Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2019 i Wilderness

ARE PEOPLE becoming too posh to walk? Both the draft management plans for Aoraki/Mt Cook and Westland Tai Poutini national parks have proposals to radically increase the number and scope of aircraft flights and landings. In the case of Aoraki, a more than 14-fold increase is proposed for the number of landings allowed on the Tasman Glacier, from 5000 a year to 73,000 – or 200 a day. Then, further south near Glenorchy and right on the border of the Rees Track, a private development is underway that could see helicopters zipping visitors into and out of a new luxury lodge at the rate of 13 flights a day. See our website for that story, titled ‘Luxury lodge proposed near Rees-Dart Track’. Could there possibly be demand for so many…

IT WAS SUPPOSED to be an easy tramp in order to rest a little in between alpine climbing missions. However, those rest-days often turn into demanding endeavours and it was the case with this trip along the ridge of the Thomson Mountains. Mavora Lakes is a favourite spot for families, fishermen and trampers on the Greenstone-Mavora and Te Araroa trails. But if you want to escape the sandflies and the crowds, the Thomson Mountains is the place to go. There are two huts and a DOC campsite near the head of North Mavora Lake, which help make this trip an excellent three-day loop. You can reach the tops from Boundary Hut, beside the Mararoa River and a few kilometres from North Mavora Lake. After a two hour struggle up the…

A SHORT bush slog to one of the upper North Island’s best huts, the Tararu Track provides an achievable weekender in Coromandel Forest Park. The Tararu Track is the shortest of nine trails that lead to Crosbies Hut, which sits in a clearing 620m up the Coromandel Range. Starting at 240m, the track also cuts out a decent chunk of the climb, making it a good option for a weekend dash. The track first goes through private farmland and manuka scrub. After about 15 minutes, it crosses Tararu Stream and heads into Coromandel Forest Park proper. Birds abound here and a network of stoat traps lined the trail. The track follows the cascading stream, passing numerous fern-lined swimming holes. Soon the stream is left behind and it’s a steady climb…

AT 1020M and located halfway between Cromwell and Queenstown, Mt Mason ticks all the boxes: it remains snow-free for much of the year, is seldom visited and a track right on the roadside leads a short, though steep, distance to the summit. From the tiny car park just off SH6, a stile takes you into a field where a short series of poles guides walkers alongside a narrow stream and towards the base of the mountain. The path, a narrow 4WD track, starts steeply, and at a gradient that remains more or less consistent for the duration of the walk. By the time the first zigzag is reached (and the next stile), the noise of SH6 dies away and, although we’d only climbed a few hundred metres, views towards the…

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Did you ever think you’d celebrate a milestone like 35 years of Leatherman? Tim Leatherman: After seven years in the garage, I was thinking if I could just make tools for six months of the year and sell them for the other six months, I would be happy. It got to the point where I was desperate for any kind of sale. How did you maintain your determination and motivation for all those years? TL: I am a stubborn person, a persevering person. I like to say there’s a fine line between perseverance and failure to accept reality and if you’re going to err on one side or the other, err on refusing to accept reality. From the beginning, I set a goal to create this product that I felt…

THE DIVERSITY ON OUR DOORSTEP MANY FAMILIES these days have to fund an overseas school trip for their children. But how many Kiwi parents are aware that they can give their family an international experience within New Zealand for much less than the cost of an overseas trip for one family member? We did just that when our three children were students, by booking onto the Milford Track. Amongst the 40 people on the walk, we were the only five Kiwis. For three nights, our family mixed with people from a variety of countries and ages. There was an ex military man from Austria, a young Israeli, a family from India, Australians and a quiet Slovenian to mention a few. Another time, when we were tramping the Rees-Dart Track, the…

WE’VE MADE SOME changes to our website so you can now download the GPX files of our trips directly to your smartphone – provided you have a mapping app installed. The GPX files allow you to view the route of the trip and can also be saved to your computer to view in apps like Google Earth or be uploaded to your GPS device. Allowing the GPX files to open on smart-phones allows users to follow the routes in their chosen navigation app without having to first save it to their computer. Here’s how to open a GPX file on your smartphone: 1 Navigate to your chosen trip at www.wilderness-mag.co.nz/trip 2 Find the GPX File link (In the Wild File at the top or very bottom of the…

MSR MugMate $39.99 The 28g MSR MugMate brews coffee and loose leaf tea. Simply spoon your ground coffee into the filter, balance it on the rim of your mug, and pour water over the top. www.ampro.co.nz GSI Ultralight Java Drip $21.90 For filter coffee on the fly, the 11g Java Drip clips onto most mugs for sediment–free, simple coffee. Perfect for weight-conscious coffee enthusiasts. www.outdoorestore.co.nz GSI Outdoors Mini Espresso $93.95 For the coffee connoisseur, this mini percolator fires out a double espresso shot in under 90 seconds. The set weighs 311g, but comes with a sturdy case and double wall stainless steel cup. www.outdoorestore.co.nz Jetboil Coffee Press $24.95 This collapsible 22g press is a lightweight option to turn your Jetboil stove system into a coffee press. Compatible with the Zip,…

1 Hump Ridge-Wairaurahiri circuit. Three days. From Lake Hauroko, walk over the Hump Ridge to Okaka Lodge for the first night. Then turn off at the Edwin Burn and follow the tramline to Waitutu Hut. Spend the morning exploring Waitutu Forest and return to Lake Hauroko via the Wairaurahiri jet. No roughing it required. 2 Sheep Track, Princess Mountains. Four days. Beaches, bush, lakes, rivers, alpine and history. Medium to challenging with off-track navigation required. Exposed to snow at any time of the year. 3 Old Coast Road. Spend two hours or all day walking the long empty expanses of Te Waewae Bay, known as Blue Cliffs Beach. Expect Hector's dolphins and spectacular scenery. 4 South Coast Track. Four-nine days. Best appreciated by walking the whole way but a jetboat…

Access From SH94 between Mossburn and Te Anau, turn-off at either Centre Hill or Burwood Station and follow unsealed roads for 39km Grade Moderate Time Three days. Mavora Lakes Campsite (north) to Boundary Hut 3.5-4hr; To Cold Peak, 2.5hr; To Mt Campbell, 5hr; To Mavora Lakes Campsite (north), 3.5hr Distance 37.9km Total ascent 2525m Accomodation Careys Hut ($5, six bunks), Boundary Hut ($5, four bunks) Map CC09, CC10 download map and route notes for this trip at www .wildernessmag.co. nz…

MY AFFLICTION IS THIS: put a map before my eyes and I am lost. Not lost in the sense that I cannot find my way, but lost in my own world. I cease to communicate. I scan the page, flying over the landscape in my mind. Conversation is reduced to pathetic grunts and fake interjections. I am already on a journey. The sinuous form of the Marlborough Sounds has always been a source of confusion. A dark spot in my geography. So I was keen to get up to the highest point and see if I could decipher the land and seascapes. Mt Stokes is the viewpoint of the Marlborough Sounds. Even on a map it takes a long time to get familiar with the intricate labyrinth of waterways and…

I BEGAN the climb to Cattle Ridge Hut with the ominous words of one of my companions ringing in my ears: it’s the steepest* track in the Tararuas. While some reach the hut in one long day, our group of five – all Wilderness contributors – were in no rush because foul weather was battering the tops and we hoped to miss the worst of it by first spending a night at Roaring Stag Hut. The track follows the Mangatainoka River and soon we crossed a lengthy, and airy, swingbridge followed by another 30-minutes farther down the track. The track then climbs steadily through the forest. The trail is gorgeous, though incredibly rooty – at one point we ascended a ‘staircase’ of roots. Deep in the forest, we saw no…

Access From Raspberry Creek car park. Permission required to cross Branches Station: 03 441 8421 Grade Difficult Time 4+ days. Raspberry Creek Car Park to Dart Hut, 7-9hr; To Pt1950, 3.5-4.5hr; To Lochnagar Hut, 4-5hr; To Tummel Burn Hut, 5-7hr; To Shotover Saddle, 5-7hr; To car park, 2-3hr Distance 63.4km Total ascent 5152m Accommodation Dart Hut ($15, 32 bunks), Lochnagar Hut (free – private, four bunks), Tummel Burn Hut (free – private, three bunks) Map CA11, CA10, CB10 download The map and route notes for this trip at www.wildernessmag.co.nz…

HOW POLES HELP Over a day’s tramping, walking poles can reduce the weight put onto your knees by several tonnes. Correctly adjusted, they improve posture, breathing, speed and stability. Ascents, descents and river crossings are safer. Fatigue is reduced. One or two? Two poles is best – they help with balance, stride and reduce the load on both your legs. (Prices and weights for all poles in this feature are for pairs). GRIP It should be ergonomically-shaped for comfort and made from foam, which is soft and grippy even when wet. Some grips extend to the pole – allowing a quick change of grip. LENGTH ADJUSTMENT Some poles are fixed length – offering extra strength and durability, but requiring careful selection to ensure the correct size is bought. Variable length…

AOTEAROA BOASTS more than 30 species of native buttercup, many of them alpine. The Latin word Ranunculus apparently means ‘little frog’ and relates to the alpine wetland habitat that these plants enjoy. Some have the butter-yellow colour you would expect from the name, while others have white flowers. Most famous of all is, of course, the Mount Cook buttercup (Ranunculus lyallii), formerly misnamed as the Mount Cook lily. With its large, bowl-like leaves and showy white flowers on high stalks, it’s certainly the most conspicuous of our native alpine buttercups. Another striking specimen is the cut-leaved mountain buttercup (Ranunculus buchananii). It has feathery green leaves, clustered in bunches, and the flowers are a neat white circle, with a green centre and yellow rim. Its name commemorates New Zealand botanist John…

WITH GLACIATED PEAKS, beech forest and braided rivers, Canyon Creek in the Ahuriri Conservation Park is a great location for a day walk, or a longer exploration. From the road end, the track heads through grassland down the Ahuriri Valley with the peaks of the Barrier and Huxley ranges on either side and the braided Ahuriri River meandering down the centre. The track crosses a scree fan before branching west towards Canyon Creek. The steep forested canyon will soon become visible to the right of the creek. The trail continues towards the canyon and just before the forest edge there is a campsite with a long-drop toilet to the left of the track. The track then crosses Little Canyon Creek before climbing steeply through beech forest to navigate around the…

WHEN WALKING in Egmont National Park, Mt Taranaki gets all the glory. But the diminutive and nearby Kaitake Range offers some memorable walking without the mammoth ascents. This trip starts from Lucy’s Gully, named after Lucy Stevens who lived in Oakura in the early 1900s. Decorated with moko and usually wearing a black scarf, the toothless woman was a popular landmark, selling mushrooms, blackberries, kete and whip thongs to travelling bullock and horse-drawn vehicle drivers at the monthly Okato sales. Her husband and two sons were buried in the valley and she would visit their graves for days at a time. The Waimoku Track and Sefton Ridge Track meet approximately 45 minutes below Patuha Trig and can be combined to form a loop, with a detour to the trig. It…

Access From the end of Kaweka Road, at Makahu Saddle car park Grade Moderate Time Makahu Saddle to Dominie Biv 2-2.5hr; To Kaweka J, 1-1.5hr; To Back Ridge Hut 2hr; To Ballard Hut 3-3.5hr; To Middle Hill Hut, 3hr; To Kaweka Flats Bivouac, 2.5-3hr; To Makahu Saddle, 2-2.5hr Distance 27.7km Total ascent 2534m Accommodation Makahu Saddle Hut ($5, four bunks); Dominie Hut (free, two bunks); Back Ridge Hut ($5, four bunks); Ballard Hut ($5, four bunks); Middle Hill Hut ($5, six bunks); Kaweka Flats Bivouac (free, two bunks) Map BJ37…

January River tubing, Tararua Forest Park IMAGINE A FINE, WARM DAY, the sun glinting off the rapids, the walls of a bush-clad gorge rising above, and your feet pointed downstream, hanging over the edge of a tractor inner tube. The current calls the tune, pulling you down the valley, and the scenery flows by like a slow-motion sequence in a documentary. Emerald green pools beckon, and when you’ve had enough of the water, the sun-warmed rocks offer a place to pull up and devour a well-earned lunch. This is Tararua river tubing. There’s a long tradition of river trips in the Tararua Range, for good reason. A curious, and unique feature of the range is that all of its major rivers are gorged, yet are still navigable by suitably…

IF THERE IS one thing about four-wheel-driving to never get complacent about, it’s river crossings. You’re only ever as good as your last one. I can still hear the words of one grizzled high country station owner after he gave me the OK to drive on his land: “And don’t drown yer truck. I’m sick of grown men cryin’ on my doorstep at two in the morning”. Types of obstacle: Water obstacles come in many types and sizes, from puddles with attitude to fast-flowing mountain rivers. With all of them, make sure you know what you’re getting into before you get into it. Check the depth of the water and the nature of what lies beneath. Pools may have a soft, muddy bottom. With rivers, rocks or holes are more…

Water-borne hazards True, New Zealand backcountry streams are reasonably healthy but even so there is a small risk that water-borne illnesses like giardia, campylobacter, salmonella and E. coli can be picked up. The risk in urban environments increases after a disaster like an earthquake or when travelling to developing nations, where viruses and bacteria pervade waterways. Hut water should always be boiled or filtered/purified. Filters Filters are the first line of defence against larger-than-a-virus protozoa and cryptosporidia such as Giardia Lamblia and parvum. Filters remove sediment and organisms down to 0.4-0.1 microns. Purifiers Purifiers kill the much smaller viral and bacterial organisms. UV light is the most common and effective form of purification. It is important to follow instructions preciely to ensure the purification process is adequate. The full system…