The one hike that Gregory Gould really wanted to check off was the Milford Track. “I didn’t intend on doing any other Great Walks at the same time, initially,” says Gould, who lives in Wellington. “I booked the Milford about a year in advance, and decided to add the others afterwards.”
Gould did the Routeburn, Kepler and Milford tracks back to back in that order. “I started with the Routeburn as it worked out the best way for me after flying into Queenstown,” he says. “I got a shuttle straight from the airport to the start of the track. Because of the way I arranged it, I only needed to take a week and a day off work.”
Logistically, it was relatively simple to organise and Gould planned the walks around shuttles and track walking times. His longest day was leaving Lake Mackenzie Hut on the Routeburn before sunrise to catch the shuttle and getting to Luxmore Hut on the Kepler an hour before sunset. “It was doable but I was pretty tired by the time I got to Luxmore Hut. The sunset and kea more than made up for it, though.”
Gould carried his food for the entire trip, so chose to stay in huts to avoid the additional weight of a tent. “Staying in the huts is pretty fantastic anyway, but carrying that much food was a little heavy. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but if I was doing it again I would leave some food in Te Anau or restock there.”
The scenery and wildlife were highlights: “I saw my first whio while having lunch on the Routeburn, and two kiwi at the waterfall at Iris Burn Hut,” he says. “There’s such a variety of landscapes over the different tracks. I’ve done all the Great Walks and many other tramps, and these three still rank at the top.”
“Because of doing so much walking it would have been tempting to skip portions like the side hikes,” says Gould. “but that would have been a mistake. They’re all unbelievably fantastic.”
Aucklander James Davies, who’s also done the Triple Crown, agrees. “The side trips are 100 per cent worth it and I made sure I had the time in my schedule to do them.”
He had a summer off after finishing university, a perfect opportunity to do some of the Great Walks. “I didn’t put too much planning into it apart from giving myself one night between walks,” he says.
Davies did the Kepler first, then the Milford, and finished with the Routeburn from The Divide. He chose to camp where possible to save money, and it ended up being a highlight: “Camping felt a lot more communal than huts, and I made some great connections with other trampers in the campsites, which were in really neat locations.”
Davies stayed a night in Te Anau between each walk. “It meant I could leave my camping gear there for a slightly lighter pack on the Milford (where camping is not allowed).”
Like Gould, Davies loved the wildlife and scenery he encountered. “I saw lots of kea and weka, as well as whio, and the scenery was spectacular.”
His favourite Great Walk was the Routeburn. “I’d camped at Lake Mackenzie and was walking out to Glenorchy, so it was a big day with a lot of ground to cover,” he says. “I started in the dark and got up to Hollyford Face just as the sun came up. I knew I was probably the only person in the vicinity, and I watched the sun rise over the mountains while eating my breakfast. It was probably the most special part of the whole trip.”
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