Ideas for week long tramp with easy transport?

....if there were some other walks you might be missing? No kidding. Mate, just pick one and do it. There are an unlimited number to choose from. My first was the Wilkin-Young with various off shoots.(near Makarora-Nth Otago). You'll do fifty trips and still find another you haven't done. You'll look back and realise you just needed to go for the first time and start gathering knowledge. Choose based on where you are flying in. Christchurch is it?, perhaps. Have contingency choices so that you can adapt based on the weather when you arrive. Likely though, 7-8 days will see a whole range of weather conditions, so you don't need to go crazy with options.

Aardvark is spot on - so many options, so little time. Stick with the Travers-Sabine, I think. A good first trip, valleys, tops, huts and tent options, fantastic scenery. Include a side trip or two; Blue Lake & Lake Constance, Sunset Saddle and Angelus Peak. Research it, plan for bad weather alternatives, carry a tent and a PLB.

travers sabine esp angelus can be pretty busy in summer especially school holidays. the te araroa trail walkers go up the sabine and through blue lake over summer

Thanks for all your replies. I think the amount of choice is part of the problem. I don’t know where to start! I think I will probably do a circuit within Nelson Lakes though. Kind of like an extended Travers Sabine loop. What are some of your favourite parts of the Nelson Lakes NP (obviously Blue Lake)? I was also considering doing St Arnaud to Lewis pass. I’d love to hear any feedback on this route. Thanks again, Alana

I second the advice about taking a PLB

You can vary the T-S Circuit in a number of ways. For example, you could make for Speargrass Hut, then up and past Angelus to strike for Sunset Saddle (maybe scale Angelus Peak) and down to Hopeless Hut. From Hopeless you could go to Cupola Hut (try to make it here no matter what route you take), through the untracked Gunsight Pass to link with the T-S then down to West Sabine (note- I have not tramped through Gunsight but there are trip notes on this site and elsewhere). From W. Sabine up to famed Blue Lake then perhaps over Moss Pass into the D'Urville Valley which is a seldom visited valley in the park, especially compared to Travers and Sabine. Or, from Blue Lake you could go over Waiau Pass (route to Lewis Pass), and either down the Waiau to St. James Walkway or up to Lake Thompson and either into the D'Urville from there or sidle around to D'Urville Pass and pop into the East Matakitaki. From the East Matakitaki you could either head north out of that catchment or still make it to Lewis Pass by going past Bob's Hut up to Three Tarn Pass then down to the St. James Walkway. Of course, most all these variants are much more challenging than the T-S Circuit itself. NLNP is a very special place in New Zealand!

I really like the Nelson Lakes area and can not speak highly enough of it. IF you are doing a loop starting and ending in St Arnaud transport is no problem. Yes, it will get busy in the height of summer (though I have found Easter worse for hut space) but sounds like you are taking a tent anyway so not a huge drama. Plus, there are a lot of side options away from the Travers and Sabine main river valleys which will not be so crowded. I think the Travers Valley is a great example of NZ South Island tramping and should not be missed. Other favourites include Sunset Saddle and the head of Hopeless Creek, Cupola is a nice spot to get away and relax too. Both Hopeless and Cupola Huts are likely to be less crowded than the valley floor counterparts. Also the d'Urville Valley will also be less busy if you want to investigate heading there. IF you want to do the full St Arnaud to Lewis Pass trip you do open up a few more difficulties. Transport is more of a problem though there are shuttle services (I believe these guys offer one https://www.nelsonlakesshuttles.co.nz/). Waiau Pass is more challenging than Travers, though still within the capabilities of anyone with reasonable experience provided weather conditions are favourable. Any of the passes or say Robert Ridge are a much different proposition in bad weather. Below is a copy and paste of a route for this trip I posted earlier — please note this is more difficult than the standard route but is just what I have personally completed Waiu Pass Track (6 days) — lots of variations on how you can do this but 6 days should suffice if you are fit. It can take slower parties up to 10. We did Mt Robert Ridge, Sunset Saddle, night at Hopeless Hut, down to Travers Valley, then up to Cupola Hut for the night (very easy day), through Gunsight Pass to pick up Travers-Sabine track, Blue Lake Hut for the night, Waiau Pass, Lake Thompson, Thompson Pass, Upper Durville Pass, camp in East Branch Matakitaki just above the hut (long day 15+ hrs), down Matakitaki East and up Matakitaki West to head and over Three Tarn Pass, Ada Pass Hut for the night, out down St James. That trip involves a lot of off-track and good navigation skills. Can be much easier if you stick to the main tracks with Waiau Pass being the only "off-track" bit and that is still marked with warratahs. I love the Travers Valley and would 100% recommend including that if you could. Lake Angelus is nice and all the big passes offer great views.

Did Travers-Sabine with a side trip to blue lake last New year's and it wasn't very busy at all. Took the tent and had a blast. The huts all had plenty of space. Yes it gets TA trampers but it's a far cry from the hoardes on the great walks. Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks so much! This is such great information. I’ll definitely look further into all your suggestions. I especially like the idea of checking out some of the less popular huts and campsites like Cupola and the D’Urville valley. I’ll be carrying my plb, Scottie. Thanks again.