Rakiura Track Booking

All you need to know about hiking on the Rakiura Track - Walkway My Worlds

The Rakiura Track from Stewart Island should be at the top of your search for one of the calmest Great Walks in untouched wild. Situated in southern New Zealand, the route is simple and accessible to anyone with intermediate levels of physical condition. It is a two to three leg of 32 km (a walk in two and a half hours could be described as a modest walk).

They can also learn about our experiences on the track. Contrary to many other Fiordland titles, the Rakiura Track does not immediately charge out, so you do not have to enter the date of purchase in your calender. However, it is a long stroll, so you have to register in time if you want to leave on certain occasions, especially if you want to go hiking in the high seasons like Christmas or New Year.

These cabins are one of the lowest in the Great Walks and cost only $24 NOK per passenger per night, which is less than half the cost of routes like the Milford, Kepler or Routeburn. It is essential that you follow the path as a: 2 ) it will help to finance the conservation of this national park.

The Rakiura looks very shallow on a chart, the highest ascent is below 300m. What this does not show, however, is that there are some of these small ups and downs along the way that begin to accumulate, especially if you decide to go hiking in two outings.

This is not something we think should put off crowds, as we believe that most of those with medium physical condition can walk this route, but it was 1,300 metres high. The biggest part of this altitude (980m) is on the first and second days and should therefore be a thought for anyone who wants to make the Rakiura a one-day (yes, it happens!) or two-day course.

The Rakiura Track is relatively simple of all Great Walks if you hike for three whole nights. There are no long rambles (we guess 4-5 hikes every day) and there are no terrible uphills. Remember that the track is not shallow and the gradients are sufficient to increase your pulse rates, especially if you are carrying a large backpack with sleep sacks and lunch.

The Rakiura is a good choice if you wanted to do a walk of several nights and were not sure whether you wanted to climb a hill or an extreme long part. It is neither too long nor too sharp if done over three workdays. Rakiura is also well marked and does not need any previous knowledge, making it a great first trekking adventures of several nights.

With a length of 34 km (with our Apple Watch the offical length is indicated as 32 km) the Rakiura Track can also be completed as a daily hike. Walking the Rakiura Track in one afternoon would mean storming through the most important attractions, the lovely sandy beach, the breathtaking woods and the surrounding area.

And if you're more interested in challenges than just discovering the reserve, it might be a great for you. The Rakiura took us two whole working nights and although we found it exhausting, it is very feasible. You will probably walk almost 1,000 metres in one single working hour and more than 20 km in the faraway!

The downside, however, is that you jump over one of the really brief few dates (the rest of the time from Lee Bay to Port William is about three hours). On the Rakiura Track the cabins are very good, but different from Fiordland. You don't always have hat guards in you - when we wandered Port William, but not North Arm.

In these cabins there are no burner, you have to have an oven. Port-William is a great end to a wonderful first days where you can explore lonely shores and breathtaking forests. Located directly on the shore, it is the ideal place to relax after a full days on the trailer.

The North Arm Hat is very similar to Port William. The Rakiura will take you to Stewart Island first! This hike is great because it is a circular route and both ends of the route are very near the city center.

We suggest taking the souvenir cab to the starting point (at the moment of the letter it was $30 for the vehicle, so it can only be $7.50 per person). Leeways Bay is about 6 km from the center of Oban and it really doesn't make sense to walk 6 km on paved streets through a town before the route even starts!

The end of the route is also 2-3 km from Oban. When we got out early, we decided to go the remainder on foot, but you could otherwise take a cab back to the city ( "at the moment of the letter it was $15 or $3.75 per head if you had a group of four people).

Rakiura Track is one of the few Great Walks that can be walked at any moment of the year. Walking is the best hiking period during the winter months as you have more light for hiking and it gets warm. It is also recommended that you take a replacement clothing kit that is only for use in the cabins to make sure you always have clean clothing to wear.

It' s not too hard to get your clothing on the way when you' re warming up, but you' re very chilly when you have your clothing on. Since we were only left behind for one single evening, we brought along vegetables, pastas, pesto and cheeses to have a proper dinner.

Snack such as candy and nuts are also well received. On the Rakiura, you need a hot grill, unless you are satisfied with dinner at night. A small first responder box - if you want to keep it easy, you can buy it at the DOC when you collect your train ticket as we did.

Sunscreen & Insecticides - The Rakiura is filled with many lovely sandy spots, so sunscreen is a must. Insecticide also stops the annoying sand flies, which we did not see on the route, but found around both shelters. Flambeau - There is no power in the cabins, so you will need a flambeau after sundown and in the mornings.

Rakiura cleansing tablet - The Rakiura waters are safe to use. Toiletpaper - All cabins and restrooms on the course offer this. They can take a watershuttle from the city to Port William, so this would make the Lee Bay to Port William section of the track an 8. 1km simple one way route.

The simplest way is probably to take the shuttle to Port William Cabin and then return on foot to Lee Bay or Oban (6 km further than Lee Bay). You can also run from the Fern Gully parking lot to the North Arm Cabin and back, which would be about 22 km long, but this is not the most beautiful part of the route.

Some of the most beautiful stretches are certainly between Lee Bay and Port William. Did you take one of the big walks? Will you do the rakiura track?