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For the last few years my daughter Sarah, her fiance Sach and myself have been completing a great walk every summer. This year Sach managed to get a us a booking on the Milford track which was pretty exciting. I had thought about walking the Milford track years ago but gave up on the idea when I realized how booked up it was so I was really thrilled when Sach managed to get a booking for us in early February.We set off Te Anau on the 1st Feb with the weather outlook looking pretty gloomy …

We had originally planned to walk the Waikaremoana track in Februrary 2022 but with uncertainty over when the track would reopen after being closed in 2021, we cancelled and walked the Routeburn instead. This year we were determined to get to Waikaremoana. We had initally booked for new years weekend but had to change our booking to the 20th Jan due to clashes with work commitments. Then cyclone Hale struck causing extensive damage in the Tairawhiti region with a nother storm front due to hit on …

We were going to walk the Waikaremoana Track this February but had concerns that the track might not reopen so we cancelled and booked the Routeburn instead for the 10th to 12th Feb.  As the date approached, the West Coast was hit by a major storm front with another storm forecast just when we were about to head off. Fortunately, as we were heading off to Queenstown, the 2nd storm was being pushed further north and it looked like we would get some fine days. When we arrived in Queenstown on …

Of all New Zealands great walks, the one I've wanted to do most is the Kepler track. I have heard and read so many accounts of people that rate this track as one of New Zealands best. Last year my daughter Sarah said that she and her boyfriend were looking to book huts on the Kepler track for this summer so of course I jumped in and said do you mind if your dad comes along - so suddenly we were booked to go. Initially in January but we then had to move the date to February 18th to align with eve …

Last weekend I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to walk the Abel Tasman track with my daughter Sarah. We set off from Wellington on the 16th Jan catching the early morning ferry to Picton. It was a smooth crossing though heavily overcast as we came through the sounds. We stopped at Picton for lunch before heading off on the Queen Charlotte drive to make our way to Nelson.  By this time the cloud had cleared and we got some stunning views of the sounds.This is Queen Charlotte sound t …