Hokitika Weekend: Hokitika Gorge Walk (post III of IV)

A visit to the Hokitika Gorge Walk

On day two of our trip to Hokitika my partner Karen and I went to the beautiful Hokitika Gorge Walkway. I wasn't expecting much as it looked dark and rainy in the mountains around the gorge but when we got there we had a period of fine clear weather. 

Looking down on the Hokitika Gorge Swing-bridge, Hokitika

Hokitika Gorge is famous as a featured scene in post cards from New Zealand....the water running through the gorge has a brilliant aquamarine color to it which makes for spectacular photos. The walkway is short...about 45 minutes return and leads you down to a swing-bridge over the gorge and to a good vantage point at the end of the track. 

The car park at the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

After visiting the gorge we went to Lake Kaniere via the gravel road around the head of the lake but I will be talking about that interesting trip in the last installment of our Hokitika trip. 

Walking down to the Hokitika Gorge swing-bridge

For the extensive car park at the start of the track it is about 20 minutes walk to the swing-bridge and from there to the end of the track near some lookout rocks. The track quality is very good as this is a well worn and well used tourist track visited by A LOT of people......

Toilet block at start of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

There are a couple of information panels at the start of the track which explain a bit of the history and geological features of the area. Stop and have a look as they will add to your enjoyment of the rest of the walk. 

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: information panel 1 at the car-park

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: information panel 2 at the carpark

The start of the track is located right next to the information panels...from here it is about 20 minutes walk to the end of the track next to the lookout on a rocky promontory located there. The track is fringed with typical dense West Coast bush and there are some magnificent examples of podocarp trees as well. 

Start of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Karen at the start of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

A wide accommodating track...Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Most of the trees are Kaihikatea but I also saw some Totora, Rimu, Miro and Matai trees mixed into the forest. Some of them are 30+ meters tall and totally covered in a whole mini eco-system of flowers, epiphytes and vines. 

Old growth podocarp trees next to Hokitika Gorge Walkway

There are extensive areas of boardwalk along the Walkway...some of it is required to by pass bluffs and side streams but most of it is to protect the delicate eco-system which exists in the under story. The ground is swampy off the track and supports a whole range of plants which enjoy those type of conditions. 

There is a lot of boardwalk on the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

You get your first view of the Hokitika Gorge about 300 meters along the track...a view down onto the area around the swing bridge over the river. It was a bit dim and rainy on the day we visited but still spectacular...the river running through the gorge is a otherworldly blue color...it is quite beautiful really.

First view of Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge from the track

Main course of the Hokitika River.....from the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Hokitika Gorge from the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

There are information panels spread along the track which talk to different aspects of the local flora and ecology. They also explain the history of the walkway which started out as a little known local curiosity but quickly became a modern tourism mecca visited by literally hundreds of thousands of people a year. That is why the tracks are built to such a high standard....

Information panel along the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

No drones are allowed along DOC tracks......

Generally this is a very safe destination BUT I would keep a close rein on any children you bring here as there are a couple of places where a fall from the track could cause significant injury or death. I'm assuming that the adults among you would have the good sense to stay on the track and away from the edges but then I have seen some true idiocy from supposed grown ups before...

Heading down to the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge

Closer view of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge

There are a profusion of ferns along the track ranging from small ground dwellers 5 cm tall to massive Tree Ferns 6-7 meters tall. They are especially beautiful when they grow over the sides of the track and cascade down the face...

Fernery along the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Epiphytes growing in trees along the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

More epiphyte covered trees on the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Typical thick bush along the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Eventually you arrive at the swing bridge it is one of the larger versions I have seen with a wooden walkway and strong and sturdy looking support infrastructure. You get magnificent views both up and downstream so make sure you stop and take a couple of pictures while you are on the bridge. 

Anchor point for the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge

The impressive swing-bridge over the Hokitika Gorge

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: Jon on the Hokitika Gorge swing-bridge

...more Jon on the Hokitika Gorge swing-bridge...

Karen taking photos of the Hokitika Gorge

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: Hokitika Gorge looking east....

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: Hokitika Gorge looking west

You can just stop here and admire the view but for a different perspective keep walking down the track for another five minutes and visit the rocky promontory at the end of the track. 

Heading to the Hokitika Gorge lookout

The track continues down towards the rivers edge...it is of the same type and condition as the rest of the walkway but this is another section where caution is required. Keep your kids close as there are spots along here where they could fall into the river if they stray off the track. 

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: on the track to the rock promontory...

Track to the rock promontory...Hokitika Gorge Walkway

More beautiful track heading down to the Hokitika River

At the current end of the track there is a very nice lookout platform with a short track right down to the waters edge. There is an awesome view of the gorge in both directions as well as the swing bridge just up stream. 

Safety messages at the lookout on the  Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

Jon at the river lookout, Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

As you can see it is worth coming down to the end of the track up close you can see just how deep the gorge is...The bush comes right down to the high water mark along both sides of the river and is a mixture of moss, dense bush and large podocarp trees. 

Great view of the Hokitika Gorge from the lookout

 Hokitika Gorge Walkway : that is some seriously deep water.....

If you decide to climb down to the river take extreme care on the rocky path...it was very slippery and I saw several people fall over as they tried to climb down the track. Karen was not keen on the idea at all and stayed up near the platform...I very gingerly climbed down to have a look at the river up close. 

Jon carefully descends to the Hokitika River,  Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

 Hokitika Gorge Walkway lookout: view down stream to swing bridge

Take especial care walking along the edge of the rock promontory..the rock is so slippery it would be very easy to fall into the water. It would be icy cold and it would be a crap shoot if you survived for long enough to get rescued. There is a life buoy near the platform but no-one is around to fish you out if you take a swim. 

I saw one totally crazy European couple sitting right on the edge of a rock suspended 30 odd feet above the river taking selfies...nut-bars! It made both myself and Karen cringe waiting for them to fall into the water...yikes!!!

Jon looking at the super deep water in front of the  Hokitika Gorge Walkway  lookout

...care is needed at the end of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway .....

The Hokitika river has deeply incised the rock in the Hokitika Gorge

Super slippery rocks at the end of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

Safety buoy at end of Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

There is a new and exciting development to the Hokitika Gorge Walkway...DOC and the local Regional Council are extending the walkway further along the gorge. Eventually the track will go another kilometer along the true left of the river before crossing a new swing-bridge to the right hand bank. The track will then follow an old but upgraded track back to the car park. This will nearly double the length of the track and make this a 1.5 hour circuit track. 

Work has already commenced as some of the track is due to open in December 2019...I will come back to visit when it is finished as it will be a great we circuit track. 

The fenced off new section of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

New section of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway as seen from the river

More of the new section of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

 Hokitika Gorge Walkway: new section of walkway due to open in December 2019...

 Hokitika Gorge Walkway: heading back to the swing bridge 

After 20 minutes at the track end we started the climb back up to the car park...the track gradient is mild so the climb back is not all that taxing...the return route for now is back along the way you came. 

Back to the Hokitika Gorge car-park

I visited the Hokitika Gorge back in the late 1990's at that time it was a little visited local point of interest with a basic and very muddy track. You can get an idea of what it was once like down near the end of the track where an area of muddy swamp surround the walkway...this is what the track used to look like...

Natural state of the forest floor along the Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

Walking through Tree Ferns on the Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

On of the side bridges on the Hokitika Gorge Walkway 

There is a track next to the swing bridge which leads further up river through the forest...if you were heading up the Whitcombe River Valley which feeds the Hokitika River this is one of the ways you get there. 

The Whitcombe is real tiger country..in its lower reaches over grown track, very basic huts and some bush bashing but further upstream it is a whole world of hurt. Dense impenetrable bush, bluffs, dangerous stream crossings and an alpine pass which dumps you into the equally tough and remote Upper Rakaia River...lovely tramping country...but only for the knowledgeable, well equipped and plainly insane...yeah its on my to do list!!!

 Hokitika Gorge Walkway: the track heading up the wild Whitcombe Valley...

We spent some time taking photographs of the bridge and its surrounds before starting the climb back to the car...It is a very nice place for photography.

Detail of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge...

Support post, Hokitika Gorge Walkway swingbridge

Detail of Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge

Karen crosses the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge

Look closely....you can just see people standing on the rocky promontory at the end of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway...it gives you an idea of the scale of the gorge as they look like ants from only 300 meters up river....

Looking up stream to the end of the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Karen at the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge....

...Jon on the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge...

There are some very nice retaining walls on the true right of the river...It looks like a lot of time and effort has gone into trying to blend these vital supports into the natural fabric of the bush. Even the support cables and bridge stays are carefully blended into the back ground..nice work DOC!!!

Anchor point for the Hokitika Gorge Walkway swing-bridge

Stone retaining wall next to the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: detail of a stone retaining wall

We saw a few Weka along the track...mostly on the true right of the river...Karen is looking at one just out of frame in the photo below. The West Coast of the South Island is really ground zero for Weka..most of the population live here. There were a lot of birds in the local forest we saw some Fantails, Bellbirds, Keruru, Tui and the Weka. 

Karen watching a Weka just out of photo, Hokitika Gorge Walkway

From the walkway you can see just how deep and dense the bush is over here on the West Coast...lots of rain and relatively mild conditions for most of the year mean massive growth rates. 

Typical dense West Coast bush, Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: lots of boardwalk....

A variety of under-story plants growing along the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Last view of Hokitika Gorge from the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Large Rimu tree next to the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

We finally made it back to the car after about an hour....you can visit the end of the track far more quickly but we were just taking our time. If time is short I would suggest at least walking down to the swing bridge for a clear view of the river. 

Rounding the last corner on the Hokitika Gorge Walkway

Hokitika Gorge Walkway: finish of the walkway at the toilets next to the car-park

Both Karen and I thought this was a great wee walk...the forest is beautiful, the gorge looks lovely and it would be a nice short trip for a family. If you find yourself in the area I would encourage you to give it a go. 

Visiting the Kawatiri Incident site, Kawatiri, West Coast....

You pass through Kawatiri on the way to Hokitika Gorge...some New Zealanders will recognize the name but not know why. This was the location of the first multiple shooting incident in New Zealand and the focus one of the largest man hunts in our history.

It became know as the "Kawatiri Incident"....

Karen read the inscription on the Kawatiri Incident memorial

Back in October of 1941 one of the locals Arthur Stanley Graham started to act in a peculiar way. He became highly irrational, including threatening some of his neighbors with guns and because he had multiple firearms the local Police visited his farm to question him...

Stanley reacted very badly to this and shot dead five people...four Policemen and the local school teacher who attempted to come to their aid. He then escaped into the local bush which he knew intimately as he was a skilled bushman with much knowledge of the local area. 

Stanley Graham a couple of months before the Kawatiri Incident

In response several hundred men of the Army, Airforce, Home Guard and Police were dispatched to try to bring him into custody. The local populace were removed and armed men occupied the local farms and settlements. Stanley got into a second shoot out with the authorities several days later and killed another two men but was subsequently fatally injured.

Stanley Graham died in hospital on the 20th October 1941.

Armed Home Guard members during the Kawatiri Incident...

There had always been murders here in New Zealand but for a more simple, naive New Zealand the scale of loss was both shocking and disturbing. In 1941 New Zealand was fully involved in the Second World War and things were not going well for the Allies so the Incident added to a general sense of confusion & fear.

At heart Stanley Graham was a good family man but he was suffering a severe mental health crisis..possibly schizophrenia by the sounds of the symptoms. Of course that does not take away from the heinous crime he committed...a lot of individuals have mental health crisis and do not murder seven people.  

Plaques with the victims names and coat of arms or Police, Army, Education Board etc. 

There is a memorial to the people killed in the incident...it is located right outside the old entrance to Stanley Graham's farm and is well worth a visit. If you are interested in the Incident try to find a copy of Manhunt: The story of Stanley Graham by H.A. Willis...it is the definitive book about the case.

If you ever happen to be in Hokitika make sure you go and take a look at the Hokitika Gorge..it is always interesting but it is most spectacular on a clear sunny day when the water most attractive.

Cheers!!!

Access:The route to Hokitika Gorge is extremely convoluted so it is worth mapping it out before you start. From Hokitika head east out of town towards Kaniere, take the road to Kokatahi and hence to Kowhitirangi. From here follow Johnston Road to Neilson Road then Whitcombe Valley Road to the car-park at the start of the track. As I said...convoluted!!!!
Track Times: It is 20-25 minutes walk from the car park to the lookout point above the rocky promontory over the Hokitika Gorge. Total return walking time is around 45-50 minutes.
Miscellaneous: The track is built to a superior standard as this is a very popular track. The track is suitable for just about everyone. There are a set of toilets at the start of the track but none down nearer the Gorge. Work is underway to extend this track into a 1-1.5 hour loop track over two swing-bridges with work expected to be finished by mid 2020.

Tramping food: Homemade 24 hour ration pack

My 'take' on a 24 hour ration.....

By way of comparison with the Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration pack featured in my previous post...here is my own take on the same type of ration pack. This was produced with items of food and sundries sourced from supermarkets, Asian food warehouses and outdoor stores. 

I ate this ration on the first day of my recent trip to Nelson Lakes National Park....

Homemade 24 hour ration + snack pack

This ration pack contains all of the food and associated items I need for a day and comprises breakfast, lunch and dinner items....some snacks and beverages at a very modest weight of 580 gms. I would estimate the contents of the pack cost me approximately $30-40 dollars so on par with the BCC commercial variety. 

This is typical of the type of rations I make and carry when I am going out on a over night tramping trip. It also includes items like a Chux cloth in lieu of a tea towel, water purification tablets, salt+pepper and a scrubbing pad. 

Food items for a whole day

I usually only carry meals for breakfast and dinner...for lunch I usually have wraps or Arnotts Sesame Wheat crackers, cheese, salami or some other cured meat, sometimes fruit and a hot or cold drink depending on the availability of water. On this trip I had noodles as I was going to be at the hut in the early afternoon and would have the time & facilities for preparing hot food.

Usual lunch...crackers, salami, cheese and some drinks...

I usually take 3-4 snacks per day to be eaten on the trail during rest breaks or after dinner as a dessert item. I use a chux cloth to dry my dishes and carry salt, pepper and olive oil to flavour my meals. 

This 24 hour ration contains the following items;

Main meals: 

Porridge with dried milk, fruit and sugar

Two minute noodles + Continental simmer soup

Chilli Con Carne and Macaroni Cheese (Chilli Mac)

Snacks: 

1 pkt raisins

1 pkt salted peanuts

1 Teriyaki steak bar

Freeze dried pineapple

Drinks:

1 pkt Raro (sweet navel orange)

Tea bags (Earl Grey) and Splenda Artificial sweetener

Miscellaneous items:

2x salt sachet

1x pepper sachet

8x Aquatab water purification tablets

Medium Chux cloth

Green 3M pot scrubber

I like to pack all the food into a ration...I'm used to it from my army days but also it is a great way of keeping track of what you are eating. The contents are placed in a zip-loc bag usually with the day of the trip written on the outside. 

Homemade ratio pack: Freeze dried chili, macaroni, dried pineapple

For breakfast I had instant porridge with sugar, raisins, milk powder and prunes...to this I add hot water and eat it from the bag. I will have this with tea or coffee depending on what I packed in the ration. 

As mentioned before I had noodles for lunch on this trip....I added some cubed salami to the noodles for a bit of protein and a squirt of olive oil to improve the flavor. I had the Onion simmer soup in the late afternoon before my evening meal...I always start dinner with a soup by way of a top up...

Homemade Ration Pack:Snacks, Raro, chux cloth and miscellaneous bag

Dinner was Chili-Mac....freeze dried chili from Absolute Wilderness (the best freeze dried meals available in New Zealand in my opinion) and a packet of instant macaroni and cheese. This is really good...even better on a wrap or with a couple of crackers broken into it. I had the Raro drink powder with dinner and the re-hydrated pineapple for dessert.

Homemade ration pack: 2 minute noodles and pre-packed porridge

This is plenty of food for me for a 24 hour period and I never feel really hungry if i eat all of the contents of the pack. I sometimes add chocolate bars as a dessert but I'm not much of a chocolate person so it is a rarity. I carry my tea and sweetener with my cook kit as I sometimes like to stop for a brew if I am walking for more than 3 hours...nothing like a char enjoyed under a shady tree looking at the wilderness...

Nothing like swinging the billy on trail....

There is no limit to the type of ration packs you can make...it is only limited by your own imagination and available ingredients so it is definitely worth trying some of your own ideas out. 

Tramping Food: The Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration Pack

A 24 hour total meal package from Backcountry Cuisine...

Several months ago I was in the Bivouac store here in Christchurch and spotted their supply of Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration packs. These packs are packed to be 100% complete and hold all of the food items you would need for a 24 hour period. 

The Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration pack no. 667

I decided to buy one of the ration packs to have a look at what was inside and see if indeed it contains enough nutrition to keep you going through a whole day. Backcountry Cuisine sell four varieties...two have meat as the main meals and the other two are vegetarian. The cost for one of these packs is $35 NZ dollars which is pretty good when you consider the freeze dried meals inside add up to $30 by themselves. 

Table of contents on a Backcountry ration pack no. 667

The main meals are freeze dried single serve portions from the Backcountry Cuisine meal selection, the item number for this particular ration is 667. I took this on a trip to Nelson Lakes National Park recently and this is what I thought about it....

Contents of the BCC Ration Pack...

There is a table of contents on the front of the ration pack which details all of the items contained in the pack. This particular variety contains a one serve meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner...the meals could be eaten in whatever order best suits your requirements.

The version I brought was one of the meat based varieties and had meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner a drinks pack and snacks. 

BCC 24 hour ration pack table of contents....no. 667

This ration pack contains the following food/miscellaneous items:

Main meals:Porridge Supreme (one serve)

Classic Beef Curry (one serve)

Roast Lamb and Vegetables (one serve)

Snacks: 1 pkt Candy Chocolate (Smarties)

1 pkt trail mix 

I pkt Oatie Biscuit (two biscuits)

1 pkt jelly beans

Drink Pack: Orange Drink

1 hot chocolate

2 tea bags

2 coffee sachets

4 sugar sachets

4 creamer sachets

2 Salt sachets

1 Pepper sachet

Miscellaneous Items: 1 plastic spoon

1 small packet tissues

What they are giving you in this ration pack is three meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner), snacks for during the day and drinks to accompany the meals. That is basically all that most people will need when out on a tramping trip. 

Contents of  BCC ration pack no. 667 laid out on a table....

All the main meals are freeze dried so you will just need to heat water and add it to the pack so he meals are quick, simple and little to no clean-up required. If you do not like the particular meals in the ration pack you could of course change them but this would mean extra cost. 

BCC ration pack no. 667: main meals, drink sachet, ANZAC biscuits, tissue and spoon

Having three-four snacks for during the day is my standard system as well...all of the packs are large so it might be hard eating all of a particular snack in one sitting. I ate half of each and then had the other half for a dessert after my lunch/evening meal. 

BCC ration pack no. 667: breakfast meal,snack packs, drinks kit and bag

The contents are packed in a sturdy plastic bag with a table of contents and a break down of the nutritional value in each of the individual components. The tissue are included for toileting purposes and you even get a spoon to eat it all with. 

The BCC 24 hour ration taste test....

My original plan was to camp at Kerr Bay and do some day hikes but because it was raining and because the campground was shut for maintenance I walked into Lakehead Hut and stayed for two nights over three days. 

The cooking bench in Lakehead Hut, Nelson Lakes National Park

On the first day I ate a homemade ration that I had made up for the occasion...

My homemade 24 hour ration and snack pack....

I had the Backcountry Cuisine ration on the second day while lazing about in the hut. It was a cold, wet and windy day so I spent half the day in my sleeping bag drinking tea and reading my book. A better test would have been to use it on a day of physical activity but beggars cant be choosers as they say....

First up was the Porridge Supreme which I ate for breakfast...I added two of the creamer packets to the porridge to make it more creamy. There is a separate packet of brown sugar in the porridge pack for scattering over your pog. BCC freeze dried porridge is good and has fruit added to the meal to increase the calorific count. A good start...

The chocolate candies aka smarties in the ration pack

I had the snack meals over the course of the day..the jelly beans and candy covered chocolate were very nice...similar to other commercially produced products. The biscuit was good...crispy, not too sweet, nice flavour and good for dunking in your tea. Yum!!!

The chocolate candies aka Smarties in the ration pack

I was not so fond of the trail mix....it consisted of dried fruit, peel, nuts, banana chips, chocolate chunks and coconut. I found it to be overly sweet and I hate coconut so it was not to my taste at all. I would definitely exchange the trail mix for something more savoury like salted nuts or a Bhaji mix. 

Trail mix snack pack from BCC Ration Pack no. 667

For lunch I had the Classic Beef Curry augmented with a packet of 2 minute noodles...I often eat this as a tramping meal as the two go together very well. With the meal I had a cup of tea with sugar and the remainder of the jelly beans. The classic beef curry is one of the better meals in the Backcountry range so I did enjoy it. 

Preparing the Classic Beef Stew for lunch...with 2 minute noodles...

I had the Roast Lamb with Vegetables for dinner later in the day...the lamb and the vegetables are mixed together with the gravy powder. There is also a small sachet of mashed potato in the pack...the lamb is nice with a lovely savoury gravy and the mashed spuds are good especially after I added a squirt of olive oil to them. 

All of these are classic freeze dried meals and just need hot water added to them...that is sum total of the preparation needed.  

Contents of the Roast Lamb and Vegetables meal.....

Overall I found the meal to be palatable and filling...I don't think I would have felt hungry subsisting on these meals over the short term. If this was all you had to eat for an extended period I think you might start feeling a mite hungry. Overall my experience of the meals and snacks was very good with the exception of the trail mix which I really did not like at all. 

The BCC ration pack brew kit...

The ration pack had an extensive drinks kit included with it and consisted of; 

Drink Pack: Orange Drink

1 hot chocolate

2 tea bags

2 coffee sachets

4 sugar sachets

4 creamer sachets

2 Salt sachets

1 Pepper sachet

All of the contents were Porters brand which I have seen in hotels and motels throughout New Zealand. The quality is OK I drank all of the items and didn't have a problem with any of the items....

BCC drinks kit from ration pack no. 667

I had coffee with my breakfast and tea in the mid morning and mid afternoon...hot chocolate after dinner. 

I would probably get rid of the creamer packs as they are not all that useful to me....I like both tea and coffee black and these non dairy creamers always have problems dissolving in your drink...who wants to chew chunks of powdery creamer in their morning coffee. 

Contents of the brew kit laid out,,BCC ration pack no. 667

There is also a loose pack of Vitafresh drink powder in the ration pack...this is the brand I usually carry when I go out in the bush in this case it was orange flavor. I mixed this up and had it with my evening meal as per usual...powdered drink sachets are a real morale improver after a long day tramping. 

What I would add to the ration pack....

While these ration packs cover most of the basic requirements there are a few items missing to make these total complete meal kits for a 24 hour period.  

The Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration pack.....

Here are some items I would add to these packs if I was using them on a regular basis:

Instant Soup:

First up I would add some form of instant soup to the packs...the obvious choice would be Continental or Maggi Cup-O-Soups...they have many flavour's and just require hot water to prepare. These are individual soups and make one cup or about 250mls. 

Cup-O-Soup...Dutch Curry...yum, yum!!!!

Other choices could be instant Miso, an Asian noodle soup or Continental/Knorr/Maggi simmer soups. These require slightly more preparation but are much tastier...the simmer soups make 1 liter (enough for two-three trampers).  All these soups can be found at large supermarkets or Asian food stores in New Zealand.

Knorr Simmer Soup...Chicken Noddle

Continental Simmer Soup....light, easy to prepare and flavour-some....

Water purification tablets:

The average adult needs from 6-8 liters or water per day preferably taken as just water but also as tea, soup, powdered drinks, coffee etc. In New Zealand you will often find that you can simply take water straight from a lake, river or hut water tank but this is slowly changing. With more people in the backcountry water sources are becoming tainted...pollution, human/animal waste, viruses and other ailments have entered many of our previously pristine water sources.

Aquatabs water purification tablets....

This means we need to treat our water either by boiling, chemical treatment or filtering. I use chemical treatment methods...chlorine based Aquatabs at a ratio of one tablet per 1 liter of water. I would therefore add Aquatabs or something similar to these packs...probably 6-8 tablets per 24 hour period.

Jerky style steak bars:

Another item I would consider adding to this ratio pack are Jack Links jerky meat bars or some similar product. I always carry these steak bars...they come in three flavors; BBQ,  Peppered and Teriyaki...all of the flavors are delicious and would up the protein content of the packs. I would eat these as snacks usually mid morning or mid afternoon. 

The Jack Links steak bar....BBQ, Peppered or Teriyaki flavor the choice is yours...

Dish scrub pads:

You need something to clean your cooking kit with my go to option is a 2 cm by 2 cm square of scrubbing pad and an all purpose outdoor soap like Dr Bonar's or Sea to Summit. I would add a scrub pad in a small zip-lock bag to the packs and carry a bottle of soap for general purpose use. 

Green scrubbing pads.....

Sugar substitute:

While these packs have four serves of sugar I usually find I need more than this in an average day. You could carry more sugar but this is quite a heavy food item...better still would be a artificial sweetener...my go to choice is Splenda. I carry a small dispenser of Splenda with me every-time I go tramping they contain 200 tablets equivalent to 200 spoons of sugar and weigh only 3 gms. 

How can you complain about that ratio....

Splenda artificial sweetener tablets

By adding these few items these ration packs become much more useful items to take into the outdoors. You could add/subtract a lot more but obviously that would defeat the purpose of buying a 24 hour ration pack.....

My conclusion: How good are these ration packs?

Overall I think this is a good concept and would provide you with all of the nutrition you needed for a 24 hour period in the outdoors. I have no real problems with the contents they are all perfectly acceptable. My main concern is the weight...850 gms is a lot of weight for one days food, my home made rations usually top out at 600 gms per day. For a single day it would be fine but anything over 1-2 days would require careful consideration of weight to calorific content.  

The homemade ration pack I also took to Nelson Lakes NP...580gms!!!

I don't know that I would carry these all of the time but they are certainly worth considering for their ease of preparation and convenience. You can find them at most outdoor stores...in Christchurch I have seen them at Hunting and Fishing, Bivouac and Torpedo Seven...

Jon making himself comfortable in Lakehead Hut, Nelson Lakes NP

Maybe grab one the next time you are heading into the outdoors. 

Cheers!!!