New Zealand is reopening, and its 10th ‘Great Walk’ is the perfect way to celebrate – iNews

My feet revolted on the third day. Inspection confirmed what I already knew: boots still damp from the biblical deluge of the day before had buffed up a blister the size of a 50p piece. But I was 1,000m up, walking across the top of the Paparoa Range on the Paparoa Track New Zealands 10th and newest Great Walk and the finish was now equidistant from the start.

Besides, with the track itself a community memorial to the 29 lives lost in the Pike River mining disaster in 2010, and the spectacle of distant peaks and ancient forest to take in, this was not a moment for urban infirmity. It is a walk that exceeded my expectations longer, harder, wetter, warmer, more spectacular, more varied, more social, and more fun than I imagined it would be (I am more inclined to beaches and surf).

New Zealands 10 Great Walks, with their well-equipped huts and Department of Conservation (DoC) staff presence, are intended as a confidence-builder and gateway to New Zealands scores of great walks, which require greater autonomy and a bit more gear. I was walking in a group of five including two lovely DoC minders, Jacob and Lizzie but there is no impediment to walking alone.

The track begins at Smoke-ho car park, a few kilometres beyond the historic mining town of Blackball in the north-west of the South Island. The Blackball Hilton is an obvious launchpad for the Paparoa track: New Zealands labour movement began in Blackball and the hotels walls are covered with cuttings, photographs and paintings of the personalities and travails of those trying to improve pay and conditions. And one of its locally sourced venison burgers will get you up the hill.

Up, up, up and up. The first days walk is all about up 1,000m of it as it follows the old Croesus Track cut to bring supplies and carry the gold mined from numerous claims established during the 19th century. The forest has largely grown over this frenetic period in New Zealands history the track itself is the most enduring monument but there are two remarkably isolated clearings where hotels once stood.

As lovely and leafy a walk as it is, I was more struck by the volume of birdsong: all around us were whistles, hoots, coos, buzzes and squeaks. The stars of the show were the tuis a bird whose uncanny R2-D2 impressions are seemingly performed for hikers entertainment. Each turn of the path might have revealed a cast of Ewoks.

After the track emerges from the tree line, it becomes less even, with loose stones threatening to turn an ankle with each wobbly low-blood-sugar step. The removal of heavy packs and then peppermint tea and instant noodles at Ces Clark Hut quickly restored spirits.

The huts are marvellous. Each is equipped with a wood burner, several gas hobs, a smattering of pans and utensils (youre supposed to bring your own), and views that would be a bargain at four times the price the panoramic view of the ranges down to Lake Brunner from the Ces Clark loo alone is worth the hike.

The forecast for the second day, written on the huts whiteboard, Light rain. Moderate N-W wind with gusts up to 50km/hr, might have been written by Michael Fish on one of his off days. With the rain tracking horizontally across the windows, we spent the morning drinking coffee and finishing a 1,000-piece jigsaw from the huts ghastly-weather shelf.

Eventually conditions seemed to be improving and we set off. In minutes we were walking in torrential rain, which did not let up for the two-and-a-half hours it took us to reach Te Whare Atarau (Moonlight Tops Hut). This section is on a ridge and, in nice weather, a spectacular alpine walk with views from the ocean to the Southern Alps. In bad weather, it is diabolical. The wind, gusting up to 80kmh, drove the rain in lashing sheets.

Revived, if not rested sleep was impossible because of the rustling, Velcro-tearing cacophony every time a fellow hiker got up to pee the third day dawned to a clear sky. Now we were treated to panoramic ridge views over vertiginous chasms.

A few kilometres down the track, we passed back below the tree line into a goblin forest of gnarled, alpine-stunted trees, the morning sun delivering shafts of light that we photographed obsessively. Blisters notwithstanding, this was a glorious good-to-be-alive walk and, at 19km, the longest section of the track. At Pororari Hut, my feet patched with donated blister dressings and happy in my bedroom slippers, I watched the sun set into the Tasman Sea from a cloudless sky.

The weather held for the walk out on the fourth day. Closer to sea level, there was no cool mountain breeze and thermal tops were soon drenched in sweat. The idea of a swim, mentioned half in jest the day before, suddenly seemed a good one. There are a couple of spots to swim along the Pororari River, which leads you out to the coast, and the surrounding 15m-high nkau palms look invitingly tropical.

There is nothing tropical about the mountain meltwater, though. My knees began to ache the moment my feet entered. It was all or nothing. I dived and swam a few strokes upriver before turning on my back, trying (and failing) to look relaxed as I floated back to the start. The relief of getting out almost made it worth diving in though my feet were pain-free for the remainder of the walk.

And then it was over. We passed under the finishing arch and found ourselves on the side of State Highway 6. The only antidote to what, I think, is the inevitable anticlimax of finishing a Great Walk (or great walk) is to do another one.

How to get there

Flights to Christchurch are available on Singapore Airlines via Singapore.

Walking the track

For details of Paparoa Track and Pike 29 Memorial Track: doc.govt.nz/ parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/ west-coast.

More information

New Zealand reopens its borders to fully vaccinated tourists on Sunday. Visitors must take rapid antigen tests on arrival and day five or six. All visitors require a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA)

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New Zealand is reopening, and its 10th 'Great Walk' is the perfect way to celebrate - iNews