Rakiura great Walk

Hiking and Hitchhiking in Rakiura National Park, Stewart Island/Rakiura

A hitchhiker on the Garden Mound is unbeatable for a panorama view over the populated areas of Oban. The early cutting activities that spread from Port William/Potirepo to the north shore of Paterson Inlet/Whaka and Te Wera did not affect Garden Mound. Garden Mound was a favourite place for the local people in the early 1900s because it was one of the few areas near the town where the woods were still untouched and where you could often find migratory species of flock.

Giant roms, k?mahi, Miro and www. mimu, together with fern and moss are a characteristic of the route, which climbs to a depth of 160m before falling down towards Little River. For a picturesque tour, return to Lee Bay via the Great Walk Trail along the coastline through the Chained Link Statue that mark the entry to Rakiura National Park.

Beware - The Garden Mound Trail is precipitous, slick and in some places mudsy, since it is a tramp course and tramp shoes must be used. Turn at Halfmoon Bay to the lefthand side to walk northwards past the generalist. Follow Horseshoe Bay Road for about an hours until you get to the Lee Bay Road junction at the other end of Horseshoe Bay.

You will find the Garden Mound Tracks starting point on the lefthand side, about 10 min along the Lee Bay street. Back along the coast path to Lee Bay and the street back to Horseshoe Bay and on to Halfmoon Bay. If you want to go further away to Rakiura National Park, Maori Beach is an ideal option for a full days out with breathtaking landscapes, a lot of indigenous heritage and a foretaste of the Rakiura Great Walk.

From 1913 to 1935, Maori Beach was a bustling residential area with a single college and several Maori Beach Sawmilling Company workers' shelters.