Suggestions for 2-4 WEEK trip?

Hi all, this is a bit of a trip finding challenge! It would be great if you could share your knowledge and help us find our next big trip. A BIT ABOUT OUR BACKGROUND: We have done the Routeburn-Greenstone roundtrip in 8 days (7 of them walking) with our then 14 months old toddler this summer, no huts, no camp grounds, bushbashing an hour or so away from the trail every evening and back in the morning, tarp camping, one side trip down into the Dead Man's Track, torrential rains most days, storm two days, sun and blue skies one and a half days, have enjoyed ourselves, were safe without exception and not once even close to being outside our comfort zone. We all enjoyed the trip, including and especially our toddler, and want more of it!! We have both done a bit of free climbing and I a serious amount of white water kayaking, which helps with tricky walking passages and judging and safely managing river crossings where needed. Have some reasonable navigation skills (my partner has an orienteering background which helps, and I successfully fixed a situation in Ozzy a few years ago so don't seem to totally suck either), but there's certainly room for improvement there. As a young family, we have a very different rhythm than other people, and are also much slower - we can be quite fast if conditions require, but for an enjoyable trip, we tend to plan one and a half to twice the time that most other people would take for the same trip. If we end up being faster, no problem... better this way than the other way round. As we camp, we're not depending on huts, so never have to make it to a particular point on a particular day, and can adapt flexibly to all kinds of situations. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR: Suggestions for a trip for next summer that is around 2 to 4 weeks long. We can carry food for at least two weeks (incl. extra reserve), possibly more, and would like to not have more "refueling" points than every 10 to 12 days. Prefer not to *need* to camp above the bushline, even though we can do that, have done it before, and choose to do so occasionally. No must-make passages that carry a high risk of falling and no river crossings that are most likely overly difficult. We can probably walk past tricky spots that many other people wouldn't, as well as cross rivers safely that most people better shouldn't - but we tend to stay well within our capabilities and prefer to avoid things like that, especially in remote locations and even more so with with us. We don't want to do that or at least drastically minimise it on this trip. Also, obviously, we wouldn't carry any serious climbing or swift water equipment. This photo is a good example of what we would be perfectly comfortable with: http://d2.tramper.co.nz/files/objectversions/4433/Karamea_River_Track.jpg We are not afraid of navigating, but would prefer not to have to do too hard navigation, but don't need a full blown track either. It would be good if for most of the trip, there's an hour or two every day where the terrain is such that our then 2 1/2 year old toddler can walk on his own feet a bit - crucial for general mood and also takes a load off our backs! He's already a great walker uphill and downhill on loose ground now, so it doesn't have to be a path, only reasonably safe terrain - again, only for an hour or two a day or so, for most days. Preferably most of it through non-messed up nature as far as that is possible, meaning not too much forestry, for example. We'd also like to have some views on most days, so would like to be above the treeline quite a bit during daytime. Am I forgetting anything that's important for you to know so you can recommend trips? If so, let me know... POSSIBLE EXAMPLE - only meant as a starting point for discussion, haven't checked the details on this too thoroughly yet: Heaphy - Wangapeka - Leslie Karamea, with loads of side trips and / or possibly part of it on an interesting alternative tops route if exists, and a food stop and quick shuttle past Karamea. Also, we might well decide to significantly work to up our navigation skills, carrying capabilities to be able to carry more food to sit out more high river crossings for longer, etc. pp., if someone should suggest something that is worth the effort but doesn't quite fall into our above ideal wishlist! Ok, over to you - any ideas? THANKS! Matt

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Forum The campfire
Started by Mariku
On 6 April 2010
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