Rakiura Track

5th Feburary 2026

One of New Zealand’s ‘Great Walks’. A 38km ‘tramp’. On a family holiday, I decided to tackle it as a run for joy, but also preparation and training. Training for what is unclear. Perhaps mental training, perhaps just for the pain. I offer a rough narrative of this great track, a lovely circuit around some of the special Stewart Island.

Employing the value of a full 8 hours sleep, I was packed and ready for the trail about 0830.

Physio-type stretches and activations done I walked down to Halfmoon Bay for the start – even though this would add 100m extra road and a small but steep hill. Still, it felt like the morally correct thing to do.

The first section if going from Oban is road running, 5km of pretty pleasing road and horseshoe bay – beautiful.

A narrow pass by a Ute with boat tow wakes me up. I continue plodding along a couple km of dirt road before the start of the beautiful coastal trail towards Maori beach; and then Magnetic beach and Port William hut.

The coastal trail here and the run along golden sands – joyous.

I meet a bunch of dudes, then a whole load of punters heading up from Port William. Trying to dodge them and their heavy packs on the downhill.

Quick food stop, pee, try to avoid being eaten alive by sandflies and away back up for the cross-country section all the way from Port William to North Arm. A steady climb here, but did not prepare me for what was to come.

I overtake the parties I’d met on the way down to the Port, where they had camped, relatively quickly and it is a lonely tramp.

Up up up, then down plodding over uneven and muddy wooden steps through the undulating cross-country section.

Very muddy in places and my feet go deep into the mud. I embrace it and embody my feet as small outboard motors through this terrain.

‘We love to see it!’ from a passing Scot as I am one with the mud.
Close to bonking a couple km out from North Arm, a snickers bar is deployed.
I’m running low on fluid.

North Arm campsite rainwater, snickers, nuts and the rest of my egg and ham sandwich aid but don’t quite salvage the required energy for the final push.

The legs are becoming heavy and pained, and after 1000m elevation, I realise my error in homework and checking offline maps, I have another 400m elevation to go.

I’m reduced to walking some uphills but after a saviour water source around 8km from finish, I replenish drinking the sickly chlorinated water from my purifying tablets and manage to grind out the final section. Weaving through beachside trails and eventually joining more central trails that lead to tarmac.

The last 5km are significantly easier and I’m able to keep a running cadence more comfortably, despite now cooking in full sun.

Digging for pace I’m exceedingly pleased to hit a sub 6-minute kilometer at 36km in.

I descend back into Oban, and after a rapid powerade from 4square supermarket, and chat with a party of 3 pensioners on holiday, one of whom was a retired Gynaecologist, I’m into the water and washing mud and cooling muscle.

Happily, despite failed text sending, I meet the others, having earlier told them I would ‘lose myself on the trails (unspecified) for a few hours’. They’ve just finished a parallel walk elsewhere, as I’m thigh deep in halfmoon bay.

A tramp well tramped. Would recommend as a trail run for those who are in town and with unclear training or personal motivations. Good track and outstanding scenery and vibe.