is tent required??

shuttle bus services are available to take you to and from all the great walks...

Having a tent adds flexibility. February is still busy season so a lot of lodges backpackers etc will be full. A tent allows you to stay in camps etc where there is nearly always room. Only catch though is where are you coming from? Our quarantine police get a bit funny about used tents from some places. Any mud dirt plant or bugs on the tent could do great damage to our ecosystems. New tent is ok though or buy one here

The Great Walks need to be prebooked so you can count on not needing a tent while on the track (though they have some nice campsites which you may prefer to a crowded hut!) If you are not prebooking accommodation in towns between your tramps then as Geeves says a tent will make it a lot easier. Customs will let your tent into the country, just make sure to clean it well beforehand - no loose dirt (dry mud stains are OK), bugs (alive or dead), seeds or plant matter stuck in velcro/zips, etc. They may well make you take it out and show it to them in the Customs area to check this. If you are carrying a used tent, make sure you declare it on your arrival card.

Hi tamiyyy. You probably don't strictly need a tent on Great Walks, unless you're knowingly aiming for camp-sites. You need to book all the huts and camp-sites beforehand so you should know this before you leave. Most people you meet probably won't have a tent, and if you asked the same question in a forum like Lonely Planet you'd probably get answers that tents are completely unnecessary, but I think it's definitely good practice to have portable shelter no matter where you go in New Zealand, even on Great Walks. Not necessarily a tent, but something that'll keep you alive if you fall and break an ankle and don't see anyone for several days. This might even be the case on a Great Walk, if weather intervenes with everyone's plans. Enjoy your visit.

We just brought a tent back into NZ and we HAD to get it out (from the bottom of my overfilled pack - curses!) and they took it away to clean it, even though we had thoroughly cleaned it already. Other travellers had to do the same. No big deal really unless you are in a hurry. We always carry at least a rectangular, light weight tarp, just in case we find a hut is full or we find a nice campsite which just has to be used! We use our trekking poles as tent poles.

New Zealand customs and border control are bad but the Australian eqivilent are even worse. I saw a couple of American backpackers getting the full treatment in Brisbane airport recently, they literally had to lay their tent, sleeping bags and gear out on the floor while an Aussie customs guy went over thembit by bit. Drugs? I dont know, they were probably just dirty. .......he literally snapped on a pair of rubber gloves...I thought they were about to get the probe!

Would you want to be putting your hand in someone else's sleeping bag? I would of been making the owner turn it inside out

Go easy, guys – Bio-security (and AQIS) are only doing their (important) job. True, occasionally you get someone who’s been on their feet for 8 hours and have a splitting headache but generally I’ve found them to be quite chatty, given the chance (esp on the NZ side of the ditch). They have an number of key indicators that will determine how close an inspection is made – eg if you look unkempt then probably your gear is also of questionable cleanliness. So, do the following and your efforts will be noted and appreciated : 1. Declare as required (boots, gaiters, tents, poles, fishing gear, food etc) 2. Have this sort of gear readily accessible - some of it (at least) will be inspected 3. Make sure that it really IS clean (as Chris1 says, stains are OK but no dirt, seed, vegetation – use a comb on Velcro). I’ve travelled between NZ and Aus many times with no issue (with tent, home-dried food, etc). To put the officer at ease, I wear my boots and show them first up. TammyyY, if doing Great Walks (you have to book) you don’t need a tent. Book accommodation between walks as accommodation options will be very limited (eg Christchurch is regularly fully booked, these days). However, if you are used to carrying a tent and want a quieter (and cheaper) alternative to the Great Walk huts, take the tent and book tentsites.

might depend on how untidy the gear owners look to customs, if they dont believe you have clean habits, then it could be inspection time.. i wear my boots and make sure ive scrubbed the dirt off and that keeps them happy.. i'm clean shaven and look as neat as i can given the long haul flight,