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New Zealand’s nature (Roys Peak), with additional comments by Google reviewers. (Photo: Anne via Unsplash)
New Zealand’s nature (Roys Peak), with additional comments by Google reviewers. (Photo: Anne via Unsplash)

SocietyJanuary 16, 2025

The worst Google reviews of New Zealand’s best tramps

New Zealand’s nature (Roys Peak), with additional comments by Google reviewers. (Photo: Anne via Unsplash)
New Zealand’s nature (Roys Peak), with additional comments by Google reviewers. (Photo: Anne via Unsplash)

We love to suffer through tramps to enjoy natural beauty… except when we don’t.

It can feel a bit shitty to stay inside and wallow all day when it’s nice out. Hot sunlight hits your window and your mum’s voice rings around in your head: get outside and enjoy the bloody nature! There’s only so much sand you can get in your crack, so at some point, we lace up our boots (or slap on some jandals) and head for the hills. We endure hours, even days, of gruelling tramping and come out the other side feeling accomplished and in love with a certain tree, bird or the way the sunlight hits a mountain. Unless of course, we don’t. 

These are collected thoughts from people who have tramped some of the best tracks in the country and then thought: “that was shit… I’m going to leave a bad Google review”.

Kauaeranga Kauri Trail (Pinnacles Walk)

The track finishes on a rocky scramble right to the peak. (Image: Destination Coromandel)

The Kauaeranga Kauri Trail is so popular that the 80 berth hut is booked out most weekends through summer. Its crowning glory is the rocky outcrop (pinnacles) right at the tip of the mountain, from which normal people view the sunset and freaks view the sunrise. The track dates back to the 1920s, when it was used weekly by packhorses to take supplies to kauri loggers. Now, the rock steps remind you why The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand, and that people back in the day must have worked way harder and been way stronger than us office dwellers. My personal review? Gorgeous and romantic. Counterpoint:

Kepler Track

An alpine ridgeline on the Kepler. (Photo: Nomad Tales via Wikipedia)

One of the Greats! In Fiordland National Park! Beautiful lake shorelines, tussock and podocarp forest! Big views over big mountains! Impressive limestone bluffs! Real life panoramas! A gorgeous gorge! 

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Bright green emerald lakes on a dry rocky mountain
Ngā Rotopounamu seen about halfway on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. (Photo: Marcus Holland-Moritz via Wikimedia)

This tramp is considered one of the top tramps in the WORLD, aka that rock in space most of us will never leave. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing takes many swooning trampers through a dramatic volcanic alpine landscape with steaming vents, glacial valleys, ancient lava flows, a red crater, the famous Ngā Rotopounamu / Emerald Lakes and Te Wai Whakaata o Te Rangihīroa / Blue Lake. It has magnificent views over Lake Rotoaira and Lake Taupō. The iconic track is located in our oldest national park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site twice over. Hard to beat. 

one star review saying "mountain was dusty - no gift shop" one star review saying, "nothing... it's nothing..."

two star review saying, "no hobbits or elves. overrated"

Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve / Rangituhi

View from the top of the knob. (Photo: WellingtonNZ)

Don’t be put off by the name. The knob is a lovely hill behind Porirua which can be climbed in two hours. The best of the three tracks starts at the Broken Hill Road carpark and takes walkers through kohekohe forest and past the man-made lakes which once supplied water to Porirua Hospital. At the top of the 468 metre high knob, you can spy on Mt Taranaki, Waikanae, Kapiti island, Mana island, the South Island and … Porirua.

one star review saying "never climbed it"

three star review saying "medium level knob, I've seen better and worse"

Five star review saying "want to see Porirua? want to walk up 700+ stairs to get a view? Well, colonial knob is waiting for you... no toilets, so be prepared"

Ballroom Overhang Track

A large, curved limestone overhang
A slice of the overhang. (Photo: Birdbabe via Wikipedia)

In the Paparoa National Park, a couple of hours up the Fox River on the South Island’s west coast, is a massive limestone overhang. It looks like Gaudi got lost in the bush and also discovered brutalism. Sublime! The natural shelter was carved by a bend in the river and forms a half dome partially sealed in by trees. It’s an adventurous path with multiple river crossings where you’re unlikely to see other trampers. The tramp is officially sanctioned by Wilderness Magazine deputy editor Leigh Hopkinsin as her favourite bush walk. But not all reviewers are so smitten.

Two star review saying, "I have never known such misery form a walk"

Taranaki summit track

Have trampers ever looked so smoll? (Photo: Michal Klajban via Wikimedia)

No one has ever said this is an easy track, and a cursory glance at the maunga will tell you much you need to know: it’s tall, steep, snowy and rocky. Best of all, it stands like a lonely nipple on an otherwise flat stretch of land, so the 360° view from the top is monumental. Mt Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe and Tongariro are in the distance, beyond Whanganui National Park. To the east, the Tasman Sea dissolves into the horizon. The track is epic, climbing from forest into rocky ridges, loose scree slopes and finally a snowy mountain top. According to one reviewer, it’s “easily one of the worst summit hikes I’ve ever done”, and they’re not alone.

one star review saying "has unslightly snow just lying around everywhere"

three star review saying "trek is tough but when you reach the summit it was not worth the view"

four star review saying "raining heavily so couldn't see much"

Rakiura Track

There’s much fin to be had on the suspension bridges of the Rakiura track. (Photo: Sarang / GG via Wikimedia)

Way down on a little island that’s much the same as it was thousands of years ago, a three day tramp takes you from cove to cove and through thickets of bush. At night there’s plenty of screeching kiwi and at the right time of year, you can see the Southern Lights. Eleven months ago, One reviewer found the walk “spectacular” even though she didn’t see kiwi and rain “chucked down”. Others commented on the “untouched nature”, “beautiful beaches” and “magnificent trees”. At least one online ranking has the Rakiura Track in the top 10 globally. What’s not to love? Well…

two star review saying, "didn't like the walk, it was super muddy and the landscape is just very average. Can easily find somewhere better anywhere else"

Lake Waikaremoana

Honestly… (Photo: Department of Conservation via Flickr).

Pristine ancient rainforest, a rippling misty lake, views over a spectacular mountain range and waterfalls. The three day walk around Lake Waikaremoana is one of the country’s official Great Walks and generally considered beautiful. The lake is described as looking like “rough-cut emeralds” and its mists weave into the surrounding bush. Rare native plants like Dactylanthus, green and red mistletoes and ngutukākā set the scene for tui, bellbird, fantail, tomtit, kaka, kakariki, North Island robin, New Zealand falcon, rifleman, and at night, morepork and North Island brown kiwi. One visitor, who completed the walk five years ago and left a five star review, called it Heaven on Earth. “I will return !!!!!” they proclaimed. Others, as always, were less impressed.

a one star review saying "no wifi and no drinks so I couldnt have fun on tik tok"

Keep going!
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SocietyJanuary 16, 2025

Help Me Hera: I’ve already broken four of my five new year resolutions

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I’ve already broken most of my resolutions, and it’s only January. How do I salvage my clean slate?

Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz

Dear Hera,

It’s only 6 days into the new year, and I’m already ready for 2026. I made five resolutions and have already broken all but one of them. I resolved to improve my relationship with my sister, and we’ve already had a catastrophic fight. I resolved to read one book a week, but so far I haven’t turned a single page. I resolved to stop smoking, and I literally only lasted 3 hours. I went out for a “run” and ended up throwing up in the Pt Chev bushes and having to catch the bus back home (I probably shouldn’t run hungover lol). It’s kind of funny, but I also feel pretty disappointed in myself. The only resolution I haven’t already messed up is to get my restricted, but I haven’t exactly done anything constructive about it. I can’t help but feel that 2025 is cursed. Should I start over? Or should I give it up and wait for 2026.

Grubby Slate

A line of dark blue card suit symbols – hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades

Dear Grubby,

On the face of it, it seems like bad planning to put the first day of the new year directly after the last night of the previous year. New Year’s Day is all about lofty ideals and fresh starts. Which would be fine, if New Year’s Eve wasn’t about getting accidentally wasted and having a panic attack on a balcony. Nobody wants to ring in a new year haggard and stupefied, repenting for their crimes of the previous evening. On the other hand, there’s something undeniably jolly about the tradition of intentionally fucking it all up before you’ve even started. A little check on your grand ambitions of the year ahead. I spent new years day catatonic with sunburn, watching all three Lord of the Rings movies accidentally out of order. 

I think we should take a leaf out of the page of the Maya calendar. They had a short, five-day month at the end of the solar year called Wayeb – a “time out of time” during which the boundaries between the living and the dead were thin, and the potential for misfortune and tragedy was high. People stayed home, performed rituals and didn’t wash or comb their hair. Not only were these five days mathematically essential, to keep the various sub-calendars in astronomical alignment, they also sound like a perfect January. 

January is the first pancake. It’s for the dogs. Take a fortnight off, and wait for the Lunar New Year on the 29th, Year of the Snake. That should give you a little bit of time to workshop your resolutions. 

One of the problems with new year resolutions is the word resolutions. It sounds so judicial. New year wishes sounds better. But can you new year wish to stop smoking? Whatever you call them – intentions, aspirations – maybe it’s better to think of them as something to earnestly work towards, rather than something you can break. In a perfect world, the clock would tick over from December to January, and you would never light a ciggie again. But it’s already too late to have never smoked in 2025, and it doesn’t really matter. Let’s not say the Titanic hit an iceberg and the watertight bulkheads are gravely damaged. Let’s say the Titanic is poised on the brink of history, laying the groundwork which will eventually win James Cameron his first Academy Award. You haven’t broken your resolution to quit smoking. You are constructively working towards your new year wish of not being a smoker. Now get a prescription for some nicotine patches and let’s move on. 

As for the other resolutions, you know what they say, don’t run before you can run. Have you ever thought about speed walking? You could even do it with an audiobook. That’s two resolutions for the price of one. Then call your sister and apologise for whatever it was you said. 

‘Like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, each member is vital to the whole picture. Join today.’
Calum Henderson
— Production editor

My second piece of advice is to add some fun resolutions to your list. There’s nothing wrong with having an exacting and puritanical set of goals to fail to aspire to, but maybe you should add a hobby class or a famous walk or something enjoyable and low effort you can’t automatically fuck up in the first week. Maybe you could invite your sister along if you’re still talking. 

When you do fuck it up, don’t worry about it. It’s hard to change your life, and most people can only do it in increments. If you allow a little room for human error, it will be easier to get back on track, once the cigarette smoke has cleared. 

Best wishes, for the Year of the Snake.