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ADVENTURES IN NEW ZEALAND
Walking the Hollyford Track
Not Just Another Pretty Place
Sometimes the word gets through about New
Zealands wonders, its great surprises, and its anomalies. The Hollyford Track is all
of these.
NO AMUSEMENT RIDE:
The Hollyford Track is no great physical challenge. Its basically all downhill. The
trail follows the Hollyford River north-by-northwest from near its source in the
snowcapped Southern Alps until it empties into the wild Tasman Sea. Walkers cover about
40-50 miles on foot during their three or four days on the track. They ride almost as many
miles by bus, by jet boat, and again by small plane. Along the way there is one ghost
town. Otherwise there is not so much as a hamlet between the mountains and the sea. Each
night trekkers sleep in rudimentary but comfortable lodges in jungle clearings. There is
no goal. The point is the experience.
Enabling the experience is the vision of one
man and one company. Peter Archibald formed the Hollyford Track Guided Walk company (now
part of the Shotover Jet Group of companies) to operate the New Zealand Department of
Conservations official trekking concession in the Hollyford. Their guides, their
lodges, their boats, their backpacks, their home cooking, their flight out when the
walking is donethese are the means to the end, and, for them, the end is more
spiritual than physical. Archibaldtall, handsome, soft-spoken, and
intelligentspeaks of the companys operation of the Hollyford Track like a
privileged stewardship. For the team it is an honor to be able to introduce people from
around the world to a rare and special environment. Under their management, Archibald
promises that the Hollyford will become no amusement ride at Theme Park New Zealand.
COMPETING WITH THE MILFORD AND THE ROUTEBURN?
Archibalds goal isnt to turn the
Hollyford into another Milford Track, the self-styled "finest walk in the
world." The Milford TrackFiordlands most
famous attraction, a walk of similar length in a parallel region of the national park just
south of the Hollyfordhas become so popular that it is often fully booked months
ahead of time. Necessarily, traffic control measures have been installed to keep its
walking population from harming its fragile environment. The Hollyford
Trackcurrently a distant third in visitors behind the enormously popular Milford and
(also neighboring) Routeburn Trackspurposely restricts its capacity, which ensures
that its environment and the walking experience remain pristine. The Milford and the
Routeburn can be parades through paradise at certain times of year. Ironically, their
enormous success helps ensure that the Hollyford can provide a solitary experience in the
midst of a unique natural region barely touched by man.
SOME HISTORY:
That the Hollyford Valley today has no
permanent population wasnt by design. The valley is one of the few low-level routes
from the interior to the sea. Early New Zealand pioneers knew that the native Maori used
the route to carry greenstone jade out of the mountains to the coast for transport and
trade elsewhere on the island. The dense forests supplied them the huge trees necessary
for constructing their fabulous ocean-going canoes. White men realized the route could be
a natural outlet for the mineral wealth and agricultural products they imagined possible
in the interior valleys. They built a small settlementJamestown villagealong
Lake McKerrow. Jamestown is now a ghost town visited by Hollyford hikers during their
45-minute jet boat journey on the lake between walking sections along the Upper and Lower
Hollyford Rivers. The visionaries of Hollyford colonization turned out to be too
optimistic. The agricultural and mineral potential of the interior turned out to be quite
limited, and the rivers outlet to the Tasman Sea, at Martins Bay, was not
navigable. Besides, this corner of New Zealand remains its furthest from civilization.
Whatever would come out of the Fiordland interior would require a long coastal journey to
reach market.
LOCATION:
The western half of New Zealands South
Island is a patchwork of parks connected with bands of sparsely populated farmland. In an
area roughly one-quarter the size of California, there are some nine large regions with
national park status, and at least seven other major regional forest or maritime parks.
Fiordland, covering the southwest corner of the island, is the largest of the national
parks, and probably its most famous, especially now that it has earned coveted World
Heritage status.
Fiordland is proof that opposites attract. It
gets its name from the many deep saltwater sounds that invade far into this mountainous
corner of the countrywater-filled channels which were carved out by great glaciers
Ice Ages ago. Its this corner of New Zealand where two oceans collide. The Tasman
Seathe thousand-mile-wide ocean separating New Zealand from Australiaends
here, when it encounters the frigid Southern Ocean, 1,700 miles of open water separating
Fiordland from Antarctica. It is here that the territory of New Zealands mountain
parrot, the kea, overlaps with that of the Fiordland crested penguin. Temperate zone rain
forests extend from glaciated summits reaching nearly 10,000 feet down to sea level, where
palm trees cohabit with birch and giant ferns. There are no land mammals; no snakes; rare
birds with jungle cries and proud plumage; fur seals; giant waterfalls; looking glass
lakes; sand flies with teeth, or maybe knives; and rainsometimes bucketsful.
THE EXPERIENCE:
The hiking in the Hollyford isnt hard.
The path is excellentoften loamy and soft, but with enough roots and rocks to keep
your attention. Following a river downstream to the sea makes getting lost a non-issue.
Breaking the journey every 10 miles or so ensures that even inexperienced walkers can
manage each days march without complainingunless their boots are not broken
in. Carrying a pack is necessary. Three or four days of clothing and camera gear weighs in
at 20-40 pounds soaking wet on your back. But you dont need to carry food, bedding,
or shelter. The Hollyford Track company provides all that. Its two hutsPike River
Lodge and Martins Bay Lodgesupply welcome hot showers, twin bunk rooms, and fresh
cooked meals that are as creative as they are rustic. (We remember fondly a whitebait
kisch we were served at Martins Bay Lodge. The luncheon was anything but common campfire
grub.)
Guidesyoung and athleticcome along.
Or, rather, they lead and follow, and are often not seen. They seem to serve more as a
safety backup and an information service than as intrepid leaders and scouts. Want to talk
native flora and fauna? Theyre there. Want to go it alone? Theyre not. Gotta
problem? Theyre back. Lonesome? Bored? Well, maybe youre on the wrong trail.
The experience doesnt end at Martins Bay
Lodge. After two days on the trailwith one night in each of the lodgesand a
jet boat trip to Long Reef on the Tasman, you have options. You can fly out on the third
day. Or you can stay an extra day in the Martins Bay area, further exploring the dense
rain forest and the rivers dramatic and beautiful outlet to the sea. Then, on the
fourth day, you can fly out. Or you can jetboat back to Pike River Lodge and hike out to
the trailhead with a guide, reversing the first days walking.
MAJOR AFTERTHOUGHTS:
Those flying out do so from a grass strip by
Martins Bay Lodge in a small plane. The flight is a short, but dramatic one over the ridge
or along the coast south to Milford, where you land in time to join a cruise boat for a
couple of hours on the regions world famous fiord, Milford Sound.
DETAILS AND PRICES:
Regardless of the trip options selected, all
trips begin and end in Queenstown, with bus transport to and from the trailhead included
in the cost of their trip package. Also included are backpacks and rain ponchos, if
desired, and all meals on the trail and at the lodges. Currently, the 3-day trip (fly-out
or walk-out) costs NZ$1,550 per adult. Children 10 through 14 are welcome and at a 25%
discount.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME?
The walking season lasts from late-October to
May. Because group size is limited, advance reservations are important. You may want to
come at a specific time: the penguins are at Long Reef through December; seals have young
ones during January; February and March is the warmest time, with summer flowers blooming;
and autumn weather and flowers makes hiking comfortable and attractive through April.
Therefore, book early to be sure to get the reservations you require.
MORE INFORMATION:
Visit the web site of Hollyford Track Guided Walk at www.hollyfordtrack.com
for full details, prices, inquiry & secure booking forms. Book your walk on the
Hollyford Track as part of your independent Home at First New
Zealand travel itinerary.
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