Why "tramping"? "Our friends across the Tasman call it bushwalking. Visitors from the northern hemisphere refer to is as trekking or hiking. In New Zealand, heading off into the wild with packs loaded for several days has long been referred to as tramping, a term which might seem mildly eccentric - until you visit the landscape.

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It is the rugged nature of the land which has shaped New Zealand's tramping culture and which also dictates the slow plodding movements sometimes necessary to move steadily through the backcountry on foot. Stumbling over tree roots, easing along a craggy ridge, or scrambling up a streambed of boulders is not everyone's idea of enjoyable travel, but such is the nature of New Zealand tracks that tramping is a more apt description for it than others." Image and excerpt from Shaun Barnett & Rob Brown: Classic Tramping in New Zealand.

Empty and wild
"A walker's paradise would look like this: pristine chains of mountains, still covered in ancient forest and alpine wild flowers. Scenery that includes glaciers, ice-cream cone mountains, languid coastal lagoons, puffing volcanoes, brilliant beaches (nearly always empty of course), big rivers and high tussock uplands, liberally scattered with tarns as bright as a falcon's eye. [...]
Unreal? It's actually a fair description of the back-country of New Zealand. This country (particularly in the South Island) has one of highest proportions of protected lands anywhere in the world, and its many National Parks and Conservation Parks straddle vast areas of the country". From Mark Pickering: New Zealand's Top Tracks.

Mountainous
"New Zealand is a small country with a large mountain area. Endless ribs of foothills are joined to the spiny backbone of the country, with narrow ridges squeezed between sharp dissecting valleys [...] It is this rockbed of rumples and folds that offers such endless variety to local and overseas trampers. Add to that long-fingered fiords, lakes, smoking volcanoes, natural hot pools, the great glacier fields of the south and all the matted, rolling carpet of forest between - and you have the substance of the New Zealand mountain world. [...] The result is incomparable tramping opportunity." From Mark Pickering: 101 Great Tramps in New Zealand.

Weather
"New Zealand's weather is famously unpredictable, and each region has its own peculiarities. Fronts barrel along with astonishing speed, and it is quite possible you will get a different sort of weather every day.
Most of New Zealand's weather comes from the west, bringing moist winds and sometimes heavy rainfall. A sharp southerly frontal change also usually brings rain, and if it's cold enough, snow, although it will often clear dramatically afterwards". From Mark Pickering: New Zealand's Top Tracks.

Safety issues
"Safe tramping begins with thorough preparation. To collect information about your route, use this guidebook, maps and the knowledge of people who know the area you intend visiting. Try to match your experience, fitness and the time of year with an appropriate tramp. Ensure that the tramp selected is suitable for all members of the party, and don't tramp alone unless very experienced. Always leave clear intentions of where you are going with national park staff, or with other responsible people". From Robbie Burton and Maggie Atkinson: A Tramper's Guide to New Zealand's National Parks.

Of particular relevance to hiking and tramping in New Zealand are the safety issues of:
- river crossing
- weather changeability
- water hygiene (giardia). Detailed information about how to hike and tramp safely in New Zealand can be obtained from most books referred to in this section, as well as on the website of the Outdoor Safety Council.