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Hey friends,

Hope it is ok posting here (admins, feel free to delete this but hope you won't )

Yeah, New Zealand has been blessed with the most beautiful tracks in the world!! But if you don’t book places in advance, chances are… they are already taken.

Luckily, there are many cancellations, but how can you know about them as quickly as possible so that you can book?
This: http://nztracker.nz/ will send you automatic alerts for available places.

Hope it helps

Hey ya bud.

Um yea, i don't think they have a booking system on most of the great walks. The weather is to crazy. But I will have a chat to my Mum as she has done all of them and get the low down on it all.

I will get back to you tomorrow.

Yea you only need to book the routeburn and the Milford but I hear that you can just turn up and sleep on the floor of the huts. So that website is hopeless.

Yea you only need to book the routeburn and the Milford

Not true. You also need to book treks such as the Kepler.

but I hear that you can just turn up and sleep on the floor of the huts.

False. You can't just show up and sleep on the floor. There is no way the hut keepers will let you do it.

Hey guys,

Yea you only need to book the routeburn and the Milford but I hear that you can just turn up and sleep on the floor of the huts. So that website is hopeless.

You have to book all of the great walks. You got to book a ticket in advance. If you show up without a ticket - the ranger (who usually lives in the huts) will "award" you with a fine

Moreover, you have to book any hut, even if they are not on the great walks e.g. copland trek, muller hut...etc

yurako wrote:Moreover, you have to book any hut, even if they are not on the great walks e.g. copland trek, muller hut...etc

No, you don't. Most huts are first come, first serve: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/stay-in-a-hut/booking-and-paying/

On the great walks tracks or any track for that matter you must go and buy hut passes. But, if you forget they do have donations boxes inside of the huts.

BTW I havee read that book and it is very good but it is also very old.

Scott, things are a bit more chilled out in New Zealand than what they are in America, infact I know quite a few hut wardens and they do let people sleep on the floor. As for the great walks stuff, that just what my Mother did on the Routeburn and Milford. She also said that the Kepler you don't have to book at all, first in first served.

Hey rgg,

No, you don't. Most huts are first come, first serve: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/stay-in-a-hut/booking-and-paying/

There are hundreds of huts in NewZealand operated by DOC (Department of Conservation). Indeed, most of them are first-come first-serve. However, the most popular and spectacular treks (great walks, copland, muller hut..etc) have to be booked in advance. Moreover, they are booked weeks and even months (e.g. Milford, Kepler,Routeburn treks) in advance.

You can check it yourself - soon the booking will be open and you will see that within very short time there will be no available spots for the near months in this trek: https://booking.doc.govt.nz/Menu.aspx?sg=MIL

Cheers

Scott, things are a bit more chilled out in New Zealand than what they are in America, infact I know quite a few hut wardens and they do let people sleep on the floor. As for the great walks stuff, that just what my Mother did on the Routeburn and Milford. She also said that the Kepler you don't have to book at all, first in first served.

I have done the Kepler. We definitely had to book in advance. They do not let anyone sleep on the floor on the Great Walks Huts. Maybe in the remote huts they do, but not on the Great Walks.

In fact, even seven months in advance, we could not get space on the Milford or Routeburn and they are very strict.

Even if you want to do it a year from now, you have to apply by May 4 of this year:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/milfordtrack

Ok you book and wait. I will just camp outside and pay day rates to use the huts for cooking. Better yet I will just camp legally for free away from the hut.

Hey Yank-Tank

Ok you book and wait. I will just camp outside and pay day rates to use the huts for cooking. Better yet I will just camp legally for free away from the hut.

It is impossible. The campsites should be booked too. It is not allowed just to camp anywhere you want.

This is exactly the reason http://nztracker.nz/ was created for. It will keep searching for cancellations (there are many, it is just hard to know when someone cancels and there is an available spot) and will send you email when cancellation occurs. Thus, you can book.

Cheers

Do you know what the answer is here? Don't do the great walks. Or do them in winter when you don't have to book or deal with annoying hut wardens.

Yank-Tank wrote:Do you know what the answer is here? Don't do the great walks. Or do them in winter when you don't have to book or deal with annoying hut wardens.

Well, as said, New Zealand has 4 seasons in one day - and it is true. The weather is crazy. So if you do the great walks in winter the chance that you will have lousy grey day is huge. Why do the walks if everything is foggy and you can't see anything anyway...

Yes, it is easy to get a hut in winter, but there is a good reason for that...

Actually, July is one of our best weather months.