New Zealand peaks

Peaks have a unique pull. Whether you climb them, admire them, vicariously walk them or feel the lofty spaciousness expand through your being, the hills and mountains yell to be noticed.

Mix this cry with the ease of walking in New Zealand and there’s magic to explore.

There’s an ease in New Zealand around walking – tramping as it’s known locally. Often you can forget about a car and get where you need to be with speciality hiking transport. You’ll find beautifully well done walking track infomation, hut booking and map layers free online.

That flows, I’m sure, into the NZ psyche. 4 day walk and not yet 16? No problem. Parents optional (seemingly).

Don’t get off work until 5, can’t find any friends to come with you? No problem! Just hitch, walk 8 kms to the trail head, hike two hours 700 m vertical (2,300 ft) in the dark, arrive past 9 pm just as the hut warden is heading to bed.

The Pinnacles

The Pinnacles are a 2 hour drive from Auckland at the start of the Coromandel peninsual. From the trailhead its 2 to 3 hours straight up – 700 m vertical (2,200 ft) – to a mountain hut. The hut is nestled in what feels like a hidden prehistoric hanging valley – an ampitheater of crags, ferns and trees.

From the hut – stay the night and get up in the pre-dawn for sunrise at the top – it’s another half hour to the top of the Pinnacles.

It’s enchanting from many directions.

From the soloist story above. She hitched from work and turned up near 10 pm – without a trace of embaressment she gently pointed out you did what you need to escape the concrete jungle. Through the group of 8 young adults who decided at 1 am they just needed to catch the sunrise from a peak. To a family plus extras checking they remembered how many kids they had by asking them to count off.

NZ tramping – sensory, cultural and mental delight!

Why start early?