Coast to Coast

Hi Katie, Do you mean North-South or East-West? If North-South then the Te Araroa trail would be worth looking at, about 1600km long. teararoa.org.nz If East-West then I'm not aware of any sort of official trail but you could look at the route taken by the Coast to Coast multisport race as an option.

North-south and East-west are two very different propositions. North-south typically takes you either down the Southern Alps (see some of my articles on this site or google Andrew Barker's Southern Traverse) or the foothills (see the Te Araroa walkway). This is an experience of NZ's natural alpine environment - remote with most nights in backcountry huts and a mixture of marked tracks and unmarked routes. If it's wilderness you want, then this, or a section of it, is probably what you want to look at. Te Araroa is suitable for most reasonably experienced hikers. A more typical alpine traverse is still a hiking prospect (not a mountaineering one) but requires more route-finding skill and crosses tougher country. East-West is a different prospect. The main reason for an east-west trip would be to see a cross-section of the south island: The remote west coast, deep valleys and high rainfall; roack and ice of the southern alps; the dry, almost desery valleys of the eastern flanks; sparse low density high country farms with x hectares per sheep, historic mining settlements and remains; the modern and more intensive farming of the east coast - towns and townships; the busy fishing ports of the east coast. This is a journey not only through a natural landscape but through human development and influence too. If that's what you want, to see the human as well as natural face of NZ, then an east-west trip is worth considering. However: there are not many tramping prospects that reach right down to the east coast. And the three I can think of: Oteake, Mt Thomas, Richmond Ranges skirt around all of the developed areas - sticking to low tussock and scrub ranges all the way (almost) to the east coast. These are viable tramping routes east-west, but not the most exciting country in terms of wilderness or landscape, and also skirt any of the more interesting settlements. A more typical east-west approach would be to combine tramping with another mode of transport. The Speights coast-to-coast race mentioned earlier involves kayaking down the Wamakariri river to the east coast. The Clutha would be another option if you don't mind portaging the dams, and there are many others. Cycling would be another good option: the Otago Central Rail Tral for example would take you from the foothills of the southern alps (almost) to the east coast. These could then be combined with tramping (hiking) trips over the alps from the west coast. So there are lots of options: let us know more what you're after, and also your level of experience, and we can give more precise ideas.

Thank you so much for the help! I did forget to mention that we will be going east-west (as we do not have to time for a north-wouth hike). Following a race route sounds like a great idea. While we are experienced hikers, we are obviously not familiar with New Zealand, so I hesitate to stray too far from a somewhat established trail. We love to kayak too, and a trail that included kayaing would be incredible! I would LOVE more information on that route. Thank you again for your time and advice. Katie

The race website is http://coasttocoast.co.nz/ It has several maps showing the route.

I've been thinking about the Speights coast to coast route as a tramp / kayak. As ti stands by the race route it is hardly ideal: The race has 2 road cycle sections which would not make interesting tramping. Additionally, it has only 33km of tramping (running in the case of the race) If I were walking / kayaking across this section of the country then my approach would be to include more tramping on the west coast section. A couple of suggestions follow: Easier option ============= Hokitiki -> Lake Kaniere via Lake Kaiere Road (9km) then Kaniere river track (7km) -> Styx river bridge: Tramping track round the west side of lake Kaniera on lakeside track 12km Sytx-Arahura Pack track: platformed walking track (old pack-horse track) via Mid Styx hut (9km), Grassy Flats Hut (4km), Mudflats Hut (8km) -> Newton Hut (5km) -> Dunns Creek Hut (5km)-> Mid Taipo Hut (3km): Newly cut tramping track / poled route over Newton Saddle Mid Taipo Hut -> Dillons Homestead (marked track down Taipo valley) 8km -> Carrols Hut 6km -> Otira township (6km): Cut track / poled route via Kelly saddle This would take about 5-9 days dependign on speed, fitness and stops of the way. From Otira you can then pick up the Goat Pass route over to the Waimakariri river as per the Coast to Coast race. Alpine option ============= From Lake Kaniere you can take the alpine 3 Passes route directly to Arthurs Pass township on the Waimakariri river. There's a page for 'three passes' on this website but apart from 4 dots on a map it provides no useful information. Can't help you on that one as I've not walked it. East coast section ================== I'd be tempted to look at kayaking the Waimakariri all the way to the coast. I don't know anything about the river but would avoid the eastern road cycle if you want to avoid it. You'd presumably need to contact a kayak hire company and hopefully they could give you advice on this. ===============================

But that said .... I'd still highly recommend a more southern option too. How about Mouth of the Hollyford on the West Coast to the mouth of the Clutha on the East: West coast -> Wanaka tramp: Hollyford track (to west coast on the jet boat, walk back up the beautiful Hollyford river (2-3 days) or the more remote Pyke River (3-5 days) to the Hollyford roadend at Gunn's Camp. Very high standard track in Hollyford, marked route through the Pkye. Hut accommodation Caples or Greenstone tracks to Lake Wakitipu. Typical well marked tramping tracks over low alpine pass and down broad beech and tussock valley to the shores of Lake Wakitipou. 2-4 days. Huts to stay in TSS Eranslaw (paddle steamer) across Lake Wakitipu to Queenstown Motutapu track to Wanaka: well marked tramping track over high-country farm and tussock pass to Wanaka. 2-4 days. Hut accommodation Wanaka -> East Coast kayak: Lake Wanaka is the source of the Clutha, the South Island's largest and longest river. The wikipedia Clutha River page has some details of the route but in summary the river passes through broad arid high country flats before entering Lake Cromwell. This lake runs past numerous vinyards to the town of Cromwell and then through the Cromwell gorge to Clyde. You'd want reasonable weather (no strong NW winds) for this lake section. At Clyde you'd have to portage the Clyde Dam then follow the river 12km through the orchards to the historic town of Alexandra. From here the Clutha enters the Roxborough Gorge - a remote and undeveloped fault-line gorge between the rock and tussock Old Man and Lammerlaw ranges to Roxburgh. At Roxburgh there is again a dam to portage before the river flows through the broad valley past the old orchard towns of Roxburgh, Millers Flat and Ettrik. From Beaumont you're into sheep and beef country alongside the forested Blue Mountains to Clydevale below which the hills become lower and dairy farms predominate. Passing the agricultural service town of Balclutha the river meets the Pacific at Molyneaux Bay. There are several kayak rental places in Wanaka - you'd have to ring around to see which would consider long rentals and arrange pickups from Balclutha or Kaitangata at the river mouth.

I am just thinking, is there a route which would take you to the coast somewhere near Kaikoura. But I do not beleive these any formed tracks through the coastal and inland Kaikouras. Suppose one could arrange to white water raft down the Clarence.

I cannot say how very thankful I am for you taking the time to write out all of this. My husband and I are planning this as our trip together after he returns from a 7 month military deployment, so it means a lot to us. I am keeping all of this and am going to study some maps to visualize it all! Thank you so very much. Katie

Hey, madpom, I like the look of your Hokitiki - Otira tramp. Starts and finishes at towns serviced by regular transport, not too much road-bash, lots of potential for side trips. One could kill the last 7km of the L Kaniere Rd section by taking the Kennedy Creek track to the Lake. KatieP, I've uploaded a gpx file ( http://www.tramper.co.nz/?7211 ) of this section - you can load it into GoogleEarth and view the route. Combined with a bike ride / kayak to the east coast, it would make a great adventure.