The Rakiura Track is a circular

tramping Tramping may refer to: Travel *Hiking *Trekking *Tramping in New Zealand, a style of backpacking or hiking * Czech tramping, a Czech outdoors pastime Places * Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380, Saskatchewan, Canada ** Tramping Lake, Sas ...

track in

Rakiura National Park Rakiura National Park is a nature reserve park located on Stewart Island / Rakiura, New Zealand. It is the newest national park of New Zealand and opened in 2002. The protected area covers about 85% of the island. History Rakiura National Pa ...

on Stewart Island in New Zealand. It is one of the

New Zealand Great Walks The New Zealand Great Walks are a set of popular tramping tracks developed and maintained by the Department of Conservation. They are New Zealand's premier tracks, through areas of some of the best scenery in the country, ranging from coastlin ...

. Hikers often take three days to walk it, but it can be done in one or two days. One end is at Lee Bay, north of Oban (Stewart Island's only settlement), and the other end is at Fern Gully, west of Oban. It can be walked either way, but is most often walked anticlockwise, starting at Lee Bay. Hikers can arrange transport from Oban over the roads to and from the ends of the track, or can walk along the roads. The track generally follows the coastline for a large part of its length, passing small inlets, large bays and mudflats, and crosses steep hills covered in bush (dense forest) in its middle section. Large sections of the track have been gravelled. Without this, much of the track would degrade into mud, due to the peaty soil, and the rain that falls frequently throughout the year. In general, the track is well-maintained, and of easy to medium difficulty. Walking the track offers the unusual opportunity to see

kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...

in the wild. The species on Stewart Island is the

southern brown kiwi The southern brown kiwi, tokoeka, or common kiwiDavies, S. J. J. F. (2003) (''Apteryx australis'') is a species of kiwi from South Island, New Zealand. Until 2000 it was considered conspecific with the North Island brown kiwi, and still is by ...

(''Apteryx australis''). There are two huts on the track, at Port William and the North Arm of

Paterson Inlet Paterson Inlet / Whaka a Te Wera is a large natural harbour in the eastern coast of Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand, much of which is unspoilt forest. History This region was first inhabited by the Māori, who settled at a locale known a ...

, and many hikers sleep overnight at each. There are also campsites at Maori Beach, Port William and North Arm. The huts and campsites have toilets and water supply, and the huts have bunks and mattresses. Toilet paper is not provided and hikers must bring their own. There are no cooking facilities, so trampers are advised to carry their own stoves and cooking equipment. Gas canisters and other supplies can be purchased at a store in Oban before setting out. The huts are supplied with firewood, which is flown in by helicopter, as there are no roads to the huts, and trampers are not allowed to cut firewood. The huts and campsites must be booked in advance. Rakiura Track has been covered by

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expan ...

since November 2015.

References

External links

Rakiura Track
from the Department of Conservation {{coord, -46.862891, 168.123436, type:landmark_region:NZ, display=title Hiking and tramping tracks in Southland, New Zealand Stewart Island Protected areas of Southland, New Zealand