With the nation's borders closed, Kiwis have leapt at the chance to explore their own back yard this summer – booking New Zealand's most iconic walking track in the usual record time.

Bookings for the Milford track went on sale at 9.30 yesterday morning and within the hour, 97& of the available places had been filled. 

Southern South Island Department of Conservation operations director Aaron Fleming said every year DOC saws the peak periods – such as the Christmas and New Year break – book out within minutes. With the borders currently closed to international visitors, he said it was great to see so many people keen to get out and experience these fantastic tracks – and in turn back the local communities that support them.

“It’s no surprise really that New Zealanders are taking the opportunity to explore out great back yard whilst they can't travel overseas and experience some of the best of what we have to offer," Mr Fleming said. 

"More than 500 bookings were made in the first five minutes and over 1000 bookings just after the 10-minute mark," he said. 

The high number of bookings would mean more people passing though small tourist towns such as Glenorchy and Te Anau, which relied heavily on tourists visiting and had been hard hit from the fallout of COVID-19 and the February floods. 

Bookings for the Routeburn track also opened this morning (August 19) at 9.30am. Mr Fleming said so far, there had been a steady level of demand, with 1000 people logged on ready to book at 9.30am and 1000 bookings made in the first half hour. 

He said there was still plenty of capacity for other times throughout the December-April season. The campsites still have some availability over peak times as well.

Last year overseas tourists made up just under half of the bookings for the Milford Track at 3506 international bookings.

Mr Fleming said it was great to see the numbers of bookings remaining high as Kiwis took advantage of less competition from overseas visitors.

A total of 111,811 bookings were made for the nine managed Great Walks throughout the country, with 54,381 coming from overseas visitors. 

The walking season is a month shorter this year, with the booking period covering 30 November 2020 to 30 April 2021. 

This is to enable DOC to complete significant repair work caused by the February floods this year. 

"We're limited in what we can do in winter because of health and safety,” Mr Fleming said. 

"The Milford [track] lost some key infrastructure such as bridges... to repair and replace them is a priority... but we're making really good progress"

"We won't know the final costs yet until planning is done, but the 13.7 million in funding received from the government does go a long way to helping us meet those commitments," Mr Fleming said.

In May this year, the government allocated 13.7 million as part of Budget 2020 to rebuild vital conservation and visitor infrastructure in Fiordland that was severely damaged after the flood event. 

For the walkers who miss out on booking the Milford track, Mr Fleming said occasionally spots opened up as groups cancelled bookings or changed plans, so keep an eye on the bookings page.

For more information visit the DOC website.

DOC limits numbers on these walks to protect the surrounding environments and maintain a quality experience for visitors.