramping - there’s an excellent network of huts, hundreds of kilometres of tracks, a wild variety of heart-rendingly beautiful scenery, no snakes or dangerous animals, hardly [...]

A 4-day tramp through centered around the Central Whirinaki and Upper Whirinaki Huts. Beautiful streams and waterfalls and lots of variety.

A 3-day tramp through the Whirinaki rainforest. This time of year we had a few too many stream crossings and stinging nettles to contend with, but it was beautiful all the same.

Whirinaki State Forest Park in the central North Island has over 100 kilometres of tramping tracks through a variety of terrain. Situated between Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera National Park, Whirinaki offers beautiful clear rivers and streams which are home to native blue ducks, podocarp and beech forests and stunning rugged valleys.

Our previous three day tramp around Lake Angelus was so stunningly beautiful that we decided to do it again, only this time for 9 days.

The DoC visitors’ centre is located at the northern end of Lake Rotoiti in the village of St Arnaud. From here you can also get shuttle services to the track entrances and skifields, and the water taxi. You’ll also find a shop, campgrounds and accommodation.

Thousands of people tramp in the park every year, especially on the ‘Great Northern Circuit’ over Tongariro. This is a DOC Great Walk and you have to book a place in the huts if you want to use them. It definitely helps to be very fit for this one.

Our first time tramping around Mt Taranaki it was totally dry, this time it was very wet. Soggy, flooded in places, with a wild, freezing river crossing. Except for the familiar backdrop of the mountain it could have been a completely different place.

Mt Taranaki is the most climbed mountain in New Zealand. It changes with the seasons a bit more than some of the mountains I’ve tramped around, but it’s always beautiful. I’ve always thought Mt Taranaki resembled Mt Fuji, that classic ‘ice cream cone’ type mountain. Obviously I’m not the only one who saw the resemblance [...]

Sometimes grueling but always stunning, the tramp round Mt Ruapehu is certainly worth doing. Just be sure to build up your fitness levels before-hand.