North Island - West Coast - Mt Egmont, etc.
 

Hi Fodorites,

I am in the early planning stages of a mid-October trip which will focus on North Island. My plan is to concentrate on the Mt. Egmont area and perhaps a few days around Wanganui.

I want to focus on hikes of 2-4 hour duration. Question. Will the lower elevations, not the summit, of Mt. Egmont - and in general the West Coast be accessible at this time of year? Snow is nice but I would rather look at it from afar vice tramp through it.

Thank you.

Every year can of course be different and though I've not actually been in that neck of NZ woods in October, I reckon by then it'd be most unlikely to get snow below 1500m.

October can still be a bit on the windy wet and cooler side though and you'll get plenty of cooler winds from SW off the southern ocean.

If you get a glimpse of Mt Taranaki consider yourself lucky. Be prepared for wet weather. I found the trails in this National Park to be root-filled and not as well formed as in some others. OTOH, that time of year is peak bloom for the rhododendrens, so don't miss Pukeiti. They do have a lot of walks inside the reserve.

Unless you ahve already traveled extensively in NZ, this area wouldn't be my first priority.

I have been to SI every year for the last four years and was looking for something a bit different for nine days beginning in mid-October.

What about the east side of the North Island.. East Cape and Napier areas of the North Island, weather might be a bit drier in October? Coromandel Peninsula is also nice with lots of walks although not sure about weather, I think it gets more rain vs. Hawkes Bay/Bay of Plenty.

Do you think I might find dryer, less windy conditions from Taupo and westward?

Do you mean from Taupo and Eastward by any chance? for heading west you're heading up into higher though not overly mountainous country.

Another choice if you haven't been further north would be to head up to what they call the far north and do both east [more developed in some areas] and west coast and then up to Cape Rienga.

Yes, I meant eastward. I have not been in Northland but my research did not indicate that much in terms of tracks.

Ignore my comment on Northland and tracks - there are many great walks.

The west coasts of both islands tend to get the brunt of the Tasman storms in spring, wheras the east side of the mountain ranges have a rain shadow.. Northland is beautiful, but I did catch a lot of rain when I was there over a November/early December.