New Zealand is undoubtedly a beautiful country, and its diversity of people and landscapes makes it a great place to explore
There is a well beaten trail the length of both islands that provides a great intro to New Zealand. It has all the facilities that tour buses and 5 star travellers need whilst they skim through our main attractions, but for those who want to explore deeper into the culture and discover some secret uncrowded spots, here is a few things to remember on your trails.
Have an ulterior motive. A sight seeing trip alone will take you on the typical guide book experience of crowded car parks and souvenir shops. I’ve always found pursuing your passion or activity will set you on many new and interesting adventures. Once you are pursuing your particular interest, be it china dolls or rock climbing, it is bound to take you to the kind of place you enjoy and put you in contact with people you can relate to. Walking is one of my default interests and has led me on many adventures and down many side roads, meeting lots of good people and stumbling on incredible places.
Get outside your comfort zone. This is easier said than done in many of the world’s adventure destinations where safety is a constant concern and authorities recommend no “go zones” for good reason! Thankfully New Zealand is no such place. Universal safe it’s often in the places off the main tourist trail where you will find locals with the time and interest to have a chat, give advice or even show you around. So forgo Mc donalds and the Hilton seek out some owner operators down some dead end beach road and open your mind for some rewarding unglobalised surprises
Ask. There is no quicker way into a local persons heart than to ask them about the unique place in the world. As a guide I’ve been showing people around my favourite places for 12 years, and I still get a kick from watching people light up at the view or a unique aspect of local culture. Asking people is also courtesy and protocol when planning to explore Maori or farm land, because of spiritual, practical and safety reasons.
Smell the flowers (or sulphur). When you are travelling on a time frame it’ tempting to rush through to tick off all the “must sees”, but in my experience it’s often the memory of relaxed simple moments that stay with you. In New Zealand it could be fish and chips on the beach, or a soak in one of our many natural hot pools, but keeping time to enjoy the spontaneous moment is crucial.
What’s the story? This is a part of our ethos as guides and part of the way learn about and interpret the areas we work and love. Stories are everywhere you go, and there are so many ways to dig them out. I think your own imagination is the best place to start, ask yourself “how did this quiet town in the middle of nowhere come to be here?” All of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a story and a mystery. Somewhere nearby someone is panning for gold or fishing for eels and each of them hold some part of the story that makes up the fascinating culture of ” someone else’s” every day life.
Good luck!
Author: Rob Franklin, founder of Walking Legends Guided Walks, has travelled extensively at home (in NZ) and abroad and would like to thank all the trusting locals right round the world who let me experience the beautiful culture of their every day lives.
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Hilary hosted her last book club meeting at somewhere just a little different to where the monthly meetings are normally held. The group of 8 had to trek in to the Central Whirinaki Hut for an overnight meeting!
Our group, all female, and living in Whakatane had a range of experience in the outdoors, so it was with some nervousness and trepidation that we set off from Whakatane on a Saturday morning late April. Nerves had also been heightened due to the fact that it had been raining heavily for about 2 weeks in Whakatane leading up to the trek. However the day dawned a crisp clear Autumn morning, and in fact the whole weekend was simply beautiful. After a windy drive the hike began, on a stunning little track that started at about 1000 metres above sea level. The native forest was really impressive. Whirinaki is known to be one of the best podocarp forests in the world, and soon the girls got into the rhythm of strolling, chatting and stopping to enjoy the views and variety of treats that emerged from backpacks. An easy 3 hour walk, mostly downhill, to the Central Whirinaki Hut, where the girls were pleasantly surprised by the facilities (I later learned that some were expecting the hut to resemble a dog kennel, so I could understand some of the wary looks that my trekking proposal initially received!). The Central Whirinaki Hut is a lovely 20 bunker with a large dining area and log burner, tucked into a little clearing of beech trees alongside the Whirinaki River. And our book club had the hut to ourselves!
The evening progressed like a standard book club meeting: lots of great food, wine and discussions – sometimes even about literature. Actually that also sounds a lot like a standard evening on any of the Walking Legends’ guided walk trips!
Breakfast time
Sunday’s walk was slightly longer, about 5 hours, and followed alongside the Whirinaki River for much of this time. Several pairs of whio (native endangered blue duck) were spotted from the track, and again the forest was diverse and lush. From the towering podocarps right down to the tiny ferns and mosses, every available space was covered in green life.
I don’t make it out of the office much these days, so really appreciated this weekend away in one of the most beautiful corners of the world. It was great to be reminded of the awe-inspiring beauty of the Whirinaki Forest, and how lucky we are to be sharing these special places with the visitors we host on our New Zealand guided walks. Time to start planning next year’s book club trek! Cheers, Hilary.
For more info on the guided walks we do in Whirinaki Forest click here: Rotorua Day Trek
Surtees Boat Builders in Whakatane are now the major sponsor of fishing and lifestyle Australian TV series \"River to Reef\". Walking Legends have been hosting the TV crew in and around Rotorua, showing off some of the areas diverse landscapes. Yesterday a trip to Hell’s Gate Thermal Park ended in a soak in their unique mud pools. After which we headed to Lake Tarawera for a fishing and sightseeing cruise aboard Clearwater Cruises luxury launch. The clouds cleared to a beautiful afternoon on the lake, and the film crew managed to get some great footage of swimming at hot water beach, and pulling in a nice rainbow trout and smoking it on the spot. Delicious!
We know our Lake Waikaremoana Guided Walk would really appeal to the show’s audience – this stunning New Zealand Great Walk follows the lakeshore for much of the 4 days with plenty of opportunities to fish from the shore or from our purpose built Surtees support boat. Hikers can try their luck at catching a brown or rainbow trout, or couples and families can split up during the day – some to walk, some to fish – and meet up each evening in the lakeshore huts. With the direct flights from Sydney to Rotorua our North Island Guided Walks are just a short trip across the Tasman for keen Australian walkers.
So Walking Legends are hoping to take the crew up to Lake Waikaremoana soon. We’ll keep you posted!
Check out the amazing scenery, walks and guides in our new video on youtube. This short, fun video gives you an inside view into what happens on our Tongariro Hiking Tours, and what our guided walkers from all over the world experience amidst the awesome volcanoes of Tongariro National Park New Zealand.
We are so excited to be hosting a special photography tour to Lake Waikaremoana in late April with internationally renowned photographer Chris McLennan. Chris has walked with us before taking photos for Tourism New Zealand, and he is such a lovely, fun person, with
One of the amazing sights at Lake Waikaremoana on our guided walks and photography tours.
an amazing talent and passion for photography. If you have the desire to improve your own techniques and to learn from a master – then this is the trip for you! Check out tour details here: http://www.cmphoto.co.nz/photo-tours/upcoming-photo-tours
Our Walking Legends guides will be using their knowledge to lead the group to the most amazing scenery in the Lake Waikaremoana region, and the trip includes spending a night in a bush hut, so you can capture the moods of the lake in the late evening and early morning. Gentle walking, photo workshops and plenty of one-on-one time with Chris in one of New Zealand’s spectacular wilderness regions will make this an unforgettable experience. Join us!!!
We have just purchased a bus to transport our guided walkers to the Lake Waikaremoana Track, and also our walks in Tongariro National Park. The little beauty is pictured here with Phoenix and Leila, upcoming guides, trying it out.
We’re sure our walkers will love the room and comfort of the bus, plus the unobstructed views of some of the world’s most amazing scenery as we drive through the forested mountains of Te Urewera National Park and beneath the majestic Tongariro volcanoes.
The bus is a Nissan Civilian, with 20 seats.
From Walking Legends Guided WalksNew Zealand
I hope you’ve had a brilliant start to 2011, with lots of adventures planned for the year ahead. If you still have some room in your adventure schedule have a look at the amazing trips we have available at the bottom of this email.
It’s a busy but enjoyable time of the year for us right now, with heaps of trips coming and going, gorgeous weather and loads of happy clients and sensational photos. A full group of 13 clients and 2 guides welcomed in the new year at Panekire Hut on the Lake Waikaremoana Track. The walkers were from all over the globe, and had heaps of fun together. One of the walkers took this shot of the first sunrise of 2011 from outside the Panekire Hut – what a place to welcome in the New Year! You can check out some of the photos from their trip here.
I’m afraid I also have to share some bad news in this newsletter: In the last newsletter I introduced the little kiwi chic “Cariad” that was hatched in the wild and who I have been helping monitor with the Dept of Conservation. Sadly Cariad was killed by a stoat a few weeks ago. Despite extensive stoat trapping in the area the pests are obviously still rampant, and so we have learned a valuable lesson. Usually all the kiwi eggs found in the area are sent to “Operation Nest Egg” in Rotorua, to be raised in safety to 6 months old, and then they are returned to their home in the wild. I highly recommend a visit to Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua where you get to see this amazing operation in action. So meanwhile we continue trapping and monitoring, and hopefully one day we’ll find a solution to the crisis our native wildlife are facing.
On a brighter note our cherished long-term guide Brad tied the knot with Kathy this weekend. Rob, myself and our 2 cake-loving children were lucky enough to attend the beautiful ceremony in Brad’s parents gardens, on their Nanric Road Estate in the Bay of Plenty. Their vows were so beautiful they brought tears to my eyes, and I certainly wasn’t the only one! Then they had games in the garden followed by a lovely meal and some very humorous speeches! Rob and I gifted a totara and rimu tree to the happy couple, so they could watch them grow old together. We thought this was quite a fitting gift as Brad had proposed to Kathy beneath some mighty podocarp trees in the Whirinaki Forest last year!
Meanwhile we’ve hired a new guide / lodge custodian for our Tongariro Hikes, and we are delighted to welcome Kristy on board. Kristy is a National Park local with a huge amount of local knowledge and guiding experience, she has walked the Tongariro Crossing over 200 times! Her and Jamie D make a great team and the Tongariro trips are running very smoothly. The amazing volcanoes always provide dramatic sights and this season has been no exception, with the glacier at the top of Mt Ruapehu breaking up into a lake of floating icebergs – a real sight to behold when you come over the ridge at the top of the climb, 2660 metres up!
Access issues regarding the Tongariro Crossing have recently been resolved and so we are finally able to guide the Crossing!!! So we have added a new product to our lineup of walks, which is a one-dayTongariro Crossing Guided Walk – perfect for those who have limited time to explore the majestic mountains of Tongariro. But there is so much more to Tongariro National Park than just the world-famous Tongariro Crossing. From mountain summits, lava flows, pristine mountain streams, and active volcanoes, right down to emerald green lakes and lush rainforest – you wouldn’t believe the variety of walks and scenery on offer in the Park. Our 3.5 day tour features the Tongariro Crossing, Mt Ruapehu Crater Lake Climb, Lake Rotopounamu and Taranaki Falls walks, just to name a few. Spending three days in the area means we have a high chance of getting a great day to walk the Crossing, and staying in our own alpine lodge high up on Mt Ruapehu sure makes for a dramatic base! Trips depart every Tuesday to the end of April, for more details click here.
Our Trip Availability…
Why not squeeze in a walk while the weather is still amazing, and walk off some of those festive season indulgences! Upcoming trips with limited spacesavailable:
3 day Tongariro Hiking Tours, departing Jan 25 or Feb 8
4 day Lake Waikaremoana Guided Walks, hut-to-hut expeditions, departing Feb 1, 17 or 22
4 day Waikaremoana Discovery Tour, lodge-based, departing Feb 26 or March 12
We have a 4-day Lake Waikaremoana Guided Walk scheduled over Easter Weekend that is over half-full already, so be in quick if you want to enjoy this walk without needing to take time off work. Departs Rotorua 8am on Good Friday (22 April), returns 5pm Easter Monday (25 April).
Otherwise we have walks scheduled to depart weekly until the beginning of May, but some dates are already full so if you are considering joining a trip don’t leave it too late, and have a look at our departure dates on our website.
Rugby World Cup 2011 – we have a range of walks on offer between RWC games, and already have quite a few bookings for this period, as well as creating some custom tours specifically for group’s of friends travelling in NZ. If you are considering a visit during the RWC our North Island walks are perfectly timed to fit between games, and feature some of NZ’s most iconic landscapes. Contact us for more info.
Lastly for all those who are on Facebook, make sure you “like” our page, if only to be reminded of your North Island adventures, and you can post your own photos and comments on the page too!
Thanks so much, we wish you a successful and fun-filled year ahead, and would love to see you out enjoying our magnificent landscapes this summer!
Warm regards,
Hilary, Rob & the Walking Legends Crew
I hope you’ve had a brilliant winter and are ready to dust off your boots and get out in New Zealand’s amazing mountains and forests this summer – we sure are!
Our first Lake Waikaremoana & Tongariro walks of the season have just returned to civilization, with lots of smiling faces and fond memories. There are some seriously inspiring photos on our flickr webpage of the last few trips – have a look for yourself here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkinglegends/
Recently we had our guide training trip – this time to the mountains of Tongariro. We all walked the Tongariro Crossing on a perfect day, and went over our safety systems, emergency scenarios and practised our new Tongariro menu. We’ve gone all out this year! Featuring NZ lamb and salmon, NZ wines and Bay of Plenty brewed boutique beer. Ever tried a Feigoa beer? They call it The Champagne of Beers…www.mata.net.nz
Our News in Brief…
Walking Legends has earned an Enviro-Silver Award from Qualmark, to acknowledge the effort we put into minimizing our environmental footprint
We have just launched our brand new Custom Built Support Boat for Lake Waikaremoana, built by legendary boat builders “Surtees“. Very Flash!!! Our support boat is an integral part of our Lake Waikaremoana Walks: carrying gear so our clients just have a small pack, being handy to transport tired or injured walkers, and our Skipper often takes walkers for an evening cruise or trout fishing. But perhaps the most important benefits of this boat are the cold fridge and hot shower! How clear is that water… (Photo credit: Paul King http://www.latitudelit.com/)
Our crew of 3 Waikaremoana guides and skipper from last year are all returning for another season with us (Brad, Jamie and Nigel). While we welcome a new Tongariro guide “Jamie D”. Jamie D brings over 10 years of knowledge and experience in the guiding industry, from the Routeburn, Milford and Heaphy Tracks, plus other areas throughout NZ. Rob and Hilary worked with Jamie D on the Routeburn back in the old days, before Walking Legends was even a twinkle in Rob’s eye! Watch-out, because his passion for the mountains and NZ’s Great Outdoors is fair contagious!
Check out this article about our Lake Waikaremoana Guided Walk published in the Dominion Post a few weeks ago: A Walk on the Wild Side
Hilary is loving her volunteer work with the Whakatane Kiwi Project. Currently she is monitoring a 6 week old chick, that has hatched in the wild in the Ohope Scenic Reserve. In the past all known eggs have been taken from nests to the Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua, where they are hatched and reared until 6 months, then returned to their homes when they are large enough to fend off stoats. Because the project has had a huge number of eggs this season this chick “Cariad” (Welsh for love), has been allowed to stay with his Dad, and so far is doing well. This photo is of Hilary with a 9 month old chick during a health check.
Our Trip Availability…
Dec 7 Tongariro & Lake Waikaremoana walks are now full, but there are a few spaces left on the Dec 14 and 16 departures so you can squeeze a great walk in before the festive season.
Jan and Feb walks are all starting to fill up fast!
We have a special photography tour of Lake Waikaremoana with legendary professional photographer Chris McLennan, departing April 30, 2011. An amazing opportunity for photography enthusiasts to learn first-hand from a master! For more details: http://www.cmphoto.co.nz/photo-tours/tours
Rugby World Cup 2011 – we have a range of walks on offer between RWC games, and already have quite a few bookings for this period, as well as creating some custom tours specifically for group’s of friends travelling in NZ. If you are considering a visit during the RWC our North Island walks are perfectly timed to fit between games, and feature some of NZ’s most iconic landscapes. Contact us for more info.
Thanks so much, we hope you have a fabulous Christmas and brilliant year ahead, and would love to see you out enjoying our magnificent environments this summer!
Warm regards,
Hilary, Rob & the Walking Legends Crew
We finished a fantastic guide training trip last week with all the boys from last year who are back for another Lake Waikaremoana hiking season, plus Jamie D who Hilary and I guided with on the Routeburn Track all those years ago… also Mathieu our business intern student from France. Hilary managed to get out of the office, palm off the kids for a few days and come out on the mountain – her first official hike in ages. We had an absolutely stunning day on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and did some other short walks in Tongariro National Park, plus lots of safety systems revision and emergency scenarios.
Everything is looking great at Tongariro, still heaps of snow up Ruapehu Crater, but it’s melting really fast and we hope to be guiding up there soon. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing Track is in perfect condition.
Hopefully we have felt the last shards of winter for the year. I’m keen to hear about any adventures you may have planned for the summer months or you have completed over the winter.
Stay safe
Rob Franklin
New Zealand has a variety of non-guided and guided walks in New Zealand. The type of walk that you choose will normally depend what you want to get out of your walking adventure. Many people choose to do a non-guided walk in New Zealand to get amongst the peaceful nature where you can spend hours walking without hearing a man-made sound. This type of walk is often chosen by people that live a hectic lifestyle and want to get away from it all. Others choose to be instilled with as much local knowledge as possible about the area by a local guide. This knowledge often includes specific information about the local plant an animal life has often been passed down through generations that have lived in the area.
A guided walk in New Zealand can also be a safety net in case anything goes wrong. Guides are trained professionals that have learnt to deal with any situation that may arise, providing piece of mind which is reassuring if a tourist in a foreign country. The best guided walks are when the groups are small, and people feel comfortable engaging in questions with the guide. These small groups are often a great way for travelers meet like-minded people and really feel part of the guided atmosphere. No matter what type of walk you choose whether it be non-guided or guided walk in New Zealand, you will be sure to experience the breath-taking scenery that the country has to offer.
