5 A change of SCENERY

THERE’S A SHYNESS to the Heaphy you don’t find on other Great Walks. Reserved and secretive, it doesn’t have the intrepid tops of the Kepler, or the jaw-dropping valleys of the Routeburn. Instead, like a library, it rewards the curious, and reveals its wonders to those who seek them out.

Walk or bike the track without straying, and its highlights will be missed; the wetafilled caves of Gouland Downs, the 1238m Mt Perry summit, and nocturnal powelliphanta oozing along in the dew, to name a few.

I tackled the mammoth 78km track with six others over New Year’s in 2018/19, camping along the way to save money – and in the process ruin our feet and knees.

Planning the