We ventured out on our first Great Walk in New Zealand this past Monday. There are 8 treks which they have named the Great Walks in New Zealand and Lake Waikaremoana in the eastern part of North Island is one of them.
We did the 46km trail over 4 days, 2 of which was done in pouring rain (we did find out when we got there that it is in fact, a rainforest!). We were glad to have our rain gear with us but they didn't do much good after a couple of hours in the rain. So we ended a very long second day sopping wet with muddy feet. It was quite miserable, especially when you have to put back on the same sopping wet clothes and socks and shoes to head out the next day! Fortunately there Department of Conservation, known as DOC , have these Huts all along the trail that you book before heading off into the wildnerness. They consist of a big room with bunk beds and a kitchen area which gas heaters that never seemd to work. But we were able to get dry and relatively warm each day and didn't have to set up tents each afternoon. It was as luxurious as backpacking goes!
In spite of the wetness, we had a good time with others in the huts, drinking tea and comiserating about the foul weather. Luckily, the weather cleared up some the last day and we were blessed with a rainless walk and bits of lakeviews from up above which made the trip worthwhile but I am not sure if I will be up for another tramp in the rainforest!