Unique NZ Geography

When all the dangerous cliffs are fenced off, all the trees that might fall on people are cut down, all of the insects that bite are poisoned… the wilderness will not be made safe. Rather, the safety will have destroyed the wilderness.
R. Yorke Edwards

The best places in New Zealand lie beyond the road end. They are beyond the popular tourist routes and beyond the visitor information centers. They are beyond the guidebooks and beyond the information channel in hotel rooms.

New Zealand’s unique geology and geography make it challenging to experience the wilderness. By taming the wilderness with highway tracks and hotel huts, tourism operators have managed to be able to provide a consistent, safe and easy means for people to visit the back country.

But some people are searching for something beyond travelling in large groups with other tourists. We believe there is a better way. We are dedicated to the quality of your experience, not the quantity of people we can put through. To understand what we do at Wild Walks it is helpful to start at the beginning, the land.

Hiking in New Zealand is very different than anywhere else in the world. To understand the hiking here, you first have to realise the role that water plays. The Southern Alps stick up out of the Tasman Sea over 10,000 feet, and when warm, water laden air from the tropics is pushed along by the prevailing winds, the first land it runs into is a massive chain of mountains – the Southern Alps. As the air is pushed up over the mountains, the water is squeezed out of it. The result is rain accumulation of over 6 meters a year on the western side of the mountains. Once the air crosses the divide it expands and dries out, leaving areas on the eastern side with only a fraction of the rain fall. So the land must shed itself of huge amounts of water, 100-150mm (4-6 inches) of water in a storm is not uncommon.

Mount Aspiring being overridden by westerly cloud

The mountains in New Zealand are very young, they have not had the time to wear down like the Rockies or the European Alps. These mountains are still lifting, and the loose sedimentary rock is constantly shifting. Land slips are a common occurrence. Small land slips or even whole mountain sides collapse into the valleys with frightening regularity.

Geographically, this combination of large rain events and sedimentary rock, results in a land of deep valleys and gorges. The fast moving water carves into the mountains leaving deep gorges and depositing large amounts of sediment into the valleys.

When heavy rain occurs, the rivers rise very fast. For example, in North America water which falls on The Grand Teton has nearly two thousand miles to meander its way to the ocean. Water falling on Mt. Cook makes the same vertical distance to the ocean in 20 miles (32 km). This is a land covered in waterfalls and fast flowing rivers. The Clutha River which drains Lake Wanaka is a short river by world standards. But by volume of yearly discharge it is the 12th largest in the world.

The rainfall also has its effect on the vegetation. Below tree line the mountains are dense temperate rainforest. The lush undergrowth of ferns, shrubs, mosses and lichens is unique. On the eastern side of the range the under growth is relatively easy to walk through until you gain altitude into the tight sub-alpine scrub. This vegetation belt composed of Olearia, celery pine and Dracophyllum can be soul-destroying bush bashing.

Most tracks follow well known large river valleys which offer access into the mountains due to the flat alluvial path. These valleys are characterised at their beginnings by broad grassy flats which are usually grazed with sheep and cattle. As the valleys progress inland they narrow and tracks are mostly in the forest. River crossings are largely confined to established bridges since crossings are deep and hazardous.

The early settlers found that huts were indispensable for prolonged wilderness travel. When the weather was bad only some form of hard shelter provided any relative comfort. In heavy rain situations the ground water can not shed fast enough. A tent can find itself sitting on a pool of water even on well draining ground. For this reason huts have always gone hand in hand with tracks. Nearly all tracks in New Zealand have huts. At one time land owners maintained huts to provide shelter for shepards. With the advent of helicopters and four wheel drives, many of these privately owned huts have fallen into disrepair.

The terrain changes once the head of the valley is reached,. Tracks can no longer follow the narrow drainage bottoms and they must deal with the steep side hills. Intense rain results in very unstable ground and many land slides. Tracks must avoid unstable areas since washouts account for a large number of backcountry rescues. The over steepened loose rock which the washouts leave behind can be treacherous, particularly if there is a raging river at the bottom. Small side streams which are usually dry can suddenly rise and be impassable.

Great Walks

Traditionally in New Zealand, it was well recognised that if you went into the back country you would be self sufficient. It was not until the steady increase in visitor numbers (and wilderness rescues) made it clear that New Zealand track standards were quite different than what many visitors were expecting. Visiting hikers were shocked to find that some of the tracks which were recommended to them had a high degree of hazard associated with them. The Department of Conservation (DOC) learned that if it was to be responsible for a track, they had to also maintain it to an international standard. This can be a difficult and expensive.

Huts also needed to be upgraded. The old style dirt floor and a couple sacks to sleep on was no longer acceptable. Instead of volunteers or land owners doing the work, expensive helicopters were needed. Now there are building regulations and compliance regulations to follow.

While New Zealand has thousands of walking tracks, there are very few that meet this criteria. Wilderness bridges are expensive to build and maintain. Trails must be benched and drained. Land slips and erosion mean constant rerouting and cutting. The vegetation needs to cleared and yearly dead fall removed. Large digging machinery is flown in to work on troublesome places.

Tracks in New Zealand are under increasing pressure to upgrade. To accommodate the growing amount of visitors who are unfamiliar with New Zealand conditions, the Department of Conservation has taken the reasonable strategy of trying to concentrate large numbers of tourists on a few very well maintained tracks. This is the strategy behind the “Great Walks”. These are nine specific tracks the Government promotes. By picking a few tracks which are relatively easy to maintain and keeping the track in a condition that anyone will be safe, DOC is able to recommend these tracks to the public. This policy has been remarkably successful. Tourist publicity has its own momentum and the more popular tracks are full to overflowing. Huts accommodating 60 or more people; wardens; one way restrictions; commercial groups of 40 people: the more people that do a particular track, the more people want to do it. Tracks are maintained to a standard that all possible hazard and discomfort is minimized. Over twelve thousand people walk the Milford track every season.

New Zealand Wilderness

The popularity of the Great Walks should not lead one to believe that all walking tracks are busy. On the contrary, the success for the Great Walks means that there are hundreds of tracks and routes left out of the tourist loop.

There are walks where you will only hear the sound of Tuis and Bell birds. There are huts to visit that seem to come out of a wilderness fairy tale. There are tracks where every turn of a corner brings the unexpected.

For those with local knowledge and skills, New Zealand back country is an alpine paradise. The mountains here are living, they creek and groan with the movement of glaciers and the grinding of tectonic plates. The hills move and the rivers rise up. But like a wild animal, the Southern Alps have an unruly temperament. Picking appropriate routes is crucial to an enjoyable experience. Weather, river crossings, route finding – even experienced hikers can be tested by the changing conditions of remote routes.

Wild Walks uses professional guides to help visitors access these remote areas.

This very beautiful hut gets only 50 visitors a year.
Definitely off the tourist trail!

Escape the crowds

There as many Wild Walks as there are different people. But all Wild Walks have one thing in common. We go where human impact is kept to a minimum.

With over 20 years in the mountains of the South Island, we have trips to match everyone. Everyone is different and there are many options. We go to valleys by boat plane and helicopter, there are mountaineering trips which require ice ax and crampons or gentle valleys where you can bring the kids.

You don’t find where we go in brochures at the visitor information center. You will not find a bus which will take you there. If you ask around, not many people will probably have ever heard of where we take people. As guides, we provide the safety and experience to let you enjoy a unique area.