Hump Ridge Track: The story of New Zealand’s latest Great Walk

Friday, 25 October 2024

Tuatapere Hump Track Ltd general manager Cedric Wedderburn says its newfound Great Walk status is a great opportunity to grow the track's brand.

A vision laced with a small community’s tenacity and hard work. That’s how the Hump Ridge Track became a reality in 2001.

Fast-forward 23 years, and today it officially becomes New Zealand’s 11th Great Walk, and the only one managed by a charitable trust.

New Zealand's Great Walks are classed by the Department of Conservation as premier tracks that pass through diverse and spectacular scenery.

The three-day, 60km Hump Ridge loop track in western Southland takes in multiple blocks of land including the southern part of the Fiordland National Park and a section of the DOC-managed South Coast Track.

Highlights include walking along a coastline where hectors dolphins surf the waves, climbing to a subalpine zone with expansive views, descending to near sea level and over historic viaducts in native forest, and walking past a historic sawmill and settlement area.

The Government announced in 2019 that the Hump Ridge Track would officially become New Zealand’s next Great Walk. It becomes official on October 25, 2024.

The original idea to build the track was devised by nearby Tuatapere residents when economic misfortune struck the town.

Tuatapere was a thriving forestry town with more than 20 sawmills, but government restrictions on native logging in the early 1990s gutted that industry and forced locals to rethink its future, given the massive economic impacts.

The community kicked into action and a public meeting was held to discuss building a track which would attract visitors and tourists to nearby Tuatapere.

Steve Canny, who was heavily involved in the track’s beginnings, said the Tuatapere Hump Track Charitable Trust was formed and the years 1994 to 2001 were dedicated to planning, obtaining consents and concessions, fundraising and latterly building the track.

The trust had raised about $5.5 million to build the track and lodges, which included donations of timber and other materials from Southland businesses, and about $1m from the government, Canny said.

About 30,000 volunteer hours were spent constructing the track, boardwalks and buildings ahead of its November 2001 opening.

Tuatapere Hump Track Limited general manager Cedric Wedderburn said the perseverance and tenacity of the residents to make the track a reality had to be admired.

Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track general manager Cedric Wedderburn says its new-found Great Walk status is a great opportunity to grow the track's brand.

The track was officially opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark in November 2001, with Wedderburn saying more than 3000 people walked it in the first year.

But numbers gradually declined to a low-point of about 900, and the trust struggled to make a surplus in its first 14 years.

Wedderburn, employed as the track’s general manager in 2015, said a turnaround strategy was initiated, with a large focus placed on costs, efficiencies and customer experience.

The Hump Ridge Track in southern Fiordland includes a climb to a subalpine zone with expansive views.

The trust, which offered walkers three different packages, had made a surplus every year since, which enabled much-needed maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.

This was “great timing”, as it enabled a business case to be put forward when the Great Walk opportunity arose in 2019, he said.

At that time, the Government decided the country needed at least one more Great Walk and asked if any private tracks with business cases could fill that space, he said.

The Hump Track’s board and trust members debated the pros and cons of applying, as the Tuatapere community wanted to retain the track’s independence, Wedderburn said.

Red lines on map shows the southern Fiordland location of New Zealand’s latest Great Walk, the Hump Ridge Track.

The decision was made to apply, and the Hump Ridge Track was chosen from more than 30 applicants seeking Great Walk status.

The Government had since invested $7.9m upgrading the track to a Great Walk standard, while the trust was three quarters the way through spending $1m on lodge infrastructure upgrades.

A memorandum of understanding was agreed to between DOC and the trust in 2019, on how to progress the track’s development, but the track’s ownership structure would not change with its Great Walk status.

The trust would continue to manage, operate and fund the track and facilities, including ongoing maintenance and conservation initiatives, Wedderburn said.

Boardwalks are a feature of the Hump Ridge Track.

He believed the Great Walk brand would put it on a solid footing for future growth and be a strong marketing tool to attract more international trampers.

About 3100 people walked the track in the six-month 2023-24 season, but Wedderburn said the lodges could accommodate at least 5000 people in a season.

Ironically, the trust’s surplus would decrease significantly in the first few years due to additional maintenance and pest control costs required to maintain Great Walk standards, Wedderburn said.

“It takes us back a few years as far as operational surplus is concerned, but we expect the marketing benefit from the Great Walks brand to increase surplus over time.”

Canny said the track’s ownership model had worked well over the years.

The community had benefited with greater visitor numbers to Tuatapere and more diverse employment opportunities.

“And it’s been largely done through a tremendous amount of volunteer work.

“It didn’t just happen through people sitting around a board table. They were up there rolling their sleeves up.”

More than 70,000 hours of volunteer work had so far been done on the track.

Canny said the western Southland community had a history of working collectively for the things they believed in.

“I suppose it’s part of their pioneering DNA.”