Great Walk Adventures over the 2022/2023 season....

Future Great Walk plans

 With my completion of the Routeburn Track in March I have now completed all of the original Great Walks of New Zealand. I will now shift most of my future attention to walking some of the lesser known but just as good tracks around the country. In particular I will be looking at some tracks like the Aotea Track, Rees-Dart, Caples-Greenstone, Rakuira Northern/Southern Circuits. 

A return to the Greenstone Valley is on the plans...

I would also like to move my Te Araroa Trail Campaign along with some of the track section in the South Island. In particular I would like to knock off the Richmond Ranges and the section from Queenstown to Bluff over the next couple of years. I was planning to walk Harpers Pass over Christmas but family commitments nixed this plan so it still needs to be completed. 

The Two Thumb Range along the TA

Despite this I still have one future Great Walk to complete and that is the Humpridge Track down in Southland. DOC and the Humpridge Track Trust have just started the track and hut upgrades to turn this into the newest Great Walk. It is expected that all works will be complete by the start of the 2022/2023 Great Walk season and that the track will be on the GW booking system from this June.

Humpridge Track becomes a Great Walk in 2022...

I have been waiting to walk the Humpridge Track as I wanted to be able to use the new hut planned for the first/last day of the tramp and the track upgrades. I will be looking to secure a booking for December of 2022 to walk the track although this is going to be difficult as the tourist hordes pour back into the country. I will try none the less...

Percy Burn Viaduct on the Humpridge Track

Apart from the Humpridge Track I will be doing my annual pilgrimage to the Abel Tasman Coastal Track in June or July. I'm looking at a trip from possibly Bark Bay to Anchorage as Bark Bay and Awaroa are my two favorite huts on that circuit. 

Bark Bay Hut is my favorite on the Able Tasman Coastal Track

I am also keen to revisit the Tongariro Northern Circuit although that is the most quickly booked out Great Walk in the country so again we will see. I walked the North Island Great Walks before they even had the name so it would be good to se them once again after so many years. 

I would like to revisit the Tongariro National Park

The Routeburn Track was not the end of my Great Walk journey but perhaps the beginning of the end...