u/Fully_Torqued_Pecker

Just come back from the best trip of my life, hiking through South + North Islands from the start of May to the start of July.

Wanted to share some pics to maybe incentivise others to get out there, and thought I'd share my ratings of some of the hikes, some notes and how difficult I found each as I found AllTrails could be quite hit-and-miss.

Reach out if you have any questions about any of the hikes or want my full itinerary; I will say that I did it solo and am a fast hiker - this was pretty intense for 2 months!

Also thank you to anyone I met out there: travellers for being so kind and inclusive of me in your groups in the huts and on the trail, and locals for being such generous and welcoming hosts.

Trail	Rating	Notes	# Nights	Difficulty
Routeburn	Amazing	Great variety of amazing views in a short amount of time. Make sure to do Conical Hill if the visibility is there.	2	Moderate
Greenstone Caples Circuit	Good	Some interesting sections in the open valleys which make this a bit different. Lots of stream crossings; the wettest walk I did the whole trip.	3	Moderate
Milford Track	Amazing	Loved walking in the valleys, the waterfall is spectacular and the saddle fantastic. Did a Sound cruise on the last day.	2	Moderate
Kepler Track	Amazing	Luxmore summit was so good I did it twice. Caves were unexpectedly cool (and very scary - don't do what I did and go alone!). Cloud inversion was incredible.	2	Hard
French Ridge Hut + Rob Roy Glacier	Amazing	Very cold, very tough going up the ascent at the end (defs the single hardest day I did), very rewarding at the top. Maybe the best sunset of the whole trip.	1	Strenuous
Sawyer Burn	OK	Short & steep with decent views of the lake. Bit of a filler walk tbh.	0	Hard
Mueller Hut	Amazing	Amazing watching the avalanches. The summit behind the hut is great and quite easy to get to. Busy hut, hated the steps section.	1	Strenuous
Brewster Hut + Glacier	Epic	This is all about the glacier tbh. Sketchy to get to (don't go alone or in bad weather) but being able to get up to the glacier is unbelievably cool.	1	Hard
Welcome Flat Hut	Amazing	Actually really enjoyed the walk in the forest, the scenery changes so much to never get boring. Hot springs at the hut are amazing.	1	Moderate
Mt Brown Hut	OK	Got the picture, made a fire, came back down. Cute hut with decent enough views but maybe not worth venturing out for.	1	Hard
Abel Tasman	OK	Might not be fair as it pissed it down for the first 3 days. Just didn't seem to be that much to it, but I also live by the beach so maybe not that interesting to me for that reason.	3	Moderate
Travers Sabine Circuit + Angelus	Epic	Best hike of the trip and my life. Physically, mentally and spiritually exhausting (didn't see anyone for 4 days!) but just so unbelievable. Gutted I didn't have time for Blue Lake + Constance but it took me a lot longer to walk than expected and I just didn't have the time. Angelus Hut is well worth including in the loop.	4	Strenuous
Escarpment Track	OK	Bit lame walking by the road and with so many people tbh. But quite cool cliff views.	0	Moderate
Mt Cimie Track	OK	Just walking on a 4x4 track, pissed it down and had no visibility at the top.	0	Moderate
Jumbo Hut Circuit	Good	Was still raining at this point in the trip so couldn't really see anything. Seemed like it would be a good one though.	1	Hard
Pouakai Circuit	Good	Busy track, really cool views of Taranaki but felt quite touristy which I don't like. Cracking hut.	1	Hard
Tongariro Northern Circuit	Epic	The Crossing is just spectacular, the huts are amazing, the lakes were unexpectedly beautiful and I loved the Mars-like scapes in the middle. So much bang for your buck on this hike.	3	Hard
Pinnacles Track	OK	Bit of a boring and busy track, views at the end are decent though.	1	Hard
Duke's Nose Track	Good	Cracking views at the end, loved the ladder to get to the top as well.	0	Moderate
Bream Headland Circuit	Good	Brilliant 360 views with different types of scenery all around. Surprised at how much I enjoyed this.	0	Hard