Tongariro Northern Circuit – Part II

16th – 17th April 2005

The 2nd half of the track I had intended doing two weeks after the first half, but with all the planning and organizing I ended up pushing it back a month to give me some breathing space, and because I had fallen sick and been off my feet for three weeks. I roped my mate Bruce back into helping with the organization. This second half had more people again keen, with around 25-30 people heading down.

So down we went again to the mountain on the Friday (although a group of 4-5 hardy souls drove down on the Friday morning so they could fit in Summiting Mt Ruapehu on the Friday……)

We split the walk in two to make it easier, we stayed at the base of the mountain at the Skotel (Great facilities) on the Whakapapa side. We then got transport to the Waihohonui Roadend, and walked back on the track to the Skotel on this first day,(this meant that we were sleeping in good beds) :-)

We provided a hearty hot meal of Lasagna and Coleslaw, and dessert of Blueberry and Apple Crumble, with Custard……..I still don’t know what they were trying to do to the Custard!!?(There was a Potato Masher involved......)

The night led on into a bit of fun, and games, with a bunch playing the board game Risk, late into the night.

The next morning, we all got up and into the bus to go to the Mangatepopo Entrance to do a ½ day walk back to the Skotel, before heading back up to Auckland, with the now compulsory stop at the Hot Pools in Taupo again.

Tongariro Northern Circuit – Part I

26th – 27th February 2005

By the time January/February rolled around the stresses of organizing the Milford Track group, were just a fond memory, and I was keen to get back on the tracks, I started floating the idea of the Tongariro Northern Circuit, and looking at splitting it over 2 weekends so that people did not have to get time off work etc. Well the interest was out standing, so I roped in a friend Teresa to give me a hand to organize everything that is required. (It’s a big job when you have got 20 odd people coming).

We decided to travel down on the Friday Night, stay close to the mountain and start at a reasonable time in the morning. This also meant that for those adventurous souls, we could also fit in summiting Mt Ngarohoe, on the first day. (You will see the photos of this, the weather had clouded over and was Cold & Wet.

On this first Part we began the walk at the Mangatepopo Entrance, walked around, up Mt Ngarohoe,(for those who wished to), down to the Emerald Lakes, and turned off towards Oturere Hut. Which is where we stayed the night. The next day, we left Oturere Hut, and walked an easy ½ day out to the Waihohonu/Desert Road entrance.(This link shows the first 4 who arrived), the rest of the 20 odd people dribbled in over the next ½ hour. From there, we drove back up to Auckland, stopping at Taupo to have an extremely satisfying soak in the Thermal Hot Pools on our way back.

Milford Track Tramp

13^th - 22^nd November 2004

In November 2004, a bunch of merry men (and women) decided to go way down south, and “do” the Milford Track.

In the beginning……..there was two. Me(Mark), and by chance my mate Bruce happened to mention that he was keen on doing the Milford track at some point. I was also keen to do it, so we put our heads together, to see what we needed to organize to do it. (Bruce is the guy in the ugly yellow raincoat, I’m the good looking guy on the very left side of the group). We thought there might be two or three others who might be interested, so we put the word out, expecting to get one or two others joining us.

It ended up being a group of 11 of us, and little did we know just what we had in store for ourselves! We decided to build it into a bit of a road trip, and make it a full weeks holiday. After some discussion the planning came together, that we would fly into Queenstown, spend a day there getting sorted, and having some fun, before heading to Te Anau (Which is where the transport leaves for the start for the track.), do the Milford Track, then take a Road Trip, around the Catlans area, and back up to Dunedin, before driving back across to Queenstown to fly home. The following “Photo Diary” shows some of the fun we had, and also linked is one of the Dairys written on the trip.

Unbeknown to the others, someone(aka yours truly) was praying for a little bit of snow. (I figured it would make it so much more exciting!!!……..) Well we got heaps more snow than we bargained for(as you will see by the photos), it was tough, but it was a fantastic trip, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Kepler Track

23^rd November - 25^th November 2006

"The Two Peakes"
by Mark H

Nine people decided to go down and do the Kepler Track, (including Five hardy souls who were doing all three Tracks back to back.)
We started the night before, by having a LARGE bar-b-que dinner,(and ate like “pigs at a classy trough”) then had a cooked breakfast of Bacon and Scrambled Eggs for breakfast the following morning, before throwing the remainder of our gear into our packs and setting off.
A short shuttle ride later we arrived at the start of the track, about 9:00am where this particular Adventure began.
Day 1: 23^rd November
It began gentle enough, with a nice flat trak wandering through some bush, meandering along for an hour, before we reached our lunch stop at the first shelterat Brod Bay. This was a good time to check feet etc, and do any remedial work before blisters had a chance to start.
From here things started to get UGLY, shortly after this we started a steep climb up seemly endless switchbacks, the muscles started to hurt, and the lungs thought oxygen appeared to be in short supply.......after fighting our way up in this for a good couple of hours, we broke out of the tree line into barren tussock, only to get blown around by strong winds.(strong enough to blow people off the track). Finally around 2pm we reached to first Hut(Luxmore Hut). After having a rest and sorting a little bit of stuff out, we went on a short sightseeing expedition to see the Luxmore Limestone Caves. These were well worth a look, with some very nice formations, and a few photos taken.
Day 2: 24th November
The next day after studying the Map, it appeared as though it was not going to be quite so hard,(much to my relief) with an additional elevation of only about 400m, then to quite a steep down hill for the last two-three hours.. This was the main crossing across the top, and was quite tussock'ie and rugged, the weather was a bit overcast and threatening at times, and when we came to do the 15min side track up the Mt Luxmore Summit, it closed over and we had some reasonable size snow flakes falling around us. It was somewhat chilly and cold so we shot up there, got some photos, and then hi'tailed it back and kept moving. Along the way we saw a number of Kea's flying around(specially at the Shelters). Then we got to the next hard part, which was 84 switch backs, zig-zaging all the way down the hill,(at this point I started to notice I had twisted my ankle, and anyone who has done much tramping knows that going down hill is hard on your ankles even when they haven't be twisted, so by the time I got to the bottom I was in a bit of pain. It was some what of a relief when the hut came into view.(Iris Burn Hut). Next to this hut (20min) away was a large waterfall which was well worth going and having a look at.
Day 3 & 4: 25th - 26^th Novmber
The third and fourth days were both pretty flat, with a few rivers, and forrested areas giving us opportunities for some fantastic photographs,including the 'sundew plants' in the wetlands/bog area we had a look at,(which I must say weren't doing much to limit the sandfly problem in the area......) Looking back across the top of the range, we could see they had had quite a dump of snow, so we were glad we were not a day later.
By the time we came out of the Kepler Track on the 4^th day, we had generally enjoyed ourselves, and while we did not have fantastic weather, the fact that it was cooler meant that we did not get so hot while tramping, so all in all it was a great Track.

Lake Waikaremoana Track

21^st October - 26^th October 2006

We awoke with the birds to leave Auckland just after 5am on Saturday 21st, making our way to Lake Waikaremoana to catch the water taxi at midday.
A short water taxi trip took us across the lake from the Waikaremoana Motor Camp to Hopuruahine Landing and the start of the track. We lunched, slopped on the sunblock and took preventative action against blisters by strapping up our heels and toes before heading out. Ben, our ever-resourceful tramp leader had supplied us each with a map and schedule of each day's planned adventures. We enjoyed mild weather and lake views for much of the 4 hour walk to Waiharuru hut, which was a very spacious and classy set up. Evan had come prepared with candles and party poppers, so we were able to help celebrate Joanna's Birthday! I was thankful for my earplugs later that night as we were accompanied in the hut by a large group of teenage girls and also serenaded by several snorers!!
Sunday involved around 6.5 – 7 hours of steady walking, with the option of detouring to a waterfall (1hr return). Waiopaoa hut was also situated on the lake edge.
Monday was the hardest, but most satisfying day's walk up to Panekire Hut. Mist and rain prevented the most spectacular of the views and the hut was more basic, but still nice and warm and dry. (Pretty smelly though, after over 20 un-showered people had slept in it). The suggested 4 hours took me more than 5, but it was a great achievement to get there.
I surprised myself by still having plenty of energy for the last day's 5 hour walk, which had the best photo opportunities – an enchanted forest all hung with moss and wind-swept rock ledges with exquisite views of the lake. It was supposed to be more downhill than it proved to be in reality, but we still made it in plenty of time for the bouncy water taxi ride back across the lake in the choppy water.

Routeburn Track

19^th November - 22^nd November 2006

"The Fellowship of Fiordland National Park"
by Ben E

Day 1: 19th November
Nine of us arrived by bus at the Routeburn Shelter to begin the journey with the typical group photo with stunning mountain views in the background. The weather was clear and sun shining making the surrounding snow capped mountains look like an exciting playground to adventure into. From the shelter we crossed our first swingbridge and began the 2.5hr ascent to Routeburn Falls Hut overlooking and expansive valley of forest and river beds and also situated next to a series of stepped waterfalls. The evening consisted of the traditional competition involved in cooking of tramping dinners, a few games and getting to know the walkers not belonging to our nine. The extent of the food competition was so fierce that to increase our kudos, Martyn and I had climbed an elevation of several hundred metres off track into the surrounding mountains to gather snow for orange flavoured slushies. But as usual this paled in comparison to Bruce's 5 star meal arrangements.
Day 2: 20th November
From the Routeburn Falls Hut we passed through the sub-alpine environment of Harris lake and over the snow tinged Harris saddle to enjoy the views back through the valley we had ascended from. Legs were a little tired from climbing but spirits were still high. Moving into the next valley we followed the snow line along weaving between open tussock and beech forest below. This continued until we descended to the McKensie Hut next to lake McKensie making our walking time that day around 5hrs. Again during the evening at the hut the food wars raged on and were fiercely won by Bruce and his Pavlova carried in with his newly constructed Pavlova carrying wooden box.
Day 3: 21st November
From the McKensie Hut we meandered for 5hrs to the end of the track at The Divide. Along the way the majority of us climbed an hour long side track up to and round the top of Key Summit which command 360degree views of the surrounding Southern Alps and the bus load of tourist day trippers that had come in from the track end. Finishing at The Divide we sprawled ourselves out for suntans and foot care before heading by bus to Te Anau for hot showers, restaurant meals, diet cokes and cold beer.
Day 4: 22nd November
As I write this it is now just after lunch and we are stationed in Te Anau for the day to replenish food stocks, do washing and rest for the day in order to prepare for the challenges that Kepler will bring us tomorrow and the following three days after that.
.....to be continued.........Kepler and Milford Tracks to follow.

Who are we?

In the beginning, there was two, Mark H(me) & Bruce. In talking we discovered that we both wanted to walk the Milford Track. So we decided “Lets do it”, we also thought that a couple of other people might be interested in coming along as well, so we spread the word to some of our mates and it snowballed into 11 of us going down to do the Milford track in November 2004. We had such a BLAST(in pouring rain) that most of us decided we wanted to do all of the walks in New Zealand, which DOC classified as “Great Walks” (this is 9 tracks in total). So began some fantastic times, and LOADS of photos.
Effectively, we are a bunch of mates,(now some 60-70 of us) who like to get together to go tramping and have some fun!
As we have gone alone, we have also done some other good tracks, which are 'outside ' the Great Nine, but I have included the Photo Albums of these as well.

What is this website?
I created this website, to allow people to display their photos, so they can show/direct family & friends to photos of all the fun they had, what they did, and what they saw. The 'name' of this website, came about during the first Milford Track Tramp.

Who am I? (Mark H)
Website Administrator
I am an IT guy, with a few skills, and an interest in Tramping & Photography. :)
If there are any broken links on this page, or you have comments you can email me on

New Zealand “Great Walks”

The Great Walks are the NZ Department of Conservation's premier walking tracks, through areas of some of the best scenery in the country. The huts and tracks on the Great Walks are of a higher standard than other tramping tracks, There are 9 of these tracks throughout New Zealand.

Lake Waikaremoana Track

A moderate tramp, the Waikaremoana Track is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. Located in Te Urewera National Park, the tramp includes a climb to Panekire Ridge.

Tongariro Northern Circuit

Winding its way over Mt Tongariro and around Mt Ngauruhoe is the Tongariro Northern Circuit, one of the Great Walks of New Zealand.

Whanganui Journey

Paddle the Whanganui on a 145-km journey from Taumarunui to Pipiriki. A shorter canoe trip from Whakahoro to Pipiriki is also possible. Although a river journey, the Whanganui is part of the Great Walks network.

Abel Tasman Coast Track

Abel Tasman Coast Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, is an easy 3 – 5 day tramp that features stunning coastal views and tremendous beaches.

Heaphy Track

The 82 km Heaphy Track is the longest of the DOC Great Walks. Located in Kahurangi National Park, the track crosses expansive tussock downs, lush forests, and stunning coastline.

Routeburn Track

Traversing 32 km through Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park, the Routeburn Track can be walked in conjunction with the Greenstone or Caples tracks.

Milford Track

Beginning at the head of Lake Te Anau and ending at Milford Sound, the 53.5 km Milford Track is in the heart of spectacular Fiordland National Park.

Kepler Track

Traversing through spectacular scenery in Fiordland National Park, the 60 km Kepler Track is a moderate walking track that takes three to four days to complete.

Rakiura Track

The Rakiura Track Great Walk is found on Stewart Island/Rakiura, just a 20 minute flight from Invercargill or an hour by ferry from Bluff.

Tongariro Part II and Mt Ruapehu Summit

25^th Janurary - 27^th Janurary 2008

A small bunch of us had “unfinshed business” not having completed the 2^nd part of the Tongariro Circuit. So we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and complete this and Summit Mt Ruapehu.

The group of climbers at the top,(less the two of our guys who went up 2 ½ hrs eariler). It was somewhat cloudy by time we got up to the top, and we waited around for it to clear a bit.

Able Tasman Coast Track

16^th Feburary - 19^th Feburary 2008

By Mark H
The call went out, and they came from far and wide. Some from Wellington, some from Hamilton and Christchurch, and a bunch from Auckland. Friends, and friends of friends, and friends that we didn't yet know. And off we went, 16 of us, down to Nelson to tramp the Able Tasman Costal Track.
Most of us went early, and drove across from Christchurch, to Nelson to Marahau, and stayed at the a Backpackers in Marahau. A few stragglers caugh up with us on Saturday morning as we started the track.
The first day was a pretty easy day(only 4 hours), so we didn't get on the track till about 9:30am. It started with a wander across some wetlands on a board walk, and then up into a little bit of bush, and a nice wander around the cost, past a number of nice, golden sand beaches and bays. We settled our packs in and got into a nice relaxed tramping rhythm, stopping to take photos of the bays as we went. We arrived at our hut[at Anchorage] for the night, at about 2:00pm and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach, swimming and getting to know each other. (little knowing what lay ahead of us the following day).
The Camp spot was quite busy with day trampers, and people come in on the Water Taxis, so it was somewhat crowded(relativity speaking).
As evening fell, we cooked our dinner and then went down and relaxed on the beach as the sun set.

Day Two dawned with the knowledge that we had a reasonably big day ahead of us,(though the itinary only said we had 11km this day). We started with a small 'backtrack' and a bit of a climb up a hill, and headed up towards Cleopatroa's Pool. This pool was a 20minute return off the main track, and the first two(Mark H & Warren) decided to make the most of the opportunety and have a look.(there is a roumor that they actually saw Cleopatra.....but she left before the rest of the guys got there). It was a beautiful deep pool of extremely clear water, fed by a stream via water cascading over the rocks and down a small channel. It was so tempting to dive in, (Warren almost did), but the water was pretty cold!). From there we headed on around the coast and it opened into a fantastic Bay/beach, where a few people had built holiday homes.(it was easy to see why). As we wandered through, we discovered a rope swing hanging from a tree. It just HAD to be tried out! - although I must admit, having a pack and 20kgs on your back certainly throws you off balance on a swing!!
We pushed on around till we got to Bark Bay, which was our lunch stop. We downed our gear and set about making our lunch, we discoverd that Wasps love Avacardo!, when one decided to have a feed and fly off with the biggest piece he could hold in his 6 legs.(though he did circle around to see if he could pick up any cheese to have with it too!!!
After a short swim in the sea, and a bite to eat, we geared up again and headed off. We carried on around the coast visiting more spectatular beaches and bays, until we got to Tonga Campsite(at around 3:00pm), - by this some of us were starting to feel a few blisters and sore feet, and we would have been quite happy to have the next Hut just in front of us, unfortunately as we were to discover it was still 2 hours away!. After a quick snack stop at Tonga Campsite we pushed on.

We had discovered before we left the Anchorage Hut, that there was a Lodge/Pub close(1hr away) from where we are staying that night. One of the guys(Maurice) who got through fairly quickly, took the detour(which included a tidal crossing), and got to the pub in time to have a couple of quick beers[Lucky bugger]. That night he took great delight in telling us how nice they were. The final stretch on this day was a bit of a tidal crossing, and out onto a beach for the final 450metre slog along a beach and up an estuary, which at that point seemed to drag on forever. We were extremely pleased to see the hut ahead of us after 9hrs Tramping, and we dropped our packs and all crashed out on the steps, taking the weight off our sore and blistered feet. We discovered to our suprise that the day had been 23 odd km. [No wonder we were a little sore] - there were a few threats to our leader Darcey, for the pain he put us through. (but no one had the energy to carry the out). :-)

After resting for a few hours, some people went for a brief swim, until they discovered 3-4 Sting Rays cruising around in the water with them. and we proceeded to have our dinner and dessert, and had a few games of cards. As the sun was setting we were blessed with a nice sunset, and a brilliant moon, and when the stars came out, the sky was that clear and the stars were that brilliant, 5-6 of us decided to drag our matresses outside and sleep on the grass infront of the hut under the brilliant stars, with the water lapping at the beach a metre or so from our feet. Apart from the guys who chatted most of the night(you know who you were), it was a fantastic experiance!

The next morning Day 3 was a fairly slow start due to the fact that we had to waight for the tides to be low enough for us to cross the estuary, (which wasn't a bad thing as it gave us more of a chance to give our feet some TLC. Once the tides was down enough(we watched people trying to ford it from the other side as the best gague for when us should leave.[no use finding out everything the hard way]. I think it was about 11:00am when we headed across the channel to the other side. It was a nice continuation of the fantastic weather, and great sandy beaches. Mid afternoon we arrived at a fork at Mutton Cove which either took you to Whariwharangi Hut, or you could turn off and go to Seperation Point,(though this added another 2 hours to the day). The hardy souls headed out to Seperation point, with the rest of us opting to take the more direct route to the Whariwharangi Hut. When we arrived 1/2 of us headed down to the beach for a swim, until the sandflies drove us back. The Whariwharangi Hut was styled on one of the original Homesteads in the area.

After another great meal, we had a few more games of cards, via torch light, and I must say the games got brutal! (event the total strangers did not get spared).
Again a bunch of us dragged our matresses out on the veranda and slept outside, though I must say, it wasnt quite as brilliant as the previous night.

The final day 4, was an early'ish start, with only a couple of hourse to catch the bus about 11am. The final part of the track started with a steep'ish climb to warm us up, and then flattened out and headed gently downwards over a somewhat more open track, as we came around this part of the coast.

We all arrived a little bit sore but pretty happy at the end of a great track, with an excellent bunch of people!

Milford Track - Revisited

27^th November - 30^th November 2006

"Return to the King"
by Ben E

The return trip was laid on in an effort to view the Track in better weather, and give people another opportunity to enjoy a fantastic part of the country and also to further work towards our goal of completing all 9 Great Walks.
Day 1: 27th November
Beginning with a boat from TeAnau downs to the track start in misty weather, we set forth for the short 1-1.5hrs walk from Glade Wharf into Clinton Hut. Here a friendly hut warden by the name of Peter Jackson (but a lot slimer than the director!) took us on a informative nature walk in the afternoon followed by a walk to view glow worms. Our first day seemed an easy walk with only some slight drizzle that seemed to increase the mystery and magic of the surrounding moutains.
Day 2: 28th November
We woke to heavy rain and warnings of not leaving the hut until cleared by hut warden Jackson. After being released to continue to the next hut, over the next 6 hours the rain didn't seem to cease. We climbed gently up 16.5kms of track through varying decreases of flooding on some of the path. The water falls were magnificant and thunder sounded like avalanches as the sound echoed through the mountainous walls surrounding us from the valley floor. Because of the intense rain Mintaro Hut felt like a sanctuary compared to the wet and cold of the track. Many people were soaked through to the skin and concerned their clothing and gear wouldn't dry properly for the next day, but none-the-less still telling stories of how fantastic the waterfalls were and how it was perfect in bringing the waterfalls and valley to life.
Day 3: 29th November
This morning we woke to snow outside and warnings again to not leave the hut until cleared by the warden. Once the warden had given the clear we donned wet and cold gear to climb for 2 hours to McKinnin pass, taking numerous shots of the fantastic snow covered scenery as we went. Unfortunately my camera had got wet the day before and refused to be resuscitated until day four of the trip so I personally don't have any photos of this section. After 20mins across the top of the pass, the track descended steeply through zig zags and an optional side trip to Sutherland Falls. Getting anywhere within 50m of these falls was rather like having a very strong shower, they were big and wet! Finishing after a total of 6hrs walking time we settled in at Dumpling Hut for the night.
Day 4: 30th November
We started early in the morning in order to get the our 2:00pm boat on time and cover the 5.5hrs of track required.Today the weather was warm and sunny and it felt like we had now covered four seasons in one walk. Passing over a couple of long swing bridges we stopped briefly at MacKay falls and Bell Rock. Bell Rock is an intriguing rock, which has been worn by water and grinding stones and then tipped over in a rock fall. Inside it we were able to stand up easily and also make friends with the spiders living there. At the finish while waiting for the boat the sandfly's made their strongest appearance on the track making true to their name. Milford Fiord lay in front of us and the boat trip across to Milford township and the nights accomodation.