Chatham Islands: 10 walks on the edge of the world

The author with the Chathams' famous basalt crystal columns in the background. Photo / Michael Botur

Seven hundred kilometres east and 45 minutes ahead on the clock, the Chatham Islands resemble a country farm plopped in the middle of the Pacific.

New Zealand's easternmost region sits on the edge of the international dateline, meaning its 700-odd people are the first to receive each day.

Fly direct with Air Chathams from Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, and you'll arrive in an agriculture-dominated landscape covered in cows, quad bikes, and crayfish cages.
The advantage is that on the fringes of the island — the cliffs, beaches, swamps and hills — you can find day walks with never-ending views that feel truly wild.

Many are private and not maintained by DoC, so phone ahead for permission to explore (ask for anyone's number and locals will tell you four digits, as every landline starts with 305). Phoning ahead means there are extra eyes looking out for you — plus once the locals know your name, it's that much easier to hitchhike (although it's unthinkable for a local to drive past someone with their thumb out.)
Anyhow, here's a guide to 10 day walks on the edge of the world.

1. The wild swampy barrens of the southern tablelands are eerie and endless. Stop just before Owenga and hop a stile to begin. This wilderness is riven with tannin-blackened rivers and unique tarahinau peat bush. Walk an hour through a steadily rising landscape before you hit a remote junction taking you into the two-hour loop around the Rangaika-Thomas Tuuta Scenic Reserve. The Chathams' highest peak (a humble 299m) is 10km west from here, though impossible to access.

2. The Rangaika-Thomas Tuuta Scenic Reserve Track
After the stile, thick clifftop forest begins. Walkers immediately enter a gnarly forest straight out of Hansel and Gretel, complete with wild pigs and goats. The trees are bent over and curled, their growth stunted by peat bog and wind. Estimated walking time: five hours loop from the Owenga road.

3.

Climb the stone mountain Maunganui above the category 1 heritage-listed stone cottage of Helen Bint at the northwest corner of the main island. You'll get fantastic northern coastal views. Estimated time an hour up, 30 minutes down.

Looking north towards Tonga from Maunganui. Helen Bint's stone cottage is below. Photo / Michael Botur

4. Admiral Gardens, between the airport and the town of Waitangi, gives tourists access to private walking tracks through the dunes and karaka forests on the owner's property beside two sparkling dune lakes. You can get a garden tour and real Chathams fish and food, too — the owner is a local entrepreneur who, when telling you where the kaimoana came from, might mention casually that her son has been attacked by great white sharks "once or twice" — but it's okay. He knows now to punch them on the nose. Estimated walking time 40 minutes from Admiral Gardens to beach.

5. Pitt Island features the most remote walking you'll ever do. Expect wild shores covered in paua, bones of whales and sharks in the sand dunes, and Saxony merino sheep. Access: flight from Waitangi Airport or boat from Owenga; overnight stay at Flowerpot Lodge. Note that the Chathams recently implored non-residents to take it easy on the wild seafood. It's a staple of their economy.

6. Tucked into the cliffs of a private property an hour southwest of Waitangi, the Awatotara Track follows tannin-blackened waterfalls down a steep valley and arrives at a wild cove covered in washed-up buoys and crayfish pots. Estimated time: three to four hours return. Koha suggested.

7. On the main island's northeast, 20 minutes before Kaingaroa, boardwalks around the wetlands on the fringes of the endless Te Whanga lagoon take you on 30-60 minute loops built by DoC. There are several to choose from.

8. See ancient dendroglyphs (tree carvings) on the Wharekauri trail at the main island's north end, an hour from Waitangi. These were carved by Moriori into the kopi (karaka) trees. Estimated time: one hour return. Add a beach walk.

9. Your bus should stop at Henga Scenic Reserve. Go east one minute to Blind Jim's Beach to collect fossilised shark teeth; go west for a two-hour return hike through volcanic rock, eerie forest and down the dunes onto a wild, featureless beach. Expect black swans, feral goats, wild horses, weka, dolphin bones, steer skulls and paua shells amongst the unmissable blue-flowered Chatham Islands forget-me-nots.
Further on, expect your bus to stop beside the Nikau Bush Conservation Area, a tiny 30- minute return walk through regenerating bush.

10. Walk to see the seals at Point Munning on Chatham Island's northeast corner live on spears of sparkling white schist that looks straight outta Star Trek. Drive time from Waitangi: one hour. Walking: one hour return. On the way, stop at Manauea (Ocean Mail) Scenic Reserve for a short walk around more lagoons.

* Michael Botur is a Northland-based award-winning writer of novels, short stories and travelogues.