Clues found in search for missing tramper Darren Myers in the Tararua Ranges

Darren Myers (right) with brother-in-law Duncan Styles. Myers was reported missing on June 1 after failing to return from a tramp in the Tararua Ranges. Photo / Supplied

Police have located two clues in the search for missing tramper Darren Myers.

Myers, 49, was reported missing after he failed to return home from a hike through the Northern Crossing in the Tararua Ranges on June 1.

Sergeant Tony Matheson said on Saturday a search team found a chocolate bar wrapper wedged in rocks in the headwaters of Arete Stream.

"This is an isolated area and is 600 vertical metres below Arete Bivouac where Darren was last known to be," Matheson said.

"We know he had this brand of chocolate bar with him. The wrapper is in very good condition and has an expiry date of 2020 so we are hopeful it belonged to him."

Police search and rescue look for missing tramper Darren Myers in the Tararua Ranges. Photo / Wairarapa Search and Rescue

Matheson said the severe wind conditions in the park could have played a part in how the wrapper arrived in the Arete Stream.

A second search team located a series of boot prints in mud on the route near the Arete Bivouac on Saturday.

"The boot prints were infrequent and indicated a single person travelling on the Northern Crossing route prior to the recent snowfall.

"Due to the age of the boot prints there is no pattern to assist with identification but we suspect they belong to Darren and date back to the day he left Arete Bivouac."

The search for Myers continued today with a focus on the areas highlighted by these two clues.

Myers, an experienced tramper, set off on the hike on May 28. His last contact was a text message to his wife Kim Shaw the following Thursday.

Myers' brother-in-law Duncan Styles earlier said the family are caught between grieving and holding out hope he will be found alive.

"Every day is D-Day for us," he said.

"But as you get to the end of each day and there's no news then D-Day never comes."

The family are reluctant to start thinking about life without Myers, Styles said.

"It's the big unknown. What do you do? It's like a grieving thing that we are going through but we are staying positive that Darren will be found alive so we may as well carry on.

"We definitely just don't want to plan what life would be like if it doesn't work out."

Myers and Shaw moved to Wellington from Sawbridgeworth, England, 18 months ago.