Hollyford Track

I'd usually aim to carry no more than 3 sets of clothing (often only two to wear walking and one to sleep in)at anytime. All my choices are quick drying. It depends on how much time you want to spend washing/rinsing. There's usually so much water available eg river, that you could be wearing one set and carrying another attached to the outside of your pack to dry. A third set (to sleep in) is good in an emergency such as the need to be dry to stave off hyperthermia. I usually take a sports towel(not to be mistaken for a travel towel) which draws most of the moisture out of the clothing and it can be dry in very little time. Same towel can dry off alot of moisture from your tent in the morning. It also catches alot of sweat from my back when worn between back and pack. Once again it depends on how long you might walk in a day and therefore how long you have for drying/washing etc.

I go with 3 sets of clothes as well, 2 to walk in (1s a spare), and 1 for nighttime. You wont need a tent as all the huts are 12 bunkers at least. It may pay to bring some sort of inflateble matress though (inflateble thermoclines are fantastic) just incase the hut is full and you have to sleep on the floor. The huts operate on "first come best dressed" though so the chances of there not being a bunk are low unless you run into a tramping club party.

Hello. I don't know the Hollyford at all but I'd always suggest having some kind of mobile shelter when tramping anywhere in New Zealand, even if it's just a bivy bag. Huts are usually reliable but you never know for certain (could be burned down, could have broken windows and be uninhabitable, could be full of annoying smelly people, etc), or just as likely you might not get there for some reason. Mobile shelter gives you flexibility and means you're less likely to be forced into making bad decisions.

It's refreshing to hear of someone speak about self reliance these days as it seems to be a minority now. Once a very strong advocate of such practice i even find myself guilty from time to time thinking about the prospect of leaving the shelter behind. There would appear to be a general tendency these days for people to focus on reducing weight. It makes me wonder how as a kid i got by with the heavy things i used to have. I can easily recall many a person with steel cutlery and ex-army webbing and tinned food.