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North track could be one of NZ's best - THURSDAY JULY 29, 2010

IDYLLIC: A small "basic" campsite will be created for trampers at Pandora Bay.

Trampers could in future flock to the top of the Far North for a unique adventure experience in a relatively uninhabited area.
The Department of Conservation's plans to upgrade the Te Paki Reserve track and put in two small campsites are expected to rank it alongside the Abel Tasman National Park as one of the finest coastal tracks in the country.  
The Te Paki track upgrade will give trampers improved access to dunefields, beaches, coastal forest, wetlands and  spectacular views of the 18,878ha reserve.
The new campsites which the track upgrade would create for trampers would be small, low-impact sites with water supplies, composting toilets,  cooking shelters and tent sites at Twilight Beach and Pandora Bay at Whangakea Beach.
These "basic" campsites and upgraded walkways would provide a circuit trampers could get around in three or four days, nearly all of it easy walking.
The Department of Conservation's Kaitaia area manager, Jon Maxwell, said tramping was extremely popular in the South Island, and on the  mountainous central plateau and other areas of the North Island.
"The Te Paki track could become equally as popular, particularly among people who wanted to tramp in winter and didn't want to freeze," he said.
The  Te Paki Reserve includes Cape Reinga, which Mr Maxwell said was all most visitors saw when they drove the 120km from Kaitaia to the northern end of State Highway One.
"They take a look around the  lighthouse then turn around and drive back."
But the huge reserve had many more scenic and other attractions, Mr Maxwell said.
As well as the Te Paki track and Cape Reinga, the reserve has campgrounds at Spirits Bay and Taputaputa and a range of short and medium tracks.
Recent work at Cape Reinga and the sealing of State Highway One had included the creation of four pull-over sites along the roadside between Waitiki Landing and the Cape, providing outstanding views and picnic spots.
Mr Maxwell said Te Paki Reserve was an amazing asset for the Far North. 
He said the Cape already attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and with continuing Department of Conservation investment into the area  the future for tourism in the Far North was looking brighter and brighter.