Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Wilderness

IT’S A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATE, but finally you’re receiving the long-awaited May magazine. I hope it’s been worth the wait – I certainly think so. I thank you for your patience and, more importantly, for your support. I know everyone has had a tough ride during the Alert Level 4 Lockdown. And that tough ride hasn’t ended just because we’ve moved into level 3 – life as we know it has not come rushing back and nor will it for some time to come. But through the stress of the lockdown, the uncertainty over jobs, family and health, many readers offered their support and kind words of encouragement to us. Normally, this magazine is put together by a team of six. This month, it felt like a team of…

AN UNPRECEDENTED month, which kept shops closed and trampers indoors, brought plenty of news – some good, some bad – to New Zealand’s outdoors community. As the country shifted from level 3 to level 4, Kiwis were urged to stay indoors, and leave only for short walks close to home. THE BACKCOUNTRY CLOSES “Normal search and rescue operations will not be running, hut wardens will not be in place, communications may be limited and we do not want to place unnecessary strain on health services,” DOC director-general Lou Sanson said as the country moved into lockdown. Unfortunately, not everybody got the message. Several Te Araroa Trail walkers found themselves emerging from the wilderness into a different New Zealand. Becca Rolon, from the US, and Diarmuid McInerney from Ireland, were hiking…

t’s not every day you come I across a six-bunk hut just minutes after leaving your car. The sign on the khaki-coloured, Forest Service-era hut read ‘Frew Hut’. But we were miles from Frew Saddle in the Hokitika River and the country around us was farmland, not the backcountry. As we trudged past the hut down the farm road, the landowner arrived and he explained how he got the hut when DOC replaced it for a newer model a few years ago. After giving us some directions, we carried on to Diedrichs Creek and found the start of Gerhardt Spur Track. By the time we began the ascent, it was already 3pm. I looked at the map. Between us and Gerhardt Spur Biv, our destination for the night, were 55…

HOROPITO INFERNO Horopito – also known as the pepper tree – packs a mean punch, and can be used to liven up your hot choccy and set your nose running. Slowly boil one cup of water and two scrunched horopito leaves in your billy, add one heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder, and sugar to taste. The cocoa powder will make for a dark bitter brew, complemented by the spicy horopito. Add 2tsp of milk powder at the beginning if you need to soften the blow. HAZELNUT HEAVEN If you’re too embarrassed to order a hazelnut hot chocolate at your local, here’s your solution. Bring one cup of water to a boil with ⅓ cup of milk powder and 2tsp cornflour, for thickness. Stir constantly with a spoon or fork to…

“DO YOU BOYS KNOW YOU’RE BREAKING THE LAW?” In the cold light of morning, I guess it was obvious. Bleary-eyed and cloudy-headed, we three tired musicians fronted up to the council worker, feeling guilty he’d been called out to work early on a Sunday morning on account of us. This is not how I expected my first night of tarp camping to go. “Honestly, we didn’t – we got here at 2am,” I said, dumbly. It had been a rough night with little sleep, and here we were rolling away sleeping bags by a boat ramp in Coromandel at 7am. Two friends and I had played at a beach wedding the night before, and after a late finish we couldn’t face the nearly three-hour drive back to Auckland. Some local…

BioLite HeadLamp 200 $99.99 200 lumens / 50m range / 50g Features: This lightweight lamp has an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides 3hr of burn time on its highest 200-lumen setting, and 40hr on its lowest 5-lumen setting. It recharges via micro USB. A single button cycles through five light modes, including strobe and red light, and restarts on the last-used setting. A lock-out mode prevents the lamp from turning on accidentally, and an indicator shows how much battery charge is left. 5/5 Comfort: The most comfortable headlamp I’ve used, bar none. At 50g, you barely feel it on your forehead, and can run, jump, or skip if you wish, without bounce. Its low weight allows users to wear the straps comfortably – not tight. 5/5  In use: It’s…

Get your photo published here to receive a SOL survival blanket worth $19.80. It weighs only 100g, but will reflect 90% of radiated body heat. Learn more about SOL at e.ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz…

FIRST, IT WAS the incredulous stares, then came the same question, repeated over and again by almost everyone Ieva Laucina met on the Te Araroa Trail: “Is this all you have?” You might have asked it too had you met Laucina, who hails from Latvia and carried on her back a 700g 35-litre pack more commonly used by trail runners or day-trippers. Inside, she had crammed all she would need for her three-month length-of-New Zealand hike. Laucina, a self-described trail runner, had barely done any hiking before she started out on the Te Araroa Trail from Bluff in January. That’s why she found the goggled eyes and questions about what she was carrying so unnerving. “For weeks, I was thinking, is this OK, is there some standard I should have?”…

WELCOME TO THE INAUGURAL WILDERNESS 100 – AN ANNUAL LIST OF THE BEST TRIPS IN THE COUNTRY. As you’d expect with such a list, we’ve applied careful thought and discussion, and consulted experts, as to which tracks, huts and peaks should be featured. But no doubt we’ve overlooked some fantastic trips, so please get in touch if you reckon you know a better trip to include in future Wilderness 100s because next year we’ll be doing it all over again. This year’s Wilderness 100 will take you from Cape Reinga to southern Rakiura, zig zagging from coast to coast. If you want to see the country, this is the template by which all epic road trips should be based. We’ve organised the trips alphabetically, so you can easily find a…

I DON’T TRUST my ability to get eggs safely to their destination in my pack – often because it is dropped off my shoulders with gusto and then sat on while I eat lunch. This recipe uses chickpea flour instead of eggs and is packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre. You can mix and match the veggies you choose to put in them and include options like cheese or pesto if you like. PROFILE Prep time 5min Cook time 10min Makes 1 omelette Cost $3-4 Ingredients – dry mix ½ cup chickpea flour 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional) 1 tsp ground chia or flax seeds ¼ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp onion powder ¼ tsp garlic powder Pinch salt Pinch turmeric Ingredients – to cook…

A FRAME A simple and spacious shelter which utilises your tramping poles, paddles or sticks as tentpoles. Provides shelter from wind, and spacious cover from rain. RIDGELINE A good option for forest camping. Use two prusik knots to pull the tarp tight on the ridgeline. You can use extra guidelines instead of pegs to secure the corners. C-FLY SETUP Well-suited to windy conditions, the C-fly also provides a dry ground mat for sleeping and a roof for protection from rain.…

As well as being Wilderness’ roving editor, Shaun Barnett is a renowned tramper and Wellington-based writer and photographer. “I’m fortunate to be able to make a modest living out of writing and photographing the outdoors,” he says. “What I carry in my pack is a balance between what I need for the adventure and the camera equipment to record the experience.” CAMERA GEAR I take a Nikon D850 with a Nikkor 18-35mm and 70-300mm lenses, assorted filters, a spare battery, and a Really Right Stuff tripod, which weighs just over 1kg but is stable. Combined, this gear is heavy, but allows me the greatest capacity for the sort of photography I like doing. I try and keep everything else in my pack as light as possible to compensate for the…

What inspired you to enter the podcast world? I was listening to a few other excellent history podcasts and eventually wondered if there was one on New Zealand. I thought there had to be one – we’re a small nation, but not small enough that surely someone hadn’t already come up with the idea. However, I couldn’t find one and eventually said, ‘Bugger it, I’ll do it’. Podcasting is quite naturally suited to the format since it’s free, easy to access and doesn’t require listeners to devote lots of attention – people listen to podcasts on the drive to work, while cooking or just chilling in the bath. It also has the advantage of a lower barrier to entry in both equipment and skill. Do you feel the NZ history…

I RETURNED TO THE TRAIL, TOO Thank you to Nikki Slade Robinson and others who contributed to ‘Return to the trail’ (April 2020). Hearing other women’s stories is inspiring and encouraging. In late October 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. When my surgeon asked me if I had plans for Christmas, my reply was: “Yes, I’m booked to tramp the Routeburn, Kepler and Rakiura”. Sadly, I had to accept this might not happen. My surgeon’s response was the most positive statement I’ve ever heard. She simply said: “We’ll make that happen.” In early November, I had a lumpectomy with radiation therapy scheduled to start two days after we arrived home from the South Island. I was able to complete the three walks with amazing support from family and friends.…

THE MONTH of lockdown has been a trying time for all sectors of the outdoor industry. Bivouac marketing manager Andrew Powell said the level 4 lockdown halted all operations for the retail chain, but all staff has been retained. “I’m proud that Bivouac has done the right thing in completely shutting down during this period and not pretending that we are an ‘essential service’ in the midst of a life-threatening pandemic,” he said. “Accepting economic hurt in the short-term is a hard option, but the most likely to result in a faster recovery for the nation and quicker return to some form of normality.” Powell said online sales will be available during level 3, before the eventual shift to in-store retail. “The transition to retail will require changes in systems…

THE 110KM SECTION of the Te Araroa Trail that runs beside the Pelorus River, over the Richmond Range to St Arnaud is special to me. I have twice been able to walk my dog Pippin over this track and with landscapes that run from lush river valleys to rugged alpine grasslands and end in the geologically fascinating Red Hills, that is something special. Pip is a small, white, furry thing of indeterminate breed, a true bitser. Weighing just 5kg, most people struggle to believe this piece of fluff could ever scale the mountains she loves, let alone carry her dinner on her back. I picked Pippin the pup up from the Sunday Market and a new horizon appeared: my new hiking buddy. Tramping with a dog is a truly symbiotic…

LIKE MANY introduced species, the Californian redwoods of Whakarewarewa Forest have found stronger roots in New Zealand than in their habitat of origin. First planted here in 1901, the sky-scraping giants quickly surpassed even the grandest kauri trees in height, despite being just a fraction of the age. The tallest in Whakarewarewa is a staggering 72m tall – 20m taller than Tane Mahuta. The best place to experience the enormous trees – apart from California, of course – is Whakarewarewa Forest’s Waitawa Track, right in the heart of Rotorua. From the car park, the track passes through endless rows of towering redwoods. A distinct lack of undergrowth here accentuates the uniformity of the trunks, standing straight like hairs on a spooked cat. Natives enter the fray as the car park…

NOW MORE than ever you should be shopping locally. I have a vested interest in what I am going to ask you. I own a small business that imports and distributes outdoor adventure product. I employ eight staff, four in a single retail outlet and four, including myself, at our office and warehouse. My business sells outdoor clothing and equipment to specialist outdoor retailers in the adventure, travel, hunting and ski industries. What I want to ask is not as the owner of this business, but as a citizen of this country. Often, I see and hear a comment about how someone scored a great deal by buying something online from an offshore retailer. That’s great you may have saved a few dollars, but your purchase does very little to…

THOSE WHO usually go on day walks or overnighters often feel they don’t need to learn any navigation skills. But looking through search and rescue incidents will reveal just how wrong this attitude can be. Here’s what you should be doing for every walk, no matter its duration or difficulty Use a map, even on an easy walk: Look at the map before you go and take a copy of the map with you. You might think you can’t read a map but there are many clues you can get even if you have limited skills. It is important to start on the right track if you want to get to your destination. One Christmas Eve, a party of three took a wrong track and were exhausted when they got…

FELIX GALLOWAY just broke his personal speed record for a 12-metre climb. “Write it down, 59.88 seconds,” he urges, pointing to the notes I’m writing. Very soon he’s back with a huge grin. “You have to change it, I just did 58.95 seconds.” Later that evening, it takes me several minutes to climb a similar route. And unlike Felix, I don’t have cerebral palsy. “It affects his left side, not that you’d know it looking at him after five weeks climbing,” says his dad, Richard, on belay. “He’s a lot stronger than he was even two weeks ago.” Volunteer instructor Robyn Maxwell keeps the excited Felix ‘on the ground’ so to speak. “Look for perfect lowering, keep yourself steady and stable, two feet on the wall,” she calls quietly as…

THEY’RE MOST POPULAR WITH THOSE WHO ARE IN TUNE WITH THEIR GEAR AND ARE LOOKING TO MINIMISE WEIGHT ZONED INSULATION is a growing revelation in the world of sleeping bags, and it makes a world of sense. Down is a near perfect insulator, but it has a major downside, if you will excuse the pun: when compressed, whether by weight or moisture clumping, it loses its insulating properties. This weakness is taken into account in zoned insulation designs, which reduce the amount of down in areas where it will be compressed – usually the back of sleeping bags. Sleeping quilts are a relatively new fad – particularly popular in the ultralight community – which takes the idea one step further by removing the back of the sleeping bag entirely. “Quilts…