Te Araroa – NZ South Island

Great stuff Peter.

I suppose there's no good way to do it without throwing in some more questionable river fords, and probably some easy mountaineering, but it seems unfortunate that the section from Tekapo all the way to Wanaka is so mundane. Especially considering how spectacular those east side drainages are.

Peter, thanks for the write up.

The Richmond Range/Nelson Lakes sections would be my favourite sections of the TA for both scenery and the tramping (along with my local Tararuas and the Tongariro crossing in the NI).

Wow, that looks amazing… this definitely now on my list.

What is the permit system like there? Do I need to have an itinerary and stay in certain places? Or can I just wander around and camp where I want?
With the 6 month hut pass does that mean that you can stay at any hut you want at any time you want?

Most New Zealand huts are administered by the Department of Conservation and operate on a first come first served, pay after basis. Hut passes work for these. Some of the more popular DOC huts require advance reservations. Hut passes don't apply to these. Still other huts are owned by a club (Alpine Club, Deerstalkers Association) and usually require separate payment, either in a box at the hut or by mail after the fact.

To a North American backpacker, the number of huts in New Zealand, and the rugged location of many, is quite the new world.

The DOC hut pass covers every hut on the TA, at least on the South Island. You don't need to make reservations, nor can you, in these particular huts. We never had a problem finding a spot in a hut, and often as not we had the huts to ourselves (except for abundant mice!)

No permits or itinerary needed. Just show up and walk!

David – I often looked longingly at the Southern Alps off in the distance to the west. But, yeah, that would be a much bigger project! (Plus way wetter.)

as Te araroa matures, its developing its issues, like any trail that becomes more popular

over a thousand people hike the trail every season now, some sections are churned to long stretches of deep mud, in some cases literally knee deep..

some of the huts are small , like 4 bunk… and there can be up to 20 people staying at them, some years are dry years , so the water runs out at hte huts and alternate sources of water require a long descent off the trail… theres no road access in a lot of sections for trail angels to leave water, in the high areas there can be limited places for people to camp, the wind can be severe and on long ridgelines in bad weather people end up jamming into the huts because their shelters arent strong enough for the winds.  toilets are overflowing, some places people arent disposing of their human waste.

dont under estimate the river crossings, NZers learn to cross together for mutual support. but a lot of hikers just cross on their own, making it more risky.. hikers are swept off their feet regularly when its raining..   theres very little track maintenance, theres very litle money available or volunteers..

the vast majority of interest in the trail is from foreigners, the increasing numbers is putting locals off and they know all the alternate places to go and hike, so the foriegners don’t tend to contribute to track maintenance, only about 10% pay the voluntary $250 donation requested… the trail notes re pretty understated, written by people used to difficult hiking conditions, and having to navigate to stay on a trail.

https://www.noted.co.nz/planet/planet-planet/te-araroa-trail-can-it-survive-the-influx-of-hikers