ONE PERFECT . . . SUNRISE
To experience one of New Zealand’s best overnight tramps and one of the finest sunrises, head to the Coromandel’s Kauaeranga Valley, and The Pinnacles walk. The walk to the hut is a fourhour uphill journey — spare a thought for the men who cut those stone steps, and the packhorses who trudged them every day during the region’s kauri-logging history. At the hut, trampers take an overnight break, to shower, play cards, sign the guest book and sleep. Then in the morning, life in this 80-person hut stirs long before the sun does. Trudging through the dark, head torches at the ready, the final 45 minutes of the walk should be completed before the sun appears over the horizon. At the end, a series of steep rocky outcrops and steel ladders affixed to the rock will carry you to the top — just in time for the best-earned sunrise of your life. Then it’s back to the hut for breakfast. Don’t forget to pack your bacon -— there’s a large gas-burning barbecue provided, and you’ve earned better than muesli and UHT today.