- Round The World Trip Destination Wish #3: Great Walks in New Zealand
- Milford Track Booked For April 2015
- New Zealand, On The Road Again After a 2 Month Break
- 8 New Zealand Great Walks in 8 Weeks
- Preparing for The Great Walks and Waiting Out Cyclone Pam
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 1: Onepoto to Panekire Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 2: Panekire Hut to Waiopaoa Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 3: Waiopaoa Hut to Marauiti Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 4: Marauiti Hut to Hopuruahine Landing
- Wairoa and Taupo, In Between Great Walks
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 1: Mangatepopo Hut to Oturere Hut
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 2: Oturere Hut to Waihohonu Hut
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 3: Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa Village
- Wellington, Christchurch, Mount Cook, and Queenstown, In Between Great Walks
- Routeburn Track Day 1: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls Hut
- Routeburn Track Day 2: Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut
- Routeburn Track Day 3: Lake Mackenzie Hut to The Divide
- Milford Track Day 1: Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut
- Milford Track Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut
- Milford Track Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut
- Milford Track Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point
- Te Anau, In Between Great Walks
- Rakiura Track Day 1: Oban to Port William Hut
- Rakiura Track Day 2: Port William Hut to North Arm Hut
- Rakiura Track Day 3: North Arm Hut to Oban
- Stewart Island, In Between Great Walks
- Kepler Track Day 1: Te Anau to Luxmore Hut
- Kepler Track Day 2: Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut
- Kepler Track Day 3: Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut
- Kepler Track Day 4: Moturau Hut to Te Anau
- A Return to Milford Sound
- Coastal Pacific Train, Hitchking, And Nelson, In Between Great Walks
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 1: Marahau to Anchorage
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 2: Anchorage to Bark Bay
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 3: Bark Bay to Awaroa
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 4: Awaroa to Whariwharangi
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 5: Whariwharangi to Totaranui via Gibbs Hill Track
- Heaphy Track Day 1: Brown Hut to Perry Saddle Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 2: Perry Saddle Hut to James Mackay Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 3: James Mackay Hut to Heaphy Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 4: Heaphy Hut to Kohaihai
- Riding The Tranzalpine Train in New Zealand
- In Review: 69 Days of Backpacking in New Zealand
Previous entry: Day 3 – James Mackay Hut to Heaphy Hut
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal
Journal entry for May 11, 2015
Distance hiked: 16.2 km
I was the first one out of bed at 7am, and was able to enjoy an amazing sunrise. This is truly a great spot for a hut. There were lots of weka birds around the area, and you could hear them go off on shouting matches throughout the night.
![Heaphy Hut, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3604-1024x678.jpg)
![Heaphy Hut, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3607-1024x576.jpg)
![Views from Heaphy Hut, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3613-1024x576.jpg)
Just like the previous day, it rained around 8am but cleared up afterwards, just in time to hit the trail.
![Heaphy Hut, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3616-1024x597.jpg)
I hiked the entire last day with the Callum, Timo, and Mervin. This was supposedly the most beautiful section of the Heaphy Track, and I would have to agree with that. You alternate between forests, beaches, and very long bridges. A really fun day.
![Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3620-1024x678.jpg)
![Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3625-1024x678.jpg)
![Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3649-1024x678.jpg)
![Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3656-678x1024.jpg)
Out of habit, I usually hike with very short socks, but given the large amounts of sand flies in the area, I wore long socks this day. This helped to fend them away. As long as there’s no exposed skin, they won’t bite, even if the socks are thin.
I had to wait until my last day of hiking in NZ to see one of its rare birds. I never encountered the famous and elusive kiwi, but while crossing a bridge on this day, I spotted a blue duck in the distance. With under 3,000 of them left (all in NZ), they are harder to find than kiwis (around 70,000 left). The one I saw was far away, and I couldn’t take any decent pictures of it.
![Blue duck on the Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3641.jpg)
Crayfish Point is an area that cannot be crossed 2 hours either side of high tide, which for this day was 3:30pm. We had plenty of time to go through that section before 1:30pm.
![Crayfish Point, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3671-1024x678.jpg)
![Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3680-1024x678.jpg)
We reached the end of the trail at the mouth of the Kohaihai River after 4.5 hours, with short breaks in between.
![One last short break before the end](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3681-1024x678.jpg)
![Fantail bird, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3683-1024x768.jpg)
![Bridge over Kohaihai river, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3712-1024x678.jpg)
![Kohaihai River mouth, Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3713-1024x678.jpg)
We were very lucky that we got very nice weather. Out of the four days on the Heaphy Track I only had to hike about three hours in light drizzle. Reading the forecast before the start, I thought I would have four miserable days of wet weather hiking. Looking back, I was extremely fortunate with weather throughout my entire time in New Zealand. Of the thirty days I spent on the trial, it only really rained for two days: Day 2 on the Routeburn Track, and Day 4 on the Milford Track.
I had just finished 8 Great Walks in 8 weeks. About 400 km or 250 miles. I was very happy that everything went according to plan, despite injuring my knee on the first Great Walk. I would later find out that I did all these treks with a torn ACL and meniscus.
The walks had exceeded my very high expectations, and New Zealand became the most beautiful country I had visited in my life. The great landscapes are almost too much to take in and digest in such a short time.
![End of the Heaphy Track](http://kevinstravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC3717-1024x678.jpg)
My ratings for the Heaphy Track:
Scenery: 7 – Unremarkable the first 2 days. Very beautiful and unique the last 2 days.
Difficulty: 3.5 – Despite elevation changes, it feels pretty flat the entire way.
Trail Condition: 9 – Another excellent Great Walk track. Fit for mountain biking, so pretty easy to do it on foot.
More info:
NZ Department of Conservation’s brochure and video for this walk.
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal