New Zealand’s first private walking track celebrates 30 years

Where in the world can you traverse the rim of an ancient volcanic complex, with sweeping panoramas out across open ocean and inwards along an 8 mile volcanic harbour? Where can you spend the night inside a private whiteflippered penguin sanctuary, see the world’s smallest dolphins with their rounded fins, watch fur seals in numbers and spot many rare land and marine birds? Where can you walk through the famous Fools and Dreamers Hinewai, a 1500-hectare native forest reserve, with its ancient beech, tree ferns, fuchsia and rapidly regenerating native flora and fauna? The answer: the Banks Track.

Crossing open farmland, climbing crater rims, descending into stream lines, this breathtaking track on Banks Peninsula was New Zealand’s first private walking track and has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Whilst many of New Zealand’s other walks have become crowded, here only a maximum of 16 walkers per day can set out, and walkers are able to tackle the track at their own pace, in their own time. Offering a unique chance to re-engage with our natural landscape, and with no cell phone coverage in the outer bays, this is true escapism!