7 DAY NATURE DISCOVERY NZ GOURMET WALKING TOUR $ PER PERSON 1999 TWIN SHARE HEAPHY • NELSON • KAHURANGI NATIONAL PARK THE OFFER Throw away the trail mix, canned food, swag tents and fold up maps, this walking tour is all about discovering the wilderness in style. Let local guides 7 DAY WALKING TOUR spoil you with fresh, locally sourced gourmet meals in charming trail huts after an exhilarating day hiking the world renown Heaphy Track at the very $1999 top of New Zealand’s south island. The Heaphy Track covers a wide variety of landscapes; every new section is significantly different from the previous one. The journey traverses through unique forests, past giant granite boulders, alongside the Heaphy river, under towering Nikau Palms and on to the untouched western coastline of the Tasman Sea. Stunning sunsets, an impressive array of native birds, tranquil sub-alpine flora and intriguing cultural artefacts are around every corner of this track. But just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, your trusty guides present a fresh mouth watering meal that would rival any fancy big city restaurant. A true escape, this package includes 2 nights 4-star hotel accommodation, 4 nights accommodation in charming national park huts, 13 gourmet meals, local tour guides, start/finish transfers, kitchen porters & so much more! Offer available for a limited time or until sold out. TRIP A DEAL PTY LTD: 50149240433 7 DAY NATURE DISCOVERY | GOURMET WALKING TOUR THE ITINERARY Day 1 Arrive in Nelson Aorere valley on a well graded gravel road, toward Brown Hut Today check in to the hotel accommodation and enjoy the where the track begins. The guide will provide a final briefing remainder of the day at leisure. on what to expect for the day’s walk and you will be given a tasty and nutritious snack pack, loaded with all sorts of Overnight: Trailways Hotel or similar, Nelson energy rich and healthy treats. These snacks are for nibbling Meals included: None throughout the trip, to keep yourself going in between the gourmet meals. With everything on board, it’s now time Day 2 Nelson - The Adventure Begins! - Brown Hut to for final adjustments to fit your pack comfortably for the Perry Saddle Hut (approx. 17.5km 5 Hours) adventure ahead. Start bright and early this morning with the guide collecting And so, it begins; the track climbs gradually on an easy you from the accommodation at approximately 7.00 am. gradient through regenerating manuka and kanuka bush, soon When the guide arrives please have two bags all ready to changing to lush beech tree forest, cushioned by a myriad go, one being the pack you will take with you on the track, of feather- like fern varieties. Look for views of the Aorere and the other your hotel bag which will meet you at the end River below and to the Dragon’s Teeth piercing the skyline of the walk (alternatively you could arrange for the hotel from the Douglas Mountain range. When we stop for the first to store your bag). Please make sure you secure all your tasty lunch, we may be visited by curious tom tits, riflemen, valuables, wallets, passports etc. Ask the guides for advice on fantails (piwakawaka) and robins, busy scanning for insects or your options. Once the bags are stowed away the guides will a misplaced crumb! Other birds often seen in this forest are provide an outline of the day to come before departing. tui, woodpigeon (kereru) and if we are lucky, one of our native The first part of the drive will take approximately 2 hrs; this parrots, the kaka. The vegetation also changes as the altitude is a beautiful trip skirting Tasman Bay and then climbing the increases to around 600m with rimu giving way to the ever memorable Takaka Hill, affording glimpses of the famous Abel favourites, dracophyllum trees. Tasman National Park. Known as the Marble Mountain, this After a steady day’s walk ascending the track’s highest point hill is a fascinating landscape of water etched rock outcrops, at 915m, arrive at Perry Saddle hut, our comfortable and sinkholes and caves. Gaining the summit, be rewarded with modern home for the evening. Time to relax! While you’re some great views over Golden Bay. The morning break is settling into the sleeping space, the guides will prepare an in the lovely country town of Takaka. Here we will stop afternoon snack and hot drinks, leading into a delicious and relax for around 30 min, enough time to sit down and evening meal. The evenings are usually a great time to share enjoy a muffin or coffee at the historic Wholemeal Café (not stories, play cards or just relax, outside on the porch or in included). front of the coal fire; it’s all about enjoying yourself on the Back on the road again for the final driving leg, a 1.5 hr drive Heaphy! As you fall asleep tonight have a listen for the night from Takaka, follow the coastline before heading inland up the calls of the Great Spotted Kiwi interspersed with Weka and Morepork. Offer available for a limited time or until sold out. TRIP A DEAL PTY LTD: 50149240433 DAYS7 DAY & NATURE TOUR TYPE DISCOVERY | DEAL NAME | GOURMET WALKING TOUR THE ITINERARY Please note: Guests carry their own pack containing personal of walking, emerge to a breath-taking view over the vast clothing and sleeping bag. Guides carry all food, cooking peneplain known as Gouland Downs, framed by the Slate utensils and safety equipment and will prepare and cook Range. Here, in 1910, a geological party reported that this all meals. The accommodation on the Heaphy Track is in area was full of weka and kiwi, which is, thankfully, still the Department of Conservation huts. These huts are located in situation today. The Downs were subsequently burned off the most beautiful settings in the national park surrounded with the intention to be used for grazing of sheep and cattle only by nature. The huts are basic, clean and comfortable as part of an overland route for moving them to the West and must be shared with other walkers on the trail. The huts Coast. In 1917, however, the significance of the downs as a are usually (but not always) divided into three main rooms. natural habitat was recognised and the area was turned into Two unisex bunk rooms with mattresses provided (but no a wildlife refuge. Today as you’re strolling along the trail you linen or pillows) and space to organise your gear. The usual may be lucky enough to see the rare Whio (blue duck), the etiquette is that, once you arrive at the hut, you claim your elusive fern bird, or perhaps the recently released (30 birds bed space by placing your sleeping bag on a mattress and during March and May 2018), endangered Takahe. keep your personal possessions in a tidy manner (it’s very Stop for lunch at Gouland Downs hut, where the guides easy to misplace things if they are scattered around the once again work their magic with a mouth-watering platter room). The third room is a communal living and cooking of delights. You’ll be amazed at what comes out of their area. There is running water and a fireplace within the huts. packs! Once amply dined, there is time to explore some of Toilets are usually found outside, and are either a long drop or the many limestone formations, shallow caves and arches of sometimes a flush type. Shower facilities are not available in the perfectly named “enchanted forest” next to the hut. This the huts, but there will be welcome opportunities for a dip in place is unforgettably beautiful and well worth enjoying with the rivers and oceans for those brave enough to face the chill! the off-track knowledge of the guides. Leaving the caves and The huts are a great place to relax and meet new people. enchanted forest behind, continue the journey in this magical Overnight: Perry Saddle Hut (Department of Conservation land for approximately 2 hours. The track crosses two main Hut), Kahurangi National Park rivers before climbing steadily to reach the lovely Saxon hut. Meals included: Lunch;Dinner From Saxon Hut, you can gaze out from the deck back east towards Mount Perry, Mount Inaccessible and Perry Saddle. Day 3 Perry Saddle Hut - Across the Gouland Downs - On a clear evening toward the west, the sunset sends a blaze Saxon Hut (approx. 12.4km 4 hours) of fire colours into the sky, reflecting warmly through the red tussock grasses. If you’re of a stoic nature, enjoy a splash in Today has a more relaxed pace with only 4 hours walking. the Saxon river “mountain spa” (shallow pool of invigorating We set off westward for today’s adventure along the saddle temperature) as the gourmet evening meal is prepared. After between Mount Perry (1238m) and “The Onion”. The way a delectable dinner, feel free to enjoy a “kiwi walk” with the is through a subalpine world of stunted mountain and guide. Head west for just under 1 km to see and hear which silver beech trees, hebes and manuka. After about an hour Offer available for a limited time or until sold out. TRIP A DEAL PTY LTD: 50149240433 7 DAY NATURE DISCOVERY | GOURMET WALKING TOUR THE ITINERARY night creatures are nearby. through stunted beech, and then down into ancient Podocarp Overnight: Saxon Hut (Department of Conservation Hut), forest. Within twenty minutes from the open bush of Mackay Kahurangi National Park hut, we find ourselves beneath a thirty-metre-high forest canopy.