Wilderness Walks a winner

Winning walk: Nicky McArthur is proud of the recognition Kaikoura Wilderness Walks is receiving.

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Kaikoura Wilderness Walks has become the latest in a string of recommended Kaikoura activities, adding to the list of national and international accolades the town has received.

The unique private walking track located in the Puhi Peaks Nature Reserve was named by Christchurch media man Kip Brook who runs national media company Word Of Mouth NZ. The company has just launched its annual New Zealand travel awards and has named Wilderness Walks as the best hill tramp in the country.

Mr Brook describes the walk as a "glorious six hour walk though beech, totara and podocarp forests to snowy alpine meadows with wild deer".

Passionate owner operator Nicky McArthur became involved in the Kaikoura region in 2003, helping to establish Shearwater Lodge and taking over Kaikoura Wilderness Walks and Pui Peaks Station 2008. She is delighted that the walk has achieved such recognition as she has long considered the area unique in natural beauty and knows the experience is second to none.

"It is all about delivering a holistic wilderness experience," she says. "It's as much about the walk as it is about the lodge as it is about the whole environment. It is also very much about being a team and a family. We deliver a very personal experience which is unique in the fact that it is on private land which people would otherwise not get to see."

Nicky is a strong advocate for environmental conservation and is involved both with the QEII covenant and the Huttons Shearwater Charitable Trust. So it comes as no surprise that Kaikoura Wilderness Walks was one of the first activities nationwide to boast a Qualmark Enviro-Bronze accreditation, which it achieved one year ago.

A further nine businesses in Kaikoura have been accredited with Enviro awards, including an impressive three of the 18 nationwide Enviro-Gold awards, which shows that Kaikoura is certainly standing out in environmental attention.

This is befitting of a town which was the first globally to achieve Green Globe status.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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