Accomodation

In New Zealand you are free to wander at will within all the National Parks and anywhere in the DOC estate. The free access, at no charge is guaranteed in the National Parks Act. However there is an exception and that is in the vicinity of the "Great Walk Tracks" the Routeburn and Milford both being Great Walk tracks. In those cases you must camp in the designated sites unless you are more than 500m away from the track. In the case of the Milford I don't think there are campsites. The huts on both tracks must also be booked in advance. Outside the Great Walk system (500m from the track) you can do what you like and huts are on a first in first served basis. You need to have a hut ticket or annual pass though. The purpose of the restrictions on the Great Walks is to mitigate against crowded huts and people camped willy nilly along the track. This is to make the experience more pleasant for all but does require you to do some pre planning.

Thanks for that. Those times DOC list are they conservative? What do you think about this? I would be interested in taking a sunrise photograph at the peak from many tracks they tend to ascend up and then descend the huts/camp sites are generally not at the peak. Would it be a good idea to say, get to the peak and side track 500m and make camp there? It would be a shorter day cos I have less kms to walk, get the sunrise shot and then walk to my next hut so it would make my journey a day longer. I would be carrying a GPS unit with me won't be into bush wacking... Since the huts are first come first serve basis, do people take a tent just in case? I would be hiking alone. Thanks, Raymond.

The other thing is if I want to get 500m away from the track is it hard to do? I have only been hiking some yrs ago now getting back in with my photography. Do I have to go through bush wacking so I am 500m away from the track? Thanks again.

There is very nice camping on the North Branch of the Routeburn and in the head of the Greenstone Valley near Howden Hut. These two are accessible river flats. I have camped at the head of Lake Mackenzie too -- it's a bit scratchy as far as I recall. To get to the head of the lake you follow a rather routh lake-edge track for maybe 45 minutes.

You need carry sufficient shelter that would enable you to survive until you are found/evacuated by Search and Rescue people if you are injured. If you break a leg and get hypothermia, this becomes so medically serious that you would need to be managed at a hospital with the facilities of Christchurch Hospital rather than Timaru Hospital for example.