After a late start to Great Walk bookings, the Department of Conservation has reported that there has been an uptick in demand right from the get-go.

Opening was delayed after technical issues and unprecedented demand saw more than 13,000 walkers trying to book the 120 bunks on the Milford Track in April. The Department delayed the season.

With the last of the great walks, the Heaphy Track, opening for summer 2023/24 bookings yesterday DoC were pleased to see that while the glitches are gone, high demand remains.

The Tongariro Northern Circuit, the first to reopen after the three-month reset, saw the biggest growth in opening day with 9400 bunks booked in the first 24 hours of opening, an increase of 53 per cent on last year. This included around a fifth of all bookings from international visitors, up 13 per cent on last year.

The Department’s booking services manager, Cameron Hyland, said he expected “at least some of that increase is pent-up demand from the delay in opening following our issues in April.”

There was strong day-one uptake across the eight of the nine walks, now taking summer bookings. Largely this was from an increased appetite from domestic trampers. The Abel Tasman Coastal Track, New Zealand’s most popular overnight walk bay bed nights, saw 1800 bookings in the first 30 minutes of opening - more than the entire of opening day last year. Kiwis made up 84 of bookings, which were up 40 per cent on last year.

The Whanganui Journey, a canoe trip along the river from Taumarunui to Pipiriki, saw opening day interest increase by a third on last year, with New Zealanders making 90 per cent of all bookings.

The Paparoa Track, New Zealand’s most recent addition to the trail network, continued to be popular with Kiwis, needing no help from international bookings to fill up over summer.

 “We continued to see high interest from New Zealanders, with domestic visitors making up 94 per cent of the total booked – around the same as last year. At this stage many dates are sold out,” said Hyland.

However it was the ever popular Fiordland Great walks, the Kepler Track and Routeburn Track, that saw the most interest on opening day - with 24,000 and 21,000 places taken in the first 24 hours of opening for bookings.

Kepler in particular was in hot demand. With international bookings up a fifth, making 35 per cent of walkers, Hyland said that summer huts were filled “almost instantly.

“As always the huts saw the greatest demand, with most spaces now booked, especially across the summer period,” he said, although there was “plenty of space remaining at the campsites throughout the year”.

The Great Walks are marking a major milestone as the network turns 30. Photo / Thomas Bywater

There were some storm-damaged walks that underperformed. The Heaphy Track saw just 350 places taken on opening morning, yesterday.

Hyland said trampers were waiting until repairs were in place, allowing them to walk the full track.

“The Heaphy Track suffered storm damage in February 2022 which has prevented visitors walking the entire track end-to-end, but bookings for the full track are now available for trips from 19 October 2023 onwards,” he said.

The Lake Waikaremoana Track, which is managed by the Te Urewera governing board Te Uru Taumatua, is still to announce when bookings might open. The trail was closed by flooding events earlier this year, and parts are still inaccessible.

Kirstie Luke, chief executive of Tūhoe Te Uru Taumatua, Ngāi Tūhoe’s Tribal Authority, says that the trail will welcome walkers this summer but ongoing repairs were expected.

“We are hoping that works can be done in time to make a smooth reopening for this coming summer season, we are reasonably confident that stages of work will be complete but that works will likely be ongoing through summer,” she said.

“That’s not ideal for us as we’d like to be in a place we’d be happy with.”

The eleventh Great Walk, The Hump Ridge Track in Tuatapere, is expected to join the network in October.