Five of Great Walks open for bookings
Bookings for New Zealand’s Great Walks have reopened, though are capped at 50 per cent, as Kiwis are urged to see their own backyard.
Department of Conservation (DOC) products, standards and policies manager Chris Bowen said five of the 10 Great Walks were open and huts could be booked up to the end of June.
The others are either closed because of damage (including the Milford and Routeburn tracks) or are off-season – meaning there are reduced facilities, beds in huts are available on a first-in, first-served basis, and the tracks are deemed suitable for experienced outdoors people only.
Lake Waikaremoana, Heaphy, Abel Tasman, Rakiura and the new Paparoa Track – which is only partially open – are all open for bookings.
Bowen said 2187 bookings had been made for May 14 to June 30 – a 57 per cent drop compared with the same period last year, which did not include Paparoa Track.
Bowen said the number of beds available had decreased because of coronavirus restrictions.
‘‘This capacity limit applies to both bookable and first-come huts.
‘‘When you arrive at a hut that is at capacity, or that you have not booked, you need a tent, or be prepared to be turned away for safety reasons.’’
About 21 per cent of bookings this year were being made by international visitors, compared with about 33 per cent last year, he said.
Tasman-based Trek Express and Heaphy Bus’ owner, Rory Moore, said now was the time for New Zealanders to tick the Great Walks off their bucket lists.
‘‘Winter time is just as enjoyable as summer, you have shorter days and you have to bring more clothing and more food, but the scenery is just as pleasant and you have huts all to yourself.’’
Bookings were ‘‘thin on the ground’’ at the moment, but he had just shuttled four people to the Heaphy Track this week.
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced a $13.7 million investment in Budget 2020 to fix broken sections of the Milford and Routeburn tracks so they could reopen in time for the summer tourism season.
Both tracks were buffeted by a severe storm in early February. More than 820mm of rain fell in Fiordland – more than one-tenth of the region’s annual average.
Sage said the storm damaged more than 440 kilometres of walking tracks in the area, mainly sections of the Routeburn and Milford tracks.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the West Coast’s Paparoa Track, will not be fully open again until October. Up to 10 trampers can stay at the Pororari Hut each night, then return the way they came to Punakaiki because the access road at the Blackball end is being upgraded.
The 55km track, a two or threeday tramp or mountain bike ride, was first affected by a slip, and then by the Covid-19 lockdown.
A new slip was discovered during lockdown and the track was closed to mountain bikers on May 14. It has since reopened to bikers following a geotechnical assessment.