Make tracks for the outdoors
Greenstone Valley Track
This is the ideal taster for people thinking they might like to have a go at tramping. It’s a three-day route from the road that leads to Milford Sound, following the Greenstone River all the way to where it enters Lake Wakatipu, about 40km south of dinky Kinloch.
The track is good, the walking easy, and the scenery is typically beautiful – mountains, lake, tussocky river flats and bush.
There are Department of Conservation huts to stay at and if you start from the Divide, you’re heading mainly downhill towards the not-toodistant reward of the coffee shops, restaurants and bars of Glenorchy and Queenstown.
Why go?
Getting hands-on, or rather feet-on with New Zealand’s glorious back country is the only way to really appreciate it: at a walking pace with plenty of stops to soak it all in (and give your legs a rest). You can feel grateful you’re only carrying a pack and not a load of greenstone, like Ma¯ori back in the day.
From the Divide, you’ll climb up to the Greenstone Saddle and then down alongside Lake McKellar to that night’s hut. The next day you follow the river, dipping in and out of the bush, to the Greenstone Hut, before the final day crossing Slip Flat, entering a gorge and emerging on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
Insider tip
To simplify things, you can combine the Greenstone Track with the similarly accessible Caples Track to make a circuit that takes four to five days, meaning you can return to the starting point and hence your car. But there are commercial transport options for getting to and from the track.
On the way/nearby
Why wouldn’t you take the chance to go to Milford Sound when you’re so close? Or at least watch the magnificently moody Ata Whenua – Shadowland movie in Te Anau on the way through (on the hour most days right next to the Visitor Centre). On the other side, don’t rush through sweet little Kinloch – the Lodge there will reintroduce you to civilisation.
Stop on the bridge at the top of the lake and wait to see the Dart River Safari jetboat come through – or take a ride on it yourself.
Glenorchy is full of outdoorsy options (and good wine and pizza) and photographers will love the red shed and line of willow trees in the lake by the jetty.
How much?
Freedom walkers pay DOC $15 a night for the serviced huts or $5 to camp outside. A five-night guided option, in combination with the more challenging Routeburn Track but carrying a day pack and staying in lodges, is offered by Ultimate Hikes from $1810 during the low season.
Best time to go
Being mostly low altitude, the Greenstone Valley has little avalanche threat so it can be walked year-round.
Surprisingly, there’s generally less rain in winter – although if you are a tramping novice the summer experience might be more enjoyable.
– Pamela Wade
See doc.govt.nz and ultimatehikes.co.nz
❚