Jonty 0:00

today. We're heading to the east coast of the south island. It's one of the best known private tramps in the country. Let's talk about the Kai Coast Track.

Peter 0:08

So

Jonty 0:15

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 Kaira. Coast Track is a 26 kilometer two day private hiking track. It has been run successfully by a pair of farming families for over 30 years. It starts 45 minutes drive south of at the beach house. Atoma on Conway Flat Road with Walkers. Spend the night before starting the hike day one. Heads along epic coastline. Four. Heading up through farmland and bush to stay at the ferry where your bags are transferred to. Day two. Walkers Head up to the 486 meter summit of Skull Peak before returning to the beach house. Both accommodations have one double room. The rest of the rooms are twins, along with two showers and toilets, living area and kitchen. I walked the Kura Coast Track in April, 2025. Started with a half an hour of quiet road walking to Plan's Creek, where I joined an epic beach. Behind this were heavily eroded cliffs and interesting formations. Apparently much less erosion was caused by the 2016 Concur earthquake. The beach was harder walking than expected with it being hard to find reasonably solid sections, so I ended up zigzagging along trying to find the best line to take. There were rather a lot of creeks to cross, tricky. When the banks easily turned to wet sand, it was a relief to reach Medina Beach home to a small lagoon where the beach walking ends And the track heads inland. Close by Is Circle Shelter a cute spot for some food about halfway through the day's hiking the microwaves, non-operational in the shelter were a novel feature. The track denoted by white markers or paint headed uphill to clifftop fields with great views in all directions. then descended through Medina, gey thick bush with lots of stream crossings. Along with some huge native trees that escape fires and fell due to the steepness of the gully. It was quite a contrast. Climbing outta the gully to bright sunshine again to the appropriately named rest and relaxation bench. from here. It was mostly downhill through farmland with a final hilly section past a reflective pool of water. Farrow was an even better spot than the beach cottage with a separate sleep out and character filled main building. Eight 30 the next morning we were picked up and driven 25 minutes to Buntings Gully on the other side of the hills From here, it was a relentless 500 meter climb, mostly in the bush, although it did open up at times for great views of the landscape inland. Bruce's seat, offered a welcome rest and reaching the ridge line. There were spectacular views towards the coast and the Kura Peninsula to the north. The wind was really picking up, so I didn't spend long at the summit of Skull Peak, the highest point in the walk, but the expansive views continued heading down from the peak as the weather worsened. It was a relief to reach shelter back at the beach house. Come full circle after a varied and enjoyable couple of days. highlights, include the diversity of scenery from impressive cliffs to regenerating bush gullies and open farmland. the hike, includes sections along the beach and quiet inland stretches with native vegetation. Because there's a limit of a maximum of a dozen walkers a day. The atmosphere is uncrowded and peaceful along the track and in the accommodation. And the accommodation is also a highlight with warm, clean cottages, with hot showers and kitchen facilities each night, and your luggage curve between them. Finally, some practical advice bookings are essential for the Kaikoura coast track. It's open from early October to late April, and there's about 13 kilometers of walking each day with terrain that enclos coastal paths far on walking and gullies with native bush Track requires reasonable fitness and experience, but you're only walking with a day pack and there's no technical sections.

Peter 4:00

So

Speaker 4:03

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