The Heaphy Track is one of the Great Walks of New Zealand. We selected the guided version and chose to walk the Track in the 4 day Express version. Our guides were from Kahurangi Guided Walks, they carried our food, cooked our meals and generally looked after our well-being, making sure we started our day by pointing us in the right direction to continue our walk.
We started our walk at Kohaihai near Westport and finished at the Brown Hut in Golden Bay. Our walk took us by the roaring Westcoast seas, the lush green Nikau forest, an abundance of amazing birdlife - Robins, Fantails and Tuis to name a few. The outstanding fauna, different coloured mushrooms, the luscious, green mosses are just some of the wonderful sites along the way. One of our guides mentioned that the last time they were on The Heaphy it was dry and brown, as there was a drought over summer. Hard to believe it could have been desert like when everything we were seeing was so alive and succulent.
You can walk the The Heaphy Track in either direction, as mentioned above our group walked from Kohaihai to Brown Hut. A distance of approx. 74km.
Day 1 from Kohaihai to Heaphy Hut - 16 km (approx. walking time 5 hours).
With great excitement we headed off from the car park at Kohaihai. The weather forecast was for rain, but we had this perfect sunny, windless day. The track is well-formed and easy to walk on. Most of the day the track followed the beach edge. You walk along listening to the roaring of waves of the Westcoast beach, and view these huge waves crashing onto the beach. Once we left the beach we started walking into bush and found ourselves surrounded by a stunning Nikau forest. We ended the day at the Heaphy Hut, it was a fantastic experience coming out of the bush to find this huge green field, with the Heaphy Hut at the top of the hill with the nearby Heaphy river cruising merrily by.
Day 2 from Heaphy Hut to Mackay Hut - 20.5 km (approx. walking time 6 hours)
This is our biggest walking day with most of it uphill and unfortunately it rained most of the afternoon. The pain of the rain and uphill climb was offset by the plentiful bird life, Friendly Robins danced around our feet, Fantails fluttered around as we walked. Several other birds were singing in chorus. Along with the birds were the trees and the fabulous mosses. Branches and trees were covered in moss, I named them "The Moss People". At the end of a long day, The Mackay Hut was a welcome sight.
Day 3 Mackay Hut to Perry Saddle - 25 km (approx. walking time 7 hours).
We started the morning with the rich green forest bush and more luscious moss. Today we came across several different coloured mushrooms, also if you looked carefully you could find the powelliphanta (carnivorous land snail). After being in the bush, it was amazing to suddenly find ourselves out of the bush and onto on a grassy plain, with tussock in almost every direction. A couple of highlights from the day were the "Boot Pole" - yes its a pole with hikers old boots hung on it - and an amazing slightly off-track waterfall. That evening after we had finished dinner, we had the local ranger talk to us. He mentioned that DOC has been using 1080 on the Heaphy Track. Some members of our group got upset at the mention of 1080, but as the DOC ranger mentioned the return of the birdlife to the Heaphy Track proves that 1080 poisoning is working. I have got to say the bird life was prolific and it was a totally amazing experience to be able to walk the track encompassed by the many birds. Currently there is no alternative to 1080 poison, lets hope they continue to work on changing that.
Day 4 Perry Saddle to Brown Hut - 17.5 km (approx. walking time 4.5 hours).
We commenced the day with a short walk from the hut up to the highest peak on the track. My sister and I had decided to spread some of our Mum's ashes here, she had always wanted to walk The Heaphy Track. A couple of the girls picked up our shortfall and without much warning, one performed a Karakea and the other said some beautifully stunning words. It so special. Thank you both. It was an amazingly beautiful morning, so still and peaceful. Mum, not only did you walk the Heaphy Track with me, but now you're are a part of it.
It was certainly fabulous to walk this track with a group. Kaurangi Guided Walks did a great job with the food and guiding. We ended the day with a late lunch at the Langford Store in Golden Bay before heading back to Nelson for a shower and a comfy bed.
If you would like to have a look at some more pictures of The Heaphy Track - have a look at my video below.
Coming soon is my training blog, you will find out how I trained for this 4 day walk, included will be some hints and tips on packing what to take for your trip and safety along the way.
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