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New Zealand Travel Guide to south island

New Zealand Short Walks

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New Zealand glacier walk guide

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When to walk in New Zealand:
Best time: Oct, Nov, Feb, March
OK but busy: Dec, Jan
Avoid: May-Sept [cold and wet, especially the South Island, impassable tracks etc.]

n.b. The weather is unpredictable at any time so take rain gear whatever month you go.

There are easy, short and pretty walks all over New Zealand - too many to list. But on this page are some easy ones, or head here for tougher Great Walks.

Easy Peasy:
Art Deco Napier city walk [east of North Island]
, 1-2 hours.
Season:
Napier has a beautiful Mediterranean climate Oct -March, but is windy, wet and miserable in winter.
You might think that a city centre has no place in pages on the best walks in New Zealand, but Napier is an exception. In 1931 Napier was reduced to rubble by a massive earthquake. The reconstruction coincided with the peak of the Art Deco movement, and the result was a city uniquely designed in this one coherent style. It's easy to imagine you're an extra in a thirties movie as you stroll around the centre.
The Napier Art Deco Trust offers an excellent 1.5 hour guided walk in the summer.

Fox Glacier walk, New Zealand

The Franz Josef Glacier

Easy:
Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, Westland National Park, South Island, 3.5 hours [1.5 hours on the glacier].
Not strenuous. Full day and overnight heli-hikes are also available on Fox Glacier.
Season: Nov - March. Alpine guides available but book ahead.
This is what New Zealand is about - huge, fast moving glaciers crunching down into rainforest and to within 12 metres of the Tasman Sea.
You can take a half or full day guided walk, and there are also many great trails in the forests around the glaciers. Beware the parrot vandals in glacier car parks!

Easy:
Coromandel [north of North Island], lots of walks of less than half a day. Different levels available.
Season: Best Dec-Jan, but OK and quieter Oct - March.
Coromandel gets busy at weekends with Auckland stress-refugees especially in the summer. It's not as dramatic or rugged as areas of the South Island, but the area is a treasure trove of coastal and forest walks.
The west coast has some interesting towns, while the east coast is more scenic. A good kick-off is Whitianga in beautiful Mercury Bay.
After a day of bushwacking you can go to Hot Water Beach, south of Hahei, dig a hole in the sand [two hours before or after high tide] and bathe in the resulting hot pool. Spades for hire!

Abel Tasman walks

Abel Tasman NP walking.

Ninety Mile Beach - Cape Reinga Walkway, 3 days.
In the far north of New Zealand this year round beachside track has huge sand dunes, surf-fishing and secluded swimming.

Banks Peninsula Track, 4 days, or faster if you hoof it. Winds along coastland south-east of Christchurch [South Island], through native forest and past farmland.

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