First off one of the things I was a little daunted over was how to even begin planning for a trip to New Zealand so I thought I would give my suggestions. Warning this is a long post about logistics but contains some helpful information.
Everything we did to make this photo a reality
Planning
If you are planning to do the great walks such as Milford, Kepler, or Routeburn, this post is for you. While I did not do the Kepler track, I did look into it. You will need to book your huts in advance if you are an independent hiker, which we were. New Zealand's Department of Conservation will put an alert on their website about 1 month prior to when the huts will become available. I had a reoccuring meeting on my calendar to check every Friday morning. Once I found out the real date, then I put another meeting on my calendar so I could be sure to get the dates, I wanted. It was a little strange to pick dates out for a trip 9 months out but luckily you can get a refund if you can't make it. You will want to book immediate especially for the more popular tracks such as the Milford Sound.
We choose March. We figured December, January, and February would be the height to tourist season and we read that March tends to be drier. That is how we arbitrary choose our dates in March. Choosing those dates felt like choosing a date for the dentist 6 months out. Sure I know if I'm going to be free 6 months out from when I book the appointment. When making your reservation you can also book other transportation as well (ie buses and boats). I did it at the time of booking and I would recommend this since these spaces can fill up. Also this piece of information was really helpful for us Tracknet (one of the buses) will deliver a parcel to you if you do tracks back to back! It is only 15 New Zealand dollars. This saved us from hauling 6 days worth of food. Best 15 dollars we spent.
One nice thing about this is that you can also get a refund if life throws you a curveball and you can't make your original plan. Also for those lucky travelers that are not set on dates and times, the DOC does get cancelations so some people on the trail only booked a couple weeks out. The majority of us though had booked nine months prior. Also if you are willing to spend extra money, you can do the guided walks. They had nicer quarters, meals cooked for them, alcohol, hot showers, and guides that accompanied them while walking.
Preparing
Alright now that you have made your online reservations, now I recommend to start training yourself physically for these great walks. They are not the easiest of walks/hikes and a little training beforehand will come in handy while on the trail. We did our tried and true method of training and that is carrying a 10-15 pound heavier pack than you will carry on the trail up the steep hills around Seattle during the week.
Do you look pretty stupid doing this exercise? Yes! Also I'm pretty sure some people at first glance thought we were homeless too.
Does this exercise get monotonous and boring? You bet yeah!
But this exercise will get you prepared for carrying a pack going uphill. We also try and carry 10-15 pound more than we would on the trail so that way our packs do not feel as bad. We tried to do this 2-3 times a week, although some weeks it was only once. Anything helps! On the weekends we would go out to Tiger Mountain area and hike with heavy packs again trying to get at least 8-10 miles in and 1,000 feet of elevation gain. What we did on the great walks in New Zealand was more difficult but we were getting used to it. I also started running 4-5 days a week. This was for New Zealand but also to help cope with the stress of my looming unemployment as well. I was glad I did it because it helped with endurance.
Packing
Packing for a long backpacking trip can be a little daunting as well. First let me saw, New Zealand is set up for this type of tourism. So if you forgot it, they will sell it at multiple stores, in multiple towns. I wouldn't recommend this method though since everything will be more expensive than prices we paid in the United States. My chest strap on my backpack broke the day we took off for the Milford track and I was able to buy a temporary one in Te Anau.
That said, the DOC gives you a comprehensive list of what to expect and bring. Here's my two cents from someone who has done it.
Weather: Preparing for the elements: the weather is fickle in New Zealand and changes constantly. Prepare for rain. Most people used water proof jackets, pants, and bag covers. I recommend the bag cover. I do not think that waterproof jackets work that well so I opted for a poncho. You look stupid but they work. I also did not bring waterproof pants. I hiked Kilimanjaro during the rainy season without waterproof pants. You just got used to hiking in wet clothes during the day and changing into dry clothes at night. Besides I didn't want the extra weight. I also recommend using waterproof bags or at the very least wrap everything in your bag in a trash bag. The last thing you want is wet "dry" sleeping clothes or a soggy sleeping bag.
Clothes: You don't need as many clothes as you would think. I had my hiking shirt and pants for the day that I wore everyday rain or shine no matter how much they began to smell. I had sleeping clothes at night which was fleece tights and a dry hiking shirt. I also had a hat, gloves, down jacket, fleece, a long sleeve smart wool, and 3 pairs of socks. That's all the clothes I had for 6 days/5 nights of straight hiking. That's all I needed. I didn't even use some of the warm gear but I am grateful to have brought it because if I needed and didn't have it, I would have been miserable.
Cooking: The huts on the Milford and Routeburn tracks had cookers at the huts so we didn't have to bring as much fuel. Since we were hiking for 6 days straight we had to bring fuel to heat up our lunch. Most people did not bring freeze dried food but we couldn't get around it since we couldn't think of anything that would be guaranteed to keep by day 6. If you don't do back to back tracks then you don't even need to bring a stove. You will need to bring matches or a lighter to light the cooker at the hut though. Make sure to put the matches in the dry bag with your clothes. Remember, you will need to carry out all your trash.
Food: Bring a variety of food. We were rationing out our food on the Milford because we knew that our day 3, 4, and 5 were our longest hiking days with over 10 plus miles. So we were eating more just 3 meals a day at first. This became hard on me especially to keep up my energy when I was struggling to keep my blood sugar levels up. By day 4, I began to change the way I was eating and started to include snacks, especially once I knew we were going to have a parcel of food delivered to us. I allowed myself to start snacking on dried bananas, apples, or other fruit and this really helped me. I know people suggest nuts but they are hard on my stomach to digest sometimes so I stayed away. Getting food items into New Zealand can be tricky, so we bought everything when we got there. Another group, decided to bring there food and gave the customs agent a carefully typed out list. Not everything made it but most of it did. Most of the grocery stores sell freeze dried food especially in Te Anau, so it is incredible easy to get when you arrive. One thing I am a firm believer on is to bring rewards with you. We had a chocolate bar with us, Whittier New Zealand chocolate, and so at the end of the evening we got a square of chocolate. You will have hiked 10 miles that day so you've earned it. We also had a square when we reached the top of the pass and one when we reached the end of the trail. We try and stay away from sugar but that was a well earned square.
1st aid: We always hope nothing will go wrong but something will. Best to try and prepare for anything. Luckily the hut rangers are prepared for emergencies but a few extra things in your pack can make a world of difference. Bring second skin/mole skin. My boots are broken in but I got a blister on day 4 of 6 of hiking. Having second skin saved me a lot of pain since I still had 26 miles to hike. Duct tape, this stuff is incredible handy to repair anything. I mentioned early my chest strap broke. If my strap had broken while on the trail, I would have used duct tape to fashion a new one. I did have a shoe lace start splitting on day 3 of 6 so I used duct tape to repair it and keep it from completely breaking apart on me. We also carried other items such as pain killers, anti-bacterial gel, Imodium, Benadryl, bandaids, and other such odds and ends. I would also recommend little packets of burn cream. Deal with matches, lights, cookers, and boiling water can bring about small burns. Bug repellent with deet. The sand flies are persistent and the sandfly off stuff we bought there didn't do a thing for me. They still bite me no matter how much I put on. I still look like I'm recovering from chicken pox.
Extras: Earplugs!! You are sleeping in a buck house with up to 30 people and someone(s) will snore. People are getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Just bring them and you'll thank me latter. Head lamp to find your way to the bathroom at night. Trekking poles - they will make your life easier especially if you are an independent hiker. Camera because you will want to take a ton of photos. We had our SLR and a our phones. For the phone, I switched it into flight mode and it lasted me the entire Milford sound. I had a battery delivered to me in our parcel so I could charge it for the Routeburn track. Camp shoes because you and your feet will not want to see your boots again until the next morning of hiking starts. Most importantly be ready for adventure!
Wrapping up this long post, that's all I can think of at the moment. Email if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answers frizzy.hair.foreigner@gmail.com.