Jonty: 0:00

Today we're heading to the Bank's Peninsula on one of New Zealand's most varied multi-day tramps. Let's talk about track,

Peter: 0:06

So

Jonty: 0:14

Kira and welcome to the Tramping Life, a podcast about hiking in RO New Zealand, or as we call it here, tramping. I'm ch and in this episode I'll talk about a specific track or hut. I'll give an overview and share my experience along with the highlights and some practical advice. The Banks track is a privately owned and operated walking track on Banks Peninsula near Acura opened in 1989. It was New Zealand's first private walking track as a wonderful alternative to dock tracks for those, looking for a few more facilities. It's also one of the best tramps I've done for seeing wildlife, including little blue penguins, New Zealand fur seals and native birds. A 31 kilometer tramp starts and finishes in aro with walkers transferred by shuttle to the starting point at Arnold Goul Farm the night before starting the walk. There are three sections. Section one on call to Flea Bay is 11 kilometers, taking five to seven hours. Section two Flea Bay to Stony Bay is eight K, which is three to five hours, and section three Stony Bay to Acura is 12 kilometers and five to seven hours. There are two day and three day options to walk the track. The two day walkers combined sections one and two into a long first day. The track is open between October and April each year, and crosses a mixture of farmland and reserve, And includes regenerating native bush, coastal cliffs, marine reserves, and volcanic ridge lines. It offers expansive views over Aro Harbor and across the ocean. The three places to stay on the tramp, which are significantly more comfortable than a standard dock hu. These have mattresses, kitchens, hot showers, flush toilets, and its Stony Bay, an outside bath. Walkers on the two day auction, skip flea. Bay Walkers on the three day classic walk can have their bags move between accommodation, which is always a bonus. I walked the banks track in December a few years ago, started off with a shuttle bus from Acura at five 30, which took about 20 minutes to an Auckland farm where there's a well-equipped hut with lovely views across the peninsula. The next day it is immediately uphill. But I took a short detour to look out rock for views of the mouth of Acura Harbor. Looking out towards Tu Mu head track, then continues uphill through farmland with a few sheep around before reaching Trig gg, which at 699 meters is the highest point on the track, and was a good spot for lunch. Afterwards, it was a little bit stressful'cause I had a flying bug flew into my ear just before I put my headphones in and then I couldn't get the bug out. And It's quite unpleasant having something crawl inside your inner ear. Thankfully, after a few minutes it found its way out to naturally, just down from the trick is a handy shelter, which marks the halfway point for the day. further on. There's one kilometer of gravel road walking, which is a little bit dull, but there wasn't any traffic around. And then the track then heads through the stunning to akka e. Reserve, which is a quite beautiful section of Bush, which I loved walking through. Many of the trees had black plastic on them, which was a bit confused by, but I later found out that they are forest gecko mats. And the track runs alongside a delightful stream, which has four small waterfalls. The first one, there's a marked swimming hole. I'd say it was pretty cold even in December, but it was a great opportunity to wash off the sweat from the morning's long climb up to the trig. The second waterfall was rather nice. And then the third one, I reckon would actually be the best spot for a swim, just looking at the depth. And then the fourth is the largest of the waterfalls, which was large enough to actually be able to walk around the back of the falling curtain of water with some care required. And then it was back out into the sun for the final short stretch down to Flea Bay at one time. This was home to three families, a school and a large dairy. Fle Bay has an attractive beach, which some Zealand fur seals were enjoying, splashing around in the shallows, enjoying the sunshine. There's quite a variety of accommodation here, both for banks, track walkers, and there's places able to be booked separately, including a caravan and tree house, now the accommodation here wasn't quite up to the standard of Arnold, but it did have little blue penguins living underneath the buildings. Now there are free tours available to see the penguins in the evening for those who are doing the three day walk. And people can also drive into the site to do the tours, which seem to be very popular and they run every night for people to learn more about the little blue penguins and see them in their nests. I got a bonus sighting though when I went to the uh, toilet in the middle of the night. I found a penguin on the path just outside the toilet, which was a closeup wildlife encounter, but not one I was expecting to have at 2:00 AM whilst half asleep. The following day, the heat and the sunshine was replaced with cold, wet, misty weather in the morning, which made for an atmospheric start. And I walked around Flea Bay past the home of the Helps family. so they've been instrumental in maintaining the largest mainland colony of little Blue Penguins in New Zealand. And there's people sponsoring their nesting boxes and there's dozens of colorfully painted nesting blocks around the coastline There. Bit further on, you get to Red Cliff Point, which marks the halfway point of that section. very windy and exposed here, but there was a handy bench, which made it a good spot for some lunch. better option though, given the weather would've been to continue a little bit further and has a really core old shelter, Which is built up against the rock side, and that's just around the corner from Seal Cave, which lived up to its name. thankfully the weather cleared and there was some fantastic coastal scenery to enjoy along with an ancient looking toilet, with a view. A predator proof fence has been built around the headland along here to protect one of the few remaining mainland nesting sites for Ti Shearwaters. The sun and the heat had returned. By the time I got to Stony Bay, I thought I'd go for a swim. This was thwarted unfortunately by more New Zealand fur seals, which seemed to be everywhere across the beach. It's a rocky beach and it's quite hard to differentiate between a rock and a seal sometimes. as I found out when I got a bit too close to one, he then got WR at, but it soon lost interest me as I uh, wife. Heading up from the beach inland. There was a stream and that also looked like a really good spot to cool down from the heat. apart from the fat, another seal had occupied that area as well. Obviously had the same idea of me it was trying to call down in the sunshine. Stony Bay has been owned by the Armstrong family since 1891, and they built the most incredible accommodation for the final night on the track. It's clearly a labor of love around a large lawn area, are many distinctive and gorgeous homemade buildings. and I was the first one to arrive so I could have a bit of a nose around It's home to a small museum. There's a large tree, which has been repurposed as a shower, and there's two outdoor wood fired heated bars. They come with a wooden plank to avoid burning your backside. But I have to say they still got extremely hot. It was the first bath I've had to bail water out of in order to add cold water. There's obviously a bit of a knack to getting the right temperature'cause it also gets very hot. And then you want to cool down and then enjoy the outdoor baths. All the accommodation buildings there had mini kitchens and their own character. A possible added bonus was that we were a little blue penguins nesting underneath most of them which was great until I was waking up in the middle of the night by the sound of penguins feeding their young about a foot away from my head underneath the floorboards. The next day follows the old horse track, which for decades was the only access to the bay before it enters Henoi Reserve. This is 1,250 hectares of original and regenerated bush over several valleys home to many native species, including black Fantas, which are only seen on the South Hall. The became a lot more interesting as it heads up through the reserve into some beautiful mature beach forest. And then there's a steady but decent climb up to the Stony Bay saddle at 690 meters above sea level. Thankfully, mostly in the shade. It was pushing 29 degrees. The day I was hiking this and the shelter at the top, which made a good spot for lunch. After that, it was all downhill back to Acura. You literally walked straight into town and the track car park is about 20 minutes walk away from the waterfront. We're headed for a refreshing dip in the sea to finish the trap. So highlights of the bank's track included the variety of scenery in a relatively short distance. The trap moves from open farmland to native bush along volcanic ridges and ragged coastline with near constant views. There's unique accommodation. Every nights stay had its own character. From the well-equipped Anco farm with great views to the historic Flea Bay cottage, near the Penguin colony, to the absolutely amazing Stony Bay cottages, all very different, all very nice places to stay. Now. Bag transfers are clearly amazing. It's a lot more enjoyable walking with a day pack than a multi-day pack. There was a lot of wildlife, as I say, so little blue penguins, several in several places. There seals along the coast and there was plenty of bird life along the way. And the good thing about this is, although about 2000 people a year walk, the bank's track, it never feels crowded. So they cap the numbers every day. The three day classic walkers, there can be up to 12 of those per day. And the two day hikers up to four of those a day. So at most. There's up to 16 walkers a day, which can be quite a contrast from more popular trance, particularly during the holiday season, Some practical advice. Bookings are essential. The banks track is privately owned and cannot be walked without a confirmed booking. There are two options. There's the three day classic walk, and as of 2026, that was$450 per person. You can also pay an additional 285 to have your own private rooms, which is the option I went for, Which was maybe not necessary'cause there that many people on the track, but they're very nice places to stay. And then for the two day hikers, you have to carry your own bag, but it is only$220 per person. Given the price of Great Walk Huts these days, that's not that much more, and it's probably a little bit easier to book the banks track than the great walks. There's also food available on the track, so Arnold Alcohol and Flea Bay Cottage. there's drinks including alcohol and chocolate bars available. And Stony Bay has got a really well equipped walker shop with cold drinks, cereals, milk, red butter, bacon, lots of farm produce, also tin goods, sausages, pasta noodle, and even ice cream'cause they've got power and refrigeration there. Just make sure that you bring cash to pay for things. There is intermittent mobile phone coverage along the track. Finally, although the distances are modest, the track does include some sustained climb and descent, particularly on days one and three, so a reasonable level of fitness is required. Thank you for listening to this slightly different episode of the Tramping Life. This is a bit of an experiment. I'm gonna record a few episodes like this on specific tracks. Ands, I'm interested in your feedback, whether this is something I should continue to do, please reach out to me at the email at the end of this podcast or find me on social media.

Peter: 10:49

So

Speaker: 10:52

Thank you so much for listening to the Tramping life. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please follow the podcast in whatever app you use. Tell a friend about it and consider leaving a rating or a review. It really helps more people discover the show. you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email at the tramping life, one word@gmail.com.