St Arnaud is a pleasant tourist village on the shore of Lake Rotoiti and the gateway to the Nelson Lakes National Park. This popular park is serviced by a network of spacious but heavily used huts.

At 1870 metres, Waiau Pass is Te Araroa's second-highest point. It's the most likely portion of the route to be blocked by snow and has some avalanche risk on its southern face. Before embarking, trampers should contact DOC at the Nelson Lakes Visitors Centre in St Arnard (03 521 1806) to enquire about the route's current condition.

The track ends at a car park and bus shelter on SH 7 next to the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre.   East West Shuttles run between Westport and Christchurch daily - Boyle to Westport about 10am, Boyle to Christchurch about 4pm.  Phone 03 789 6251.  Nelson Lake Shuttles (Phone 03 521 1900 or 021 490 095) can run a shuttle from Boyle Village to St Arnaud.

Backpacker accommodation ($28 per night) is sometimes available at Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre and trampers should enquire well in advance as to availability.  Phone 03 315 7082 or email to info@boyle.org.nz .  By prior arrangement, the Centre may also accept food packages to be sent and stored; this costs $10 and packages should be well sealed against mice. You'll need to contact the Centre before posting anything.  You can also wash your clothes by arrangement for $6.  All payments must be in cash or by cheque as there are no eftpos or credit card facilities. There is also no cell phone reception. All prices as at February 2012.

The track starts opposite St Arnaud's alpine store. This is on the Black Valley Walk, which heads through beech forest to DOC's Kerr Bay Campground on the shore of Lake Rotoiti.

Te Araroa then joins with the Travers/Sabine Circuit at the eastern end of Kerr Bay. From here the track follows the shoreline through the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project area to Lakehead Hut, which is about a 15 minutes beyond the jetty near the lakehead. 

The recovery project was established in 1997 and is one of 6 maintained by DOC. Its goal is to restore native biodiversity to the beech forest. This is pursued through a trapping and poisoning programme designed to rid a 5000 hectare block of introduced pests including possums, stoats, wasps, rats and mice. Kaka and reintroduced great spotted kiwi are 2 native species that have benefitted from the project.

The well graded track continues from Lakehead Hut up the river flats through open and forested sections to John Tait Hut. Mt Travers comes into view around Hopeless Creek.

John Tait (1901 -1982), a former president of the Nelson Tramping Club, led a volunteer effort to raise funds and to construct the original hut, which opened in 1951. This was 5 years before Nelson Lakes National Park was gazetted to become New Zealand’s 8th national park. The original hut survived only 27 years before being decommissioned. A new hut was built on the current site, which is in a clearing with views of Mt Travers and Mt Cupola.

Beyond John Tait Hut the track continues up the Travers Valley and has some steeper sections. The track passes marked turn-offs to Cupola Hut and Travers Falls, which is a short and worthwhile side trip.

Upper Travers Hut is situated on the edge of a large flat immediately below Mt Travers.

The track continues as a defined ground trail that follows snow poles up to Travers Saddle (1787m). This is a steady 450m climb.

From the Saddle the snow poles continue down the western face to the tree line. The track then takes walkers down to the East Branch Sabine River in the valley floor below. This is a long and in places steep descent. 

From the East Branch Sabine River the track climbs, sidles and then descends to the West Branch Sabine River. West Sabine Hut is a short distance upstream.

From the hut follow the Blue Lake Track up the West Branch Sabine River to its source. The route is predominately forested and climbs steeply in places, in particularly during the short final climb to the hut and lake.

Blue Lake Hut is a popular side trip to the Travers/Sabine Circuit but tramper numbers do start to thin by this point.

The track leaves Blue Lake Hut through forest and climbs onto Lake Constance's moraine dam. The lake itself is attractive and set within a dramatic alpine landscape. From the dam a rough and rocky track, marked by snow poles, leads up above bluffs on the west side of the lake and then descends to the lakehead. The track continues across the open upper valley floor and then climbs a steep scree slope in direct fashion to a high terrace. From here it is a 500m sidle and climb up to Waiau Pass.

The route from the pass continues through rocky and exposed country. It drops steeply in places through bluffs to a terrace and then continues west before descending to the West Branch Waiau River is the valley floor.

From the Valley floor the track follows the river through thick sub-alpine scrub to the Upper Waiau folks. There is an attractive informal campsite here within a stand of beech trees.

In time the Ada homestead comes into view. The homestead area remains in private hands. Trampers should avoid this area and continue to the Ada River. This is a straightforward crossing in low to normal flows. Beyond the river trampers link to the St James Walkway and continue down in a south west direction towards Anne River Hut – a 20 bunk hut accessed on a swingbridge across the Anne River.

The old and confined 2 bunk Rokeby Hut is lower down the valley and provides a similar standard of accommodation to Caroline Bivvy. Beyond Rokeby Hut the track continues downstream on the true left to a swingbridge. Boyle Flat Hut is a short distance beyond down the true right side of the river.

Boyle Flat Hut to Boyle Village – 4 hours (14.5 km)

Re-cross the swingbridge and continue southwest on the walkway. The track sidles through a gorge and descends to a junction. Cross the river on a swingbridge here and continue on the track within the forest margin. In time the track crosses the river on another swingbridge and continues down towards Boyle Village. The track emerges at a carpark next to the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre.