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NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Great Walks with kids: A family's adventure through NZ's trails
For quality, screen-free family time, a Great Walk really delivers. You are largely off-grid and out in nature together, with several hours of walking – and potential talking time – each day. Our kids usually take turns leading and dropping back to chat with their packhorse parents. Once at the huts, it's more family bonding as you unwind from the day, share some treats and cook dinner. It's all very Brady Bunch until it inevitably isn't; for example, when someone knocks over his Milo and completely soaks his only spare set of clothes. The Kepler Track in Fiordland. Photo / Tourism NZ It's easy to get blasé about New Zealand's natural beauty and dramatic landscapes. The Great Walks will jolt you out of any such complacency. Even the kids, usually indifferent to calendar-worthy views, found plenty to delight in. Walking through the otherworldly and iron-flat South Crater on the Tongariro Circuit, surrounded by craggy, volcanic terrain and the famous cone of Ngauruhoe, was a surreal and awe-inspiring experience. To my imaginative 10-year-old, we were in dragon country. The Heaphy Hut was another highlight, overlooking the point where the Heaphy River meets the roiling Tasman Sea. As we soaked in the scene, fringed by nikau palms and resplendent in the sunset, the kids revelled on the river bank, hunting for treasures and dipping in and out of the cool, clean river current. Start small to build confidence As with any holiday with kids, adequate preparation is important. Having ticked off a few day walks in our home region of Hawke's Bay, we had already established that the kids were very capable, if not always enthusiastic, walkers. We thoroughly researched each walk before booking (the Department of Conservation has extensive information on its website – including track descriptions, potential hazards, gear lists and difficulty ratings for each walk. For pre-walk training, we put our half-full packs on and headed up our local mountain, Te Mata Peak, tramping similar distances, time-frames and elevations as we'd face on our upcoming walk. And yes, we did get some odd looks. Te Mata Peak offers a good opportunity as a trial walk. Photo / Kirsten Simcox Embrace early starts and bush toilets When on the tracks, we usually set off early – giving plenty of time to complete the day's distance. Often, there are natural stops along the way – other huts and shelters, lookouts, points of interest – and breaking the day up into chunks is a great way to keep kids motivated. You'll also be stopping when nature calls, and I'm not talking about birdsong. Realistically, and despite your repeated pleas to use available facilities, you may be dealing with an urgent bowel motion on the most remote part of the track. In this situation, you'll need a compostable bag, or a trowel and a spot well away from the track, campsites and any water. Chalk it up as a new experience for young and old. Abel Tasman National Park. Photo / Tourism NZ Lean into a little make-believe Keeping morale up on a long day of walking required a mix of games and deep-dive conversations into our children's latest interests. On the Abel Tasman, we were hard into the Harry Potter phase and every third stick we encountered was assessed for its spell-casting potential. There's a limit, of course, to how many of the 1000-plus Pokemon characters you can bear to hear about, or how much I Spy you can play in the bush. This is where outright bribes in the form of cold, hard candy come in. They work on adults too. Plan post-hiking fun Arriving at the hut after a day of walking can be a religious experience. Don't get too comfortable though, as your kids will inexplicably still have energy to burn. Once you've bagged your bunks (fellow trampers are usually very reasonable about letting families bunk in the same room), be prepared to go exploring around the huts – there is often a postcard-perfect waterfall, swimming hole or vista just a short walk away. Back at the hut, it's time to break out the snacks and diversions. Some huts have a collection of puzzles, cards and games, but it's a good idea to take your own too. The Great Walks challenge began on the Abel Tasman Coast Track. Photo / Claire Rogers Keep mealtimes simple For meals, we kept it simple. Breakfasts (porridge mix) and dinners (a freeze-dried meal) were as easy as adding boiling water to the sachets, stirring the mix and letting them sit. Lunches and snacks were salami and bier sticks, wraps, energy bars, lollies, crackers and cheese. While the thought of a freeze-dried roast chicken meal – complete with mash and stuffing – may not have you salivating, our kids gave it rave reviews. Enjoy the break from the nightly battle over fresh veggies. Make friends along the way Stepping out on day one of the Abel Tasman track, we were a tad nervous as to how our fellow hut dwellers would receive our outgoing brood, who were 6, 8 and 9 at the time. We needn't have worried. The camaraderie in the huts is one of the best things about the Great Walks, and most of our walking companions have been delighted to see children tackling the tracks with them. We loved reuniting with our newfound friends each night, sharing stories from the day. One tramper went so far as to organise an epic 'backyard' cricket match for our would-be Black Caps, constructing a bat out of driftwood and converting an avocado stone into a ball with strapping tape. On the wall in our home office, there's a Great Walk map. The kids love to look at the distances and climbs they've conquered, the huts they've lodged in, and remember the people we met along the way. When you sign up for a Great Walk with kids, you are signing up for a challenge. But the family memories made, the soul-nourishing scenery, and the immense and collective sense of achievement each time have us coming back for more.
Scoop
23-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Take That! Tourism Campaign A Hit With Aussies
Minister for Tourism and Hospitality The 'Everyone Must Go' campaign encouraging Australians to pick New Zealand for their next holiday has hit its results out of the park, bringing in thousands of visitors in a boost for regional economies and tourism operators. Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says 'Everyone Must Go' was initially targeted at 6,750 additional arrivals over the autumn but ended up significantly exceeding expectations. ''Everyone Must Go' has been a winner,'' Louise Upston says. 'Tourism NZ stats released to me show it delivering an additional 7,981 visitors to smash its initial forecasts. It also attracted significant attention on both sides of the Tasman, and got Kiwis and Aussies talking about New Zealand as a destination. 'Tourism is a key part of our plan to grow the economy, create jobs, lift wages and help Kiwis get ahead. 'Everyone Must Go' is a great example of the sector and Government working together to achieve these goals. 'We knew Aussies would recognise it as a great opportunity. Just like they grabbed Phar Lap and pavlova, it's proved the same story with 'Everyone Must Go.' 'A key part of this campaign's success were the deals the tourism industry came to the party with. This team approach showed we can deliver great results for the sector when Government and industry are joined up and working towards the same goals.' More than 800 deals from 450 operators across accommodation, transport and experiences were available during the campaign. The initial $500,000 campaign spend delivered a solid return on investment, leading to an additional $300,000 to give the campaign a further boost. 'This campaign was the first Tourism Boost initiative, and these positive results show that with the right investment in the right markets we will drive economic growth. 'Every one of those Australian visitors who ate at cafes and restaurants, visited tourist attractions and shopped in our towns and cities has helped the New Zealand tourism sector grow, and boosted the Kiwi economy in the process,' Louise Upston says. Notes: The Autumn campaign targeted an additional 6,750 visitors (above baseline growth) from Australia between March and May and delivered an additional 7,981 arrivals over the period. 6,804 arrivals were directly attributable to bookings made via the campaign and an additional 1,177 arrivals were from the indirect halo effect of conversion activity in market over and above the campaign. The additional 7,981 visitors generated an estimated $22M in incremental visitor spend (29 per cent ahead of the campaign target of $17M). Across Autumn 2025, the total number of visitor arrivals from Australia increased by more than 24,000 – up from 307,338 last year to 331,571 this year. These additional 24,233 visitors generated an estimated $67M in visitor spend. The campaign had support from the industry including: strong collaboration with airlines, hotels, travel agencies and online travel platforms; 450 tourism operators providing 800 deals on TNZ's
NZ Herald
06-06-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
A vision for NZ: A safe place where everyone can prosper
New Zealand should be 'a safe place where everyone can prosper', writes Bruce Cotterill. Photo of Routburn Track / Supplied by Tourism NZ Opinion by Bruce Cotterill Bruce Cotterill is a professional director and adviser to business leaders. He is the author of the book, The Best Leaders Don't Shout, and host of the podcast, Leaders Getting Coffee. Learn more THE FACTS Last week, I managed to get myself caught up in a lively conversation with a couple of mates. It wasn't heated. But it was one of those discussions that no one was going to win. And then there was the debate after the Budget. The same word
