Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i Wilderness

I LOVE READING ABOUT the lengths people will go to lighten their pack. I find it fascinating, mostly because of what I imagine to be the miserableness of the trip some people willingly endure in order to carry a lighter pack. We’ve all heard how cutting your toothbrush in half or wearing trail running shoes instead of boots can cut grams from your pack weight. But true ultra-lighters (and I even know a couple) don’t pack stoves or cookware on their multi-day tramps. They just eat cold food and if the hut doesn’t have a fire and spare billy, they can’t even enjoy a hot cup of tea. They’re such weight scrooges they probably don’t even take tea bags in the first place. Where’s the joy in eating muesli bars…

TARANAKI CROSSING FOR 2022 MOVE OVER TONGARIRO – there’s a new volcanic crossing in town. The $19.3 million Taranaki Crossing Project has been given the green light and is set to open in December 2022. Development work will start immediately and groundwork is scheduled to begin in February 2020. “We agreed that we wouldn’t start any groundwork before summer this year, so there will be less impact on people’s experiences up there,” DOC regional visitor planning manager Tinaka Mearns said. The crossing will upgrade and expand an existing 30km of tracks to create a walk from Dawson Falls on the southeastern side of the park to Mangorei Road at the base of the Pouak ā i Ranges on the northern side. Mearns said the project design will provide a range…

WHEN LYNN HILL recalls her groundbreaking ascent of The Nose, her hands reach instinctually for invisible holds above the café table. One finds home above her steaming chai latte, the other reaches above the neighbouring table, her body stretching like a capital Y. It’s been 25 years since Hill became the first person to free climb Yosemite’s 880m slab, and she can still visualise the subtleties of the route once considered impossible. Her body remembers the stretches and holds, the vertical contortionism – her fingers recall the cracks and bumps in the granite face. Climbing is all about geometry, she says – physics. “When you’re able to coordinate the push and pull forces, you feel light and weightless,” she says. “The more you can coordinate the factors of mental, emotional…

I’M FIVE MINUTES’ FROM SH6 WHEN A SMILE FINDS MY LIPS. It’s shortly after seven on a cool August morning, and I’m alone on the track, following the Pororari River into its spectacular limestone gorge. Everything drips in this scrappy jungle of moss and kiekie, and its liveliness is tangible to my mood. Rain at dawn has spread an even shine over a gorgeous palette of greens, yellows and blacks, and the coffee-hued river hits me like the caffeine shot I didn’t have time for. Proud nīkau reach above the canopy like school children with burning questions, their fronds spread and eager for the golden morning light. I marvel at the track’s proximity to Punakaiki. The popular seaside town is so near, I can hear the Tasman’s angry pounding echo…

LATER THIS YEAR I WILL CELEBRATE MY 50TH BIRTHDAY. I’ve never really worried about weight, but recently I have become a weight fanatic, obsessed with every gram. I’m not referring to my own bodyweight – I like the fat, muscle, bones and other bits that collectively make up my body as it allows me to go tramping. And there’s no way I would want to weigh any less; if anything, I’m a woman who has thigh-envy of female sprint cyclists as I wonder if bigger quads might make carrying a heavy pack a bit easier. At 1.68m and 60kg, you could say I’m a bit of a lightweight. As I’ve become older I’ve found my body hasn’t appreciated the loads I’ve asked it to carry. So I’ve become fanatical about…

Sometimes while walking on a bearing you’ll encounter an obstacle you need to walk around. It might be a fallen tree, cliff edge or thick undergrowth. Getting around the object might be easy, but you also need to get back onto your bearing. Here’s how to do it. 1. At the obstacle, the marker (the person reading the bearing) lifts one arm to the side and looks along the arm to identify a feature at right angles to the bearing. They then turn and face that feature, so they are now at right angles to the bearing. 2. They then walk evenly, counting paces until they are past the obstacle. 3. They turn back to face the original bearing (now offset from the original). 4. If alone, the marker walks…

TWO LESS TARARUA RATS When I joined our local community pest free group (Pest Free Aotea), I made a tunnel trap from fence paling and wire that contains a mouse trap and a rat trap. I haven’t caught anything in our garden yet, but I did find success on a recent tramp. On a trip to the historic Cone Hut in Tararua Forest Park, I took my trap with me, because in my experience ‘historic’ can also mean wonky, holey, drafty and ratty. The hut was very tidy, but definitely had a few holes and signs of rat. Success! Two Tararua rats caught during the night. The trap is very light and it will now be part of our regular tramping kit. - Fanny Leduc, email 1080 WORKS, SAYS THIS…

ICE HAS its own language: sastrugi, needles, pancakes, hoar frost and rime are among the many forms that frozen water can assume. Rime is ice on steroids; strange formations that grow like horizontal stalagmites on any protruding surface, be it a sign, marker pole, cairn or hut. On a recent trip to Syme Hut in Egmont National Park, I was fascinated to see that ice formations had mushroomed out from the narrow wires holding down the hut. A curious fact (one I learned only recently): rime forms into the prevailing weather, and grows like a stalagmite, one drop at a time. Rain, sleet or snow catches on the protruding object, freezes to it and then acts as a collector, gathering more and more rime and growing towards the direction of…

YEARS AGO I visited the stunning Lake Matheson, with its mirror reflection of the Southern Alps. It was a crisp blue morning, with barely a hint of wind, and the track was teeming with visitors. At a viewing platform, a disgruntled middle-aged American couple were putting away their camera, complaining about occasional ripples dancing across the black surface. “I guess that’s the best we’re going to get it today,” one moaned to the other. I couldn’t believe it – the morning had me buzzing, and the reflection was perfect to my eyes, yet this couple was heading home in a huff because it wasn’t good enough. Maybe I’m easily amused, or perhaps I have low standards, but I like to think you could put a pack on my back and…

OTHER MUST-HAVES I carry a first-aid kit, sunscreen, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, pee-rag, head-torch, sunglasses, notebook, pencil, and Black Diamond Alpine FLZ hiking poles. And I never leave home without my small piece of snow-foam mat to sit on at lunchtime. EAT The MSR Wind-burner is perfect for boiling water for rehydrating my homemade dehy. I have a flat origami plate that folds into a bowl. My Platypus two-litre foldable water bottle can be fiddly to fill but it’s worth it for the weight savings. PACK The Osprey Exos 48 is my go-to tramping pack. It’s light enough to use as a day pack but will, at a push, take enough gear for 10 days. WORN ITEMS I’ve worn Macpac tramping shorts for years and have recently started wearing Rab…

GOLDEN BAY farmer John Pomeroy lives in anticipation of a phone call. Whether it comes at two in the morning or on a lazy Sunday afternoon, he’s ready for it – able to be out the door and on the road “at the drop of a hat”. Responding to search and rescue call-outs is a responsibility Pomeroy has taken on throughout his entire adult life. “My bag is packed 24/7 – I just need to add water and food for the trip and I’m ready to go,” he says. Pomeroy first joined LandSAR at 17, hitching lifts to training sessions and events with older family members until he became operational in his later teens. The desire to give something back to the backcountry he frequented for hunting and fishing was…

Upper Leather or a combination of leather or suede with synthetic material. They are abrasion-resistant, soft and supple, and can usually be worn straight from the box without the need to wear them in. Lacing and hardware Fabric or metal eyelets are used with one or two metal lugs at the ankle. Toe box This should be stiffened or protected with a rubber cap to protect toes from knocks and dislodged rocks. Midsole Three-season boots are designed to flex easily and come with an EVA midsole with a medial post to prevent twisting. The shank is not overly stiff and generally only covers a portion of the sole. Outsole Sticky rubber compounds with mud-shedding lugs offer good grip on all track surfaces. ANKLE CUFF Boot height is to just above…

Get your photo published here to receive a double pack of BPA-free, biobased plastic Sporks worth $13. Learn more about Sporks at ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz…

TOM MARCHANT KNEW his leg was broken the moment he hit the water. The pain was immediate, but just a taste of what was to come when his adrenalin wore off. It had taken just seconds of inattention for him to lose the track and lead his companions off course on a birthday trip to the Tararuas. Marchant and four friends were celebrating his 32nd birthday – now remembered for all the wrong reasons. Spirits were high, the banter was flowing, and concentration was admittedly lacking for the path ahead. Around 90 minutes into the five-hour track, they realised they had taken a wrong turn and had wandered off the trail. With the correct track still visible from their diversion, they decided to sidle past a small waterfall to return…

SOME OF THE WORLD’S most precious species of birds can be seen on Rakiura and they exist amidst tales of great conservation success and care. 1 SOUTHERN BROWN KIWI/ TOKOEKA Of the five kiwi species, the tokoeka is the only diurnal kiwi, which means, if you’re lucky, you may see one of these flightless birds during the day. It’s likely to be snuffling in the bush or at the beach, feeding on invertebrates, worms and beetles. You may see one at night around Oban but keep your distance, respect the bird and private property. Your best bet to see one is to book a kiwi spotting tour or head to Mason Bay, a popular tramping destination on the island’s west coast. There’s 280km of walking tracks in Rakiura National…

FROM OCTOBER to December this year, a flotilla will visit locations associated with the visit of Captain Cook to New Zealand between 1769 and 1772. The Tuia 250 commemoration is a series of events designed to acknowledge the first onshore meetings between Māori and European cultures. Unlike the Anglo-centric bi-centenary of Cook’s visit, the 250th anniversary aims to be more inclusive and include stories from both European and Māori perspectives. Cook sailed at a time of European progress, when Spain’s domination of colonies in the Americas had amassed magnificent wealth. The possibility of Great Britain discovering the huge unknown southern continent terra australis incognita had promising implications for trade and altering the balance of power in Europe. With astronomers, botanists, artists and ethnographers aboard, Cook’s mission was to scientifically record…

PARADISE. The word and location is loaded with expectations. At the head of Lake Wakatipu, continue past Glenorchy towards the Dart River Valley, onto the gravel road past the Earnslaw Burn and through a corner of beech forest in Mt Aspiring National Park. Sheep graze in the paddocks, and Diamond Lake appears as a slice of silver beneath the pyramid-like Mt Alfred. With the Main Divide becoming increasingly dominant in the windscreen, the small sign ‘Paradise’ starts to make sense. But we’re not there, just yet. Cross the cattle stop, through the gate and drive on to the homestead. There’s a moment of wondering which way to go, before the trust manager, Mandy Groshinski, might appear with any number and shape of dogs by her side, and show you the…

BYO SPICE KIT Ground spices have an incredible taste-to-weight ratio and are well worth packing. Pre-mix a spice kit for each night’s dinner at home and store in a ziplock, or craft your own spice kit if you’re a spontaneous cooker. Nothing beats a pinch of cinnamon in your morning porridge or Italian herbs in pasta. Restaurant salt and pepper sachets are another handy additive to bring along, but sneaking them into your pockets is a recommendation absolutely not heard from us. KAWAKAWA A nifty native worth memorising is the heart-shaped kawakawa leaf. Two lightly scrunched fresh leaves in boiling water make a tremendous bush tea. For a fuller flavour, bring a pot of water to the boil with kawakawa and kanuka. HOROPITO A useful native to know in the…

What’s your number one rule for having an adventure with kids? Safety. And when I say safety, I don’t mean from physical dangers, I mean making the child feel safe, especially if they are young. If they feel safe, their confidence grows. How you do that is you’re with them 24/7. You don’t leave their side. You’re standing outside the toilet if they’re in the bathroom. You’re with them when they go to sleep. You stay in the room with them, you don’t go talk to your mates about climbing. And then they get that confidence and off they go. IT’S THE DAY- TO-DAY STUFF THAT REALLY COUNTS – JUST SPENDING SOME ACTUAL TIME WITH YOUR KIDS Your trips to Nepal with your kids are quite extreme. Does it have…