best way to do tracks

Nice link Yarmoss. Looks like a good business op. for some enterprising person with a small boat! The Rees Dart was always one of my favourites. Over a 50 year period I've done it 3 times and each time the Dart Hut was a different one!

Thanks everyone for your help, with the exception of the Rees Dart info. I don't plan on swimming with my pack! Your DOC and reservation system is really crappy, as I kinda wanted to go where the wind took me. Now I have to do some planning. I don't like to be tied down by timetables. Sigh, oh well. Another question to all of you out there, how safe is it for a single woman on the trails? Hopefully as safe as here as the hiking community is always a very happy and helpful bunch. At least I don't have to worry about bears, wolves, skunks, racoons and cougars (I'll be the only cougar on the trail!)

I think you should be fine. I haven't heard many solo women having problems in the NZ outdoors. There should be plenty of other people around on the tracks you mentioned.

Hi Lauren. Strictly speaking if you go somewhere other than the Great Walks (which are excessively popular), you more or less can go where the wind takes you. Most people here do it al the time. Most back-country huts don't require booking (though you need to buy a hut pass, or hut tickets to be deposited in a box at the hut when you use them), and besides that there are often plenty of great places to camp. Maybe get a list of parks or regions you're interested in visiting, then research the tracks and huts that are available and plan from there.

The reservation/booking system is only for our 9 busiest walks and keeps the experience different from just going to the mall with all the crowds. Re safety, I'm sure you'll be fine. Most younger solo women/girls I see around trails tend to get looked after more because of the fact.

the DOC reservation booking system includes a fair number of other doc huts not on the great walks, the no has been increasing year by year, plus various DOC camping grounds and some lodges that can be completely booked or booked by rooms.

Out of the top 9 tracks which ones shouldn't I miss? Milford is booked until end of April, so that's out. Which is okay as it sounds like a very busy track. I'm looking for anything up to 6 - 9 days. North Island and South Island, I have a tent so I won't need the huts. Nothing too challenging. Medium tracks would be best. Any suggestions as to alternative tracks to see the best of New Zealand? So far I've added up the different tracks and it would take me 36 days in total. I'm only in NZ 48 days so that doesn't leave me much time to enjoy a great Marlborough wine and see some of the City life. I'm going to need to break this down better and any help from all of you here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Lauren

Hi Lauren, The "top" tracks are really just a curated set of high-capacity, high grade tracks. They're OK, but not necessarily the best. I would suggest checking out these. What kinds of experiences are you looking for? * Inland Pack Track, Paparoa National Park - limestone * Whirinaki Track, Whirinaki Forest Park - trees * Hillary Trail, Waitakere Ranges - palm forest and black beaches * Mueller Hut, Mount Cook National Park - alpine * Tongariro Northern Circuit - volcanoes * Thousand Acre Plateau, Nelson Lakes National Park - high country tussock * Mason Bay, Rakiura National Park - kiwi and remoteness

Thanks for the input Matthew, I'll check those tracks out. All sound like great choices Lauren

I'm in the top of the South Island and some tracks around here (other than Able Tasman and Heaphy) might be:- Travers/Sabine in Nelson Lakes National Park. (one hut, Angelus, has to be pre-booked but there are great camp sites near it anyway). Leslie/Karamea or Wangapeka, which is a variant. Various circuits in the Mt Arthur, Tablelands, Cobb Valley area. St James Walkway. The Alpine section of the Te Araroa Trail from Nelson area through to St. Arnaud, Nelson Lakes and/or from St Arnaud through to the Lewis Pass. All of the above are, sort of, the next tier down from the Great Walks being perhaps a bit more difficult and not quite so popular.