Off the beaten tracks......

hey there are a view good tracks on the west coast beaches (Piha) of Auckland also up at (Managwhai doubl check spelling) along the beach walk etc very nice place with nice beaches. hope you guys find what you are looking for and enjoy your time in New Zealand

also forgot to meansion (Ta huha) mayor island if you want to get away to a nice island thats the place to go too lots of walks and beaches to explore cheap as well

There are lots of trips that you can do that are not Great Walks. This site is a good place to start when looking around. Do a search on Whirinaki, Pureora or Kaimanawa for places in the North Island that not Great Walks. Also the around Ruapehu trip in Tongariro National Park. There are also hundreds trips in the South Island. Another place to look is the DOC web site http://www.doc.govt.nz

You'll be visiting during the "Roar" which is someting else you might want to consider when planning?

Roar?????????.........sound like a kind of wild beast.....

Ok.....we were not so far with"wild beast"...we understood that it is the hunting season...like here in Canada

Everyone says better not to tramp during the roar because there will be hunters everywhere and it won't be safe. From my experience you don't see many hunters after an hour from the road and anyway most of them are very safety consious and are very agreeable people to share the huts and backcountry wirth. Trampers tend to make too much noise to be mistaken for deer anyway. Despite recent events I still believe the NZ bush is a safe place to be, even in the roar. At least then you aren't travelling on the road.

In NI, I'd recommend Kawekas for sheer beauty (maybe Kiwi Saddle -> Studholm -> The Tits circuit from the Lakes - a 2 day circuit) Tararuas: Best has to be the Main Ridge: Otaki Forks -> Waitewaewae -> Andersons Memorial -> Maungahuka -> Otaki Forks. 3 day trip. But only if it's not windy, as this is amazing ridgeline travel with great views, but as such not good in a gale! SI: where do I start?! Broderik Hut, near Twizel is a favourate. 1 day each way, return trip. Good walk to valley head with glaciers and peaks above. Makarora Hut, near Wanaka / makarora is a great trip to the head of an alpine valley, complete with glacier, sheer columnar cliffs and amazing views of the Main Divide of the southern alps at it's head. 2 day, return. Maybe an extra day to explore. Fiordland: Had to see more than the fringes in 2-3 days. For typical fiordland valleys with some nice lakes, try: Into Green Lake and Historic Clarke Hut in the Grebe. 2 days as a return walk. Or a 3-4 day circuit, if you're comfortable with unmarked route from Monowai to Rogers Inlet. From the campground below Borland Lodge (campground -> Green Lake -> Clarke -> Monowai Hut -> Rogers Inlet Huts -> campground) Hundreds more, but that's a start!

I was around that area of the Kawekas on Labour Weekend. First time I've visited the Kawekas and it was nice with so much sun, full of very casual-looking hunters, too. Locals often walk that circuit in a day (we met 4 from the Napier Tramping Club), and we went slightly further down to Mackintosh Hut in an extremely relaxed 3 days. It was a shame about the plague of Pinus Contorta trying to take over the tops. We pulled a few out on the ridges but it felt a bit pointless. Does anyone know if there are long term plans in the works to deal with it?