Akaroa, New Zealand — My hiking socks were melting. The quick-drying blend of wool and space-age fibers smoldered on the grate by the fire, forgotten as I fixed breakfast. The parlor of Flea Bay Hut filled with acrid smoke. John Evans, a late-rising Kiwi, wrinkled his nose as he bumped into the kitchen. "What's that awful smell?"
"The Yank's socks," replied his mate, Don Reilly, stirring his porridge.
"Hey, Yank," John said. "You should try washing them." Laughter filled the hut and lifted a bit of the fog that promised to cling through our second day of backpacking on the Banks Peninsula Track. John and Don -- stand-up and straight man, respectively -- provided comic relief, as they had all along the scenic coastal trail, with Kiwi idioms, tall tales and wry humor. As usual, the greater part of New Zealand's charm was in the breezy grace of its residents.
Backpacking, or "tramping," to use the Kiwi term for one of their favorite pastimes, can reward and frustrate visitors to New Zealand. The South Pacific nation boasts scores of backpacking trails that traverse terrains ranging from flat beaches to alpine ridges. But the popularity of certain trails can detract from the experience of hiking them.
More than 20,000 trekked the Coastal Track at Abel Tasman National Park last year. The Milford Track, considered by many to be the finest walk in the world, is so crowded that hikers need reservations six months in advance. Huts along some routes are full by midafternoon, and latecomers are forced to camp or hike to another hut. Treks can turn into a race to claim the next hut's bunks, and poor company can spoil a good walk.
But the Banks Peninsula, or "BP Track," on the South Island is different. It is New Zealand's first private hiking trail, owned and operated by farmers and landowners, who have earmarked a part of the proceeds from fees of $59 to $88 to preserve native vegetation and wildlife along it. The trail is limited to 16 backpackers a day. The track's four huts are spaced no more than six hours apart, and because hikers don't have to fight for a bunk each night, they can find their own pace, explore side trails or linger at lookouts. Hikers can also get to know the quirks of those on the trail with them. If they are lucky, as I was, most of their companions will be Kiwis. In my group of 10, eight were Kiwis. Another solo hiker and I took the remaining slots.
