The Department of Conservation has apologised for website failures that have seen some hikers miss out on booking two of New Zealand's most popular Great Walk tracks.
In a statement, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said 11,000 people logged on to the booking system at 9.30am in anticipation for the popular Milford Track and Lake Waikaremoana Track bookings to open.
DOC's director of heritage and visitors Cat Wilson earlier told Breakfast that a lot of work had gone into ensuring the website could handle the huge spike in traffic.
"We're crossing fingers ... [but] we're pretty ready, I think," she said this morning.
Wilson later told 1News the system struggled during the first hour after bookings opened and described the situation as "patchy and frustrating for users".
"The slow response times were concerning so the decision was made to reboot the system after approximately 15 minutes."
She said the reset "would have looked like a crash to some people".
"We are disappointed it wasn't the smooth experience we were hoping for. We have lost patience with the vendor and will be having serious conversations about the future to avoid this happening again.
"We are really sorry this has been a poor experience. It doesn't meet people's expectations and it doesn't meet ours."
The Milford Track effectively sold out within 45 minutes after the system was restored around 10.30am, DOC said.
"Spaces are continuing to become available as people cancel bookings," Wilson added.
"People who missed out should keep a look out for cancellations over the coming weeks."
Some people took to social media to vent their frustration at the system "crashing" this morning.
"Everyone who has any background in IT is shocked by this. 10k isn't that many people and it has very doable solutions," they said.
Another commented: "It's actually ridiculous. Same thing happens year after year."
By 11.15am there were approximately 2800 bookings made for the Milford Track, compared with around 2600 on opening day last year. The increase in bookings was due to a decrease in the average booking size on last year — as the walk has limited capacity and has sold out in both years.
There were around 400 bookings made for Lake Waikaremoana Track in the same timeframe, DOC said.
Bookings open on Thursday, May 30, for Abel Tasman Coast Track, Rakiura Track, and Whanganui Journey.
Next week bookings open on June 5 for Routeburn Track, Paparoa Track and June 6 for Kepler Track, Heaphy Track, and the Tongariro Northern Circuit.
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