Kia ora, hello and welcome from Little River Campground, found near the gateway to Banks Peninsula and lovely little town I discovered during my NZ cycle circumnavigation: Little River, in Canterbury. We’re making our way back up the motu (island) now, due back in Nelson this Sunday.
One major item on Zoe’s ‘must’ list for this big hike holiday road trip extravaganza was to see a kiwi bird in the wild. To be fair, this has been a dream of mine for a very long time too. I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve spent loitering in some quiet corner of New Zealand’s forests after dark. In any other country, I’d be on some sort of list.
To maximise our chances, we decided Rakiura/Stewart Island needed a visit. The island has a permanent population of about 440 (humans), while some 20,000 kiwi roam the extensive flora out back of its tiny town. That’s a 45-1 ratio. Those are some good odds, right?
We made a last minute booking and, if you follow on the socials, you’ll have seen we placed a massive tick in the ‘see a kiwi’ box. More on that in a future post - when we stop travelling for five minutes and I get chance to cut a full video. This is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but does accurately describe what it was like to see a kiwi in its natural habitat: it was amazing!
As we traipsed across Rakiura, I couldn't help but compare it with the tourism juggernaut we had completed just three days earlier: the Milford Track. While both are ‘Great Walks’, they are each quite different. What now follows are my observations.
The tracks
Let’s start with the obvious: what are the actual tracks like?
After the hour-long boat ride to Glade Wharf, the Milford Track is a flat, gravel-surfaced walking path, with the turquoise Clinton River as its running mate. The second day trumps the easy 5km of the first, as the valley walls steepen and final third of the 17.5km day demands you increase your altitude somewhat. Day three features an easily-followed, but rocky route over the famous Ōmanui/McKinnon Pass.
In July 2022, McKinnon Pass was officially renamed from its previously incorrect spelling of MacKinnon Pass. It's hard to imagine how such an error crept in during such an important task as naming a place, but here's my stab:
Place namer 1: Quintin McKinnon was the first European fella to say he passed over the pass. What, say, shall we name the pass?
Place namer 2: Hmmmmmm. What about 'MacKinnon Pass'?
Place namer 1: Done.
Once over the pass, it’s back to the gravel-lined valley floor for a glide down to the last landing spot, Dumpling Hut. The fourth and final day is a similar story, along mostly flat terrain, as you clock-watch the entire time to ensure you make your boat pick-up time at Sandfly Point. If you look up from your watch, you might see a blue duck or a waterfall.
Rakiura Track isn’t just a different cup of tea, it’s a completely different drink. The first day serves up a gently undulating coastal track, with some flat beach crossings, leading you to Port William Hut. The scenes are reminiscent of ol’ mate Abel Tasman, provided the weather doesn’t wash you out.
Come the second day, you’ll find yourself deep in the midst of a very muddy forest. The track remains well marked, as it cuts through gullies and climbs up onto a plateau, before descending through yet more mud, to the delightful North Arm Hut. Kiwi live here.
The third and final day is as simple as the first day, with some gentle climbs, descents back to beach-level and then an old cobbled road takes you from Kaipipi to the end (start if you’re doing it the other way!). There’s a pub in Oban.
Hosting
During the season, the Great Walk huts tend to have an on-site warden. This person is there to welcome you to the track and the hut, offer information and advice about the surrounding area, ensure everyone who has booked shows up, ensure no one who hasn’t booked shows up and keep law and order in the event of any bunk wars breaking out.
On the Milford Track, this tradition was rigidly upheld at all three huts. On Rakiura Track, we were only treated to a warden on the second of two nights. This doesn’t at all bother me1, but coming straight from the solidly-enforced Milford Track it stood out like a fatberg in a long drop.
Wildlife
On the Milford Track, the highlight bird spot was a pair of kōwhiowhio/blue ducks, of which there are only around 3,000 in existence. On Rakiura Track, we met multiple tokoeka/Stewart Island brown kiwi, of which there are 20,000 on the island. Both were hiding in plain sight and didn’t require any special side quests to find. Both were fascinating sights, but I know which I think is cooler.
Ease and cost of access
As an experienced tramper, happy to go anywhere and attempt anything, accessing both these tracks feels like a billionaire’s space mission. Whether it’s transfers or just plain transport, both require a sizeable cash outlay just to get you to the launchpad.
From Te Ana-au (Te Anau), Milford Track requires a bus and a boat, then a boat and a bus at the end to return. We paid $248 each, with an additional $100 for a cruise of the fiord (not a sound) after our walk.
From Bluff, Rakiura Track requires a ferry to Stewart Island, then a walk or taxi to the track start. The ferry cost $220 return per person for our trip and we walked the easy 5km to the track start.
Facilities
We did both walks in the Great Walk season and it’s clear that Milford Track’s higher price translates into slightly better facilities. Pay a bit more, get a bit more: hardly surprising.
Milford’s huts came with gas cookers, while for the Rakiura Track we had to carry our own. No big deal for seasoned hikers. Paying guests on the Milford Track also get the luxury of flush loos, while those doing it tough on the Rakiura have to slum it with long drops2. Again, no big deal for regular hut-goers.
A night at North Arm Hut on Rakiura currently costs New Zealand-based people $37, while the dazzling, new Mintaro Hut on the Milford costs $783.
Boiling it down
Simplistically, Rakiura vs Milford comes down to one question: do you want to see kiwi birds in their native habitat or dramatic scenery leading to waterfalls?
In terms of difficulty, the Milford is marginally more challenging, since it features a real >1000m elevation mountain pass. A heightened level of danger exists. Rakiura’s counterpart section ‘merely’ takes you on 13km slog through gallons of chocolate sauce. Slip hazards exist.
It would be slack of me to finish without touching on the ‘feel’ of each track. Milford is a commercial expedition, with its one-way policy, funnelling foot traffic towards Milford Sound, a private company offering guided options and flotilla of transfer options. Rakiura, on the other hand, is a more rustic, backcountry-esque, do-it-yourself hiking affair. I know which I think is cooler.
Which will you choose? Or will you just do both? Answers in the comments!
Although, it would have been nice to have someone tell us where the likely kiwi spotting sites were!
Where the kiwi hang out.
Actually, all three are currently $78 per night, but I wanted to mention the glam new hut