Giveaways
Revised and expanded, 7 April 2022
THE Tūātapere Hump Ridge Track, soon to become New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, is near the old logging town of Tūātapere, west of Invercargill. The track is managed by Tūātapere Humpridge Track, a charitable trust set up via a partnership formed between the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) and the local community. The trust offers a range of tour packages such as guided tours and helicopter rides, and it is well worth consulting its website, linked above, even if you are just a more ordinary sort of tramper.
A three-day loop track along the south coast of New Zealand, the Hump Ridge Track (for short) covers fifty-five kilometres of beaches, forests and subalpine terrain. The track is shown in black in the map that follows.
It’s also possible, in this area, to tramp over the Hump Ridge by quite a different course, varying from a four-wheel drive road to a poled route, to get to Poteriteri Hut on Lake Poteriteri, the biggest lake in New Zealand without road access.
In the following map, which is more zoomed-out, you can see the location of Tūātapere some way up the Waiau River, at top right.
The whole area around Tūātapere is modestly popular for tourism, though strictly of the more adventurous sort, as the roads peter out to the west of Tūātapere.
Lake Poteriteri, at the left of the map, is the largest lake in New Zealand to which no roads lead at all. The lake is 28 km (17 miles) long, and it just sits there in the vast Waitutu Forest to the sound of no cars, just birdsong.
The Waitutu River meanders for eight kilometres from the southern end of Lake Poteriteri to its mouth next to Waitutu Forest Lodge, shown as 'Hut'.
Quite luxurious by backcountry standards, in the sense that it has staff and linen, the Waitutu Forest Lodge is a popular place to get away from things without actually having to rough it too much: though you have to get there by boat or helicopter if you don't want to make a multi-day hike via the Hump Ridge Track, or all the way via the more coastal South Coast Track, past the equally roadless Port Craig.
The Waitutu Forest Lodge is fairly affordable, but a guided tour in the area can be pricier.
At the bottom far right on the map are the names of Orepuki and Monkey Island, places I talk about in another post along with Bluecliffs Beach, a locality known in Māori as Rarakau, on Te Waewae Bay west of the Waiau River.
As for Te Waewae Bay, which is 27 km or 17 miles wide, it has a very high ratio of beach to beachgoers!
These days, Tūātapere's logging boom is long gone, as are the town's railway services.
Instead, Tūātapere is now the headquarters of the aforementioned local tourism industry. It is the starting-off point for the Hump Ridge Track, and it is on the Southern Scenic Route. Tūātapere is also New Zealand's self-described sausage capital, a haven of good country food; although ironically even this title was threatened for a time in 2015 when the struggling town's last butchery closed.
My father says that decent sausages by Olde Worlde standards are really hard to find in New Zealand. Tūātapere may be the exception. Fortunately, you can still get locally made sausages at the Tui Base Camp, one of several businesses in the area that cater to tourists and tourism accommodation.
This is a good place to stock up on outdoor supplies:
And you can get a very refreshing pot of tea and world-class fish and chips, along with stronger refreshments, at the Waiau Hotel, which also offers accommodation as its name suggests. The Waiau Hotel obviously predates the tourist era. It is full of historic black and white photographs, and popular with the sorts of blokes who do up old cars in sheds.
Even today, Tūātapere looks like it has only just been hacked out of the jungle. Actually, this rainforest, as we now call it, has been preserved for conservation purposes. Some of it is in a lovely town domain parkland by the river. Spot the glimpse of antique machinery in this shot, as well!
And these were the people who did the hacking.
There is also a DOC information centre at Tūātapere, and, in addition to hotels and motels, a caravan park.
As for the name of the town, NZHistory.govt.nz gives its origin, as of the time of writing, thus: "Tūā: a ceremony performed before a gathering begins; tapere: a gathering for singing songs and playing games. Earlier known as Ryan's Island after a settler of that name. Another name in the early twentieth century was Drummonds Ferry after the ferry operator, Bob Drummond."
I mentioned Bluecliffs Beach/Rarakau, west of the Waiau River. This is also where the Hump Ridge Track begins, along a road called Papatotara Coast Road, which is first sealed and then turns into a gravel road.
There is accommodation before the track, at a place called 'The Cliffs Seaside Lodge' on the sealed section of Papatotara Coast Road.
There is also accommodation of more of a school-camp sort, further along on the gravel section of the road, at Rarakau.
The cost of the Hump Ridge Track starts, in season, at NZ $345 for the 'freedom walker' sharing accommodation with eight others. You can add a few extra hundred for the more luxurious options. I wonder if it will become more affordable once it becomes a Great Walk?
I came across a place clearly owned by a bit of a character, with driftwood art, an official sign saying to watch out for penguins, and old signs apparently retrieved from tramping tracks such as the Hollyford Track, which is where the lower one mentioning Martins Bay must have once stood.
The night before I did the Hump Ridge Track, a few years ago now, I stayed in Tūātapere at a backpackers’ hostel. Unfortunately, just as I was trying to get to sleep, the local youth began doing burnouts outside my window in their cars. There were people partying on the street and in the hostel until four o’clock in the morning.
After a patchy night’s sleep, I started the track and soon met a cigarette-smoking businessman from Hamilton who threw his cigarettes in the bush as he was tramping. I also met and tramped with a Dutch girl who had been tramping around New Zealand for four months. The sunset on the first night was so beautiful, and you could even see Rakiura/Stewart Island in the distance. As well as witnessing the stunning views, walkers on the track can also cross some of the world’s tallest wooden railway viaducts.
After completing the Hump Ridge Track, I returned to the same hostel in Tūātapere. The owner refunded my first night’s fees and then gave me a free night and a lift to Invercargill the next day, which was a great example of southern hospitality and more than made up for my issues on the first night.
Once in Invercargill, I met the DOC manager responsible for volunteer hut wardens, who took me shopping. Here I was to get the food I needed for my next adventure: a two-week stint at the Port William Hut in Rakiura/Stewart Island at the start of the North West Circuit Track.
Additional Resources:
TūātapereHumpridge Track: humpridgetrack.co.nz
The Southland App, by AdvocateCommunications
If you liked the post above, check out my new book about the South Island! It's available for purchase from this website.
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