The Best guided trips in New Zealand
Most trampers know the feeling of limping into the office on a Monday morning, sleep-deprived and sore after a weekend well-enjoyed in the backcountry.
“And you did that for fun? During your weekend?” asks a sceptical colleague as you gingerly lower into an office chair.
We get it – tramping is no picnic. It takes planning, route-finding, organisation, and a great deal of grunt work under an often heavy pack.
But what if it didn’t have to be that way?
There’s a real comfort in being guided through the backcountry – almost like being the passenger in a car. You’re free to relax, get lost in the scenery and forget about directions. Your pack is light, and the promise of a gourmet meal – one that hasn’t been rehydrated – waits for you at the end of the day.
It’s an experience that few DIYloving Kiwi trampers experience in their own backyard, but with tourists absent from our shores for the foreseeable future, a once in a lifetime opportunity exists.
Schedules have freed up, crowds have dissipated, and the most knowledgeable and skilled guides in the country are itching to show off their slice of paradise to the locals.
Here are 12 trips to add to your to-do-list.
1 Sunset tour to RANGITOTO
Most people visit Rangitoto during the day, but a sunset tour by sea kayak is one of Auckland’s best adventures.
Where Depart St Heliers Beach
Who Auckland Sea Kayaks, www.aucklandseakayaks.co.nz
When All year
Duration 6-7hr
Price $195
A trip to Rangitoto is on the must-do list of every visitor to Auckland, but while most people visit the island by ferry, a sea kayak trip that coincides with watching the sunset from the summit turns a popular and easy day trip into an adventurous multi-sport activity right in the heart of New Zealand’s biggest city.
Auckland Sea Kayaks operates the trip from St Heliers Bay and owner Nic Meads says Rangitoto has a lot to offer. It’s the largest pohutukawa forest in the country, it’s a haven for kākā and other native birds which fly in from surrounding pest-free islands, and the summit views of the Hauraki Gulf are unrivalled.
“It’s pretty unique in the sense that you leave Auckland in daylight, hike up to the summit and get those glorious views of the Hauraki Gulf and then paddle back across the Waitemata Harbour in the dark with all the stars shining around,” he says.
The trip lasts around six hours, including 75-minutes of kayaking each way, and includes a barbecue dinner at Rangitoto Wharf.
Meads says the trip is popular with Kiwis, who comprise 60 per cent of his clientele.
Aucklander Kate Marshall so loves the trip, she organises Meet Up groups to do it with.
“Rangitoto is this jewel in the heart of Auckland,” she says. “It’s a chance to go over and explore it in a much more interesting way than just taking the ferry.”
For Meads, the highlight is the
