In New Zealand a hiking trail is called a Track, and there are some really nice ones. I was lucky enough to get a chance to go there for work so naturally I took some vacation time while there to do some hiking. Unfortuatly it was late in the season when I arrived, and I wasn't prepared to hike with ice ax or carmpons. Otherwise I'd have gotten a hike in on Mt Doom, or for those that haven't watched Lord of the Rings, Tongariro. More on this later. New Zealand is an excellent place to go backpacking. Most of the hiking is on the south island with some on the north island. The south island however has the real mountains, sometimes known as the Southern Alps. I did a fair amount of research before going to New Zealand. You'll find that info on the next page.
If you're going to hike the Able Tasman Track you'll need to get a permit before arriving there. You won't find a park office anywhere so you'll want to visit an i-Site to get a permit. You might also be able to get a permit online. There is one store in Marahau that can give you a permit, but only for the coastal walk. They're unable to give you a permit if you wish to hike the inland trails. Nelson is the closest airport to the Able Tasman Track. Its a nice town along the coast and the terrain protects it from some of the wind that you might find at other places along the coast. There are several bus companies that can take you from Nelson to hike the Able Tasman Track, or other tracks nearby. Two other tracks I wanted to hike were the Heapy Track and the Travers Sabine Track. The Heapy Track could be hiked year round and Trek Express has a shuttle set up to drop you off at one end on a Wednesday, and pick you up at the other end on Sunday. The Travers Sabine Track is in the Mountains so you'll proabably want to hike it before the end of April. Trek Express serves all these destinations. There are other companies providing transportation for just the Able Tasman Track.
