Tramping around the web for national park bookings

A booking system is being introduced for huts and campsites on the Abel Tasman and Heaphy tracks, and children may be charged to stay in the national parks.

Department of Conservation Motueka area spokesman Colin Wishart told the Nelson Marlborough Conservation Board this week the idea was to give consistency to all the walks, including the high-use Milford and Routeburn tracks.

Details were still being finalised, but bookings for the huts and tent sites would be available on the internet. A help desk for those without web access would be set up at a visitor information centre in the Nelson region, Mr Wishart said.

It was likely the system could be set up this winter to take bookings for the summer period.

Fees for visitors to the park were also being reviewed and it was possible children aged five to 10, who currently stayed overnight for free, would be charged at a reduced rate.

A booking system for the 21 camping sites in Abel Tasman National Park park would reduce congestion at peak times in the busiest grounds, Mr Wishart said. But tourist boat and lodge operator Darryl Wilson, manager of Abel Tasman Wilson's Experiences, said the "urban legend" of overcrowding was driving visitors away, and numbers had already dropped in the park over the past few seasons.

He said the park emptied out at a time when the weather was at its best.

- NZPA