>>2259425>I didn't think of calling the DOC officesYeah bro, they're super helpful. You'll find an office near every national park, and in most reasonable sized towns around the country. Either go in, or just give them a call.
Also council websites are pretty helpful if you're going to be crossing rivers, but may be of limited use if you don't have local knowledge to decide what's high or not. Example:
https://www.tasman.govt.nz/my-region/environment/environmental-data/river-flow/wairoa-irvines/If you're after something a bit epic, look at doing something around the Karamea River.
You can either start at Mt Arthur, walk along the tops for a couple of days, drop into the valley, and follow the river to Karamea township, or if you want to dial up the gnar, do this one, it's pretty epic.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/nelson-tasman/places/kahurangi-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/leslie-karamea-track/These "tracks" are just bits of white louvre nailed to trees every now and then. however expert you are, sooner or later, you're going to go off track. It's reasonably easy to navigate by following rivers, but choosing the right ridge to follow up or down can be a bit hit n miss. No real consequences for wrong decisions, other than you might be having a night out. A couple of things to be aware of if you head up that way:
* It can absolutely shit down any time of year, but usually only for a couple of days at a time. Carry extra food. (There's water everywhere, and you can drink it straight from the rivers.)
*DOC track times are accurate, if not optimistic in these areas (close to town, "45min" might be more like 15)
*Down the Karamea valley - and this is the only place I've ever seen it - there's a native nettle called Ongaonga, and it can fuck you up. It's really obvious to spot, and if you need to go through it, wrap yourself up in goretex (great fun on a 30c day...) and don't let it touch your skin. See next post...
