Responsible Tourism

Cobb Comfort

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Highlights of this tour:

On this, up to 5-day tour you will visit a remote glacially carved valley, high in the Kahurangi National Park. This is New Zealand's second largest and most diverse national park, and sits in the north -west corner of our South Island.

This is a sub/alpine to alpine area, with walks ranging in scenery to remote alpine lakes, southern Beech forest, tussock grasslands and mountains.

You will visit a predator trapping programme, aimed at eradicating introduced mammalian predators which are exterminating New Zealand's unique flora and fauna.

Each day walks can be arranged to suit your fitness levels - whether you want to spend your time meandering and enjoying the scenery, or wanting to be more adventurous and wish to climb to the top of peaks. Your guides will be educating you in the diverse flora and fauna and the reasons behind the conservation project.

Example of the itinerary:

Day 1: A 1 ½ hour drive to the remote cottage in the Cobb Valley, which sits beside a reservoir. This drive is through predominantly beech forest and takes us to approximately 1,100 metres. From this view above the tree line we can see the Cobb Area stretched out before us with the Valley below. From here we drive into the valley, sitting at 900metres, to our cottage.
After unpacking and settling in we will go out exploring for the rest of the day. We will pack a picnic lunch and walk for about 2 hours to sit on the western end of the Cobb Ridge with views throughout the interior of Kahurangi National Park, with the beautiful Lake Peel below. We can either sit on the ridge and enjoy our picnic lunch, or walk on down to the lake.
Home for an evening wine over dinner and discuss our days events and what is to come tomorrow, which we will do each evening.

Day 2: A walk over the eastern end of the Cobb Ridge and down to the Takaka River below. We will have our picnic lunch beside this pristine river, all the time keeping an eye out for the very ancient, rare and endangered Blue Duck (Whio), which is coming back in this area due to a very intensive predator trapping programme. The afternoon is spent walking back to the Cobb via a different route through a mixed forest type.

Day 3: We will walk for 2 hours through beech forest and arrive on to the Sylvester ‘tops'. We can visit three alpine lakes during the day, and see up to another 3. A day of spectacular 360 degree vistas - from Tasman Bay to the east, to the interior of the massive Kahurangi from the north to the south. Your picnic lunch can be had beside one of these lakes, or once again high on a ridge top.

Day 4: A relaxing day meandering up the Cobb Valley. This is a beautiful valley, with the walk taking us in and out of the forest and open grasslands, and following beside the river off and on. Within the valley walk we will show you our conservation project to protect our very vulnerable native birds from introduced mammalian predators. We will have our picnic lunch in a spot beside the river.

Day 5: On our final day we pack up our gear into our vehicle and will be dropped off on the eastern end of the Cobb Ridge once again. From here we will take a trail which will bring us out to an historical hut where local legends Henry and Annie Chaffey spent 40 years in isolation. During our previous 4-days, your guides will have told you the wonderful story about this very intrepid couple.
After lunching at their cottage (now maintained by our Department of Conservation), we will take the final 2 hour walk out to our waiting vehicle. From there we will drive the 1 ½ hours back to our base in Motueka.

The days will be decided by the weather conditions of any given day.

The benefits you bring in taking this tour:

With you booking this tour with us you immediately help us in our conservation efforts to protect the flora and fauna of Kahurangi National Park. Bush and Beyond Guided Walks give a donation on every booking to one of three conservation projects within the park. One of which is our own predator trapping project. You will hear all about these projects during your time with us.

You have the opportunity to give personal donations to these projects.

All of our guides are local people with a great knowledge of and a passion for our natural ecology. After spending up to 5 days with us you will have an understanding of New Zealand's very unique and fragile ecology, and why we must take steps to save what is left of it.

 

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