This Great Walk was going to be the longest for us so far, 80 km in total. The first part of the trail is going over a pass and the highlands, then coming down to the coast and finally goes along the beaches. We had for some reason booked the huts as recommended without thinking too much about it. We were doing the track in four nights and five days. This could easily have been cut down to three nights and four days without even being very hard. But it was already booked so off we went.
The view back towards Collingwood where we came from.
The first day was uphill and was supposed to be the hardest on the whole trail. It was very moderately graded so it was actually quite easy. Much easier than things we had done before. It was raining when we started but it stopped almost immediately and the sun came out until the evening when we were already in the hut on Perry Saddle.
Gouland Downs. The pretty highlands in not so pretty weather.
Hut life.
Day 2 and 3 were very short and could have easily been combined. We arrived at the huts very early and had to bring out books and join other parties card games to keep busy. Although we would have liked to skip one hut it was still a good thing because the first three days were partly rainy and foggy. Day 3 was really bad with heavy rain that made stream crossings very interesting. We were lucky and made it through with more or less dry feet but others coming in after us had to wade in thigh deep water. Day 4 and 5 though were excellent with blue skies and we could enjoy the track more.
Looking down towards the coast where the last hut is.
The part along the coast was stunning with views of beaches and rugged coast line. It would be worth walking the whole track only for this part. It can also be done as a day hike from the end of the track.
The bad thing about the Heaphy Track is that it ends a long way from the start. Either you can catch a bus back from where you started which will take half a day, have the rest of your luggage sent to the other side, have your car driven to the other end or…. fly back. Guess what we did? Yes, of course we took the scenic way. A shuttle bus took us from the end of the track to the air strip where we called the guy who was coming to pick us up. A few minutes later he arrived and took us back in a Cessna to the start of the track in 20 min. A bit depressing that you fly in 20 min what we had walked in 5 days. But it was definitely worth it especially since we were so lucky with the weather. The sky was blue when we were in the air but just a few hours later rain clouds were rolling in over the hills. Good timing!
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| Heaphy Track – New Zealand |