Most beautiful of all

Fiordland’s Routeburn and Greenstone Tracks, combined at 7km and both within the World Heritage-listed area of Te Wahipounamu in south-west New Zealand, make for “what might be the most beautiful walk in the world’s most beautiful country” describes Tim Dick for The Sydney Morning Herald. “The Greenstone Track follows the river of the same name and day one is a four-hour undulating walk through dense bush, punctuated by river crossings and waterfalls. We pass only three people going the other way and a woman having a nude dip in the river … Day four takes us beyond the treeline and into the heat. The trade-off for losing shade is views out to the Tasman Sea and, as we pass the 1277-metre-high point of Harris Saddle, down to Lake Harris. The last day is all down: a 52m drop through forest alongside the Routeburn to the final swing bridge heralding the end of the walk.”