Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i Wilderness

TE ARAROA PARTNERS with WALKING ACCESS COMMISSION TE ARAROA TRUST and New Zealand Walking Access Commission have joined forces to improve Aotearoa’s 3000km thru-hike. The partnership will give the trust access to the commission’s resources and staff, including its digital mapping team and regional field advisors, though chief executive officer of Te Araroa Mark Weatherall said the trust will retain independence and its existing board of trustees. “The difference is that we now have a Crown agency supporting us in our day-to-day work,” he said. The partnership has relieved some of the financial pressure facing the trust, though Weatherall said it doesn’t lessen its reliance on supporters and donations. “The key thing is that every dollar we raise will now – hand on heart – go directly back to the…

After 23 hours on our feet and building a bivvy in the snow, I gladly took off my boots to get into my sleeping bag. When I saw my right foot, I understood why I felt so miserable. It looked grey and I had no feeling from the ball to my toes. My friend said it might be frostnip. I tried massaging my feet to get the feeling back. That didn’t work. I then wrapped my foot in an emergency blanket and went to sleep. When we woke three hours later, the tips of my toes and forefoot had gone a grey-purple. My left toes were also numb. Both feet looked waxy. I asked a friend if we should use their PLB, but we became distracted because it looked like…

Waikahoa Bay, Northland Located right on the water’s edge, campers can enjoy the secluded beach by day and fall asleep surrounded by kiwi calls at night. “It’s a picture-perfect calm beach with very limited camping numbers, surrounded by some of the best coastline in the world,” says DOC’s Abby Monteith. “You have to walk or boat your gear in, so getting there is half the adventure.” Port Jackson, Coromandel Few visitors bother to visit Coromandel’s northernmost tip, which likely suits its regular campers just fine. The long crescent of Port Jackson will excite any beach-lover, and boaties will appreciate its proximity to Great Barrier Island. Kawakawa Bay, Taupō Not to be confused with Auckland’s Kawakawa Bay, this hidden gem at Lake Taupō is a popular destination for…

AGEING MEN often suffer from thinning thatch. For the mature tramper, this might require judicious use of sun hats in summer and beanies in winter. Many hilltops in the backcountry are called ‘Baldy’ or various other references to a lack of forest on top. Most often, this is an effect of altitude; at other times it’s the result of a fire or even the nature of the geology. Ironically, however, many of these peaks are not bare-headed at all but covered with a thick layer of tussock. And the term tussock originally meant ‘tuft of hair’. So, for example, Baldy in the Tararua Range has plenty of thatch. A search of the map reveals at least 10 peaks called Baldy, and dozens more called Bald Hill, Cone or Mountain. Here…

IF YOUR GOAL is to convince a budding tramper they’ve chosen an enjoyable, pain-free pastime, the very least you can do is book them a bunk for the night. Securing a booking takes all anxiety out of the affair – allowing trampers to wake up late, walk at their own pace, and carry a lighter pack, unencumbered by mattress or tent. Here are 10 bookable huts suitable for beginners. PINNACLES HUT COROMANDEL FOREST PARK New Zealand’s biggest hut is popular for a reason; for the price of a three-hour walk, you can sleep amongst Coromandel kauri in a glamorous abode, a stone's throw from the famous Pinnacles. Weekends book out fast, so trampers should consider a weekday expedition or brave a mid-winter trip to avoid crowds. The Kauaeranga Kauri…

Long, human-powered journeys have been romanticised throughout history. Wilfred Thesiger’s Arabian desert journeys through the Empty Quarter in the 1940s have long captured our collective imagination. More recently, in 2012, Turkish-American Erden Eruç completed his five-year-long solo circumnavigation of the Earth. A bit closer to home, the lure of a remote, unsupported journey prompted three Kiwi adventurers – Graham Charles, Marcus Waters and Mark Jones – to undertake a world-first 800km traverse of the Antarctic Peninsula by sea kayak in 2001. My first longer trips were in Nepal when I was 18, but they were not far off the beaten path. Yearning for a solid chunk of time away from the stress and speed of modern day life, I returned a few years later to do an 80 day trek…

Kovea Titanium Specs: $99.90, 88g Used by: Features and trips writer Hazel ‘Masterchef’ Phillips Used for: Eight years EIGHT YEARS AGO, I shopped around for a lightweight stove and found the Camp 3 Kovea Titanium at an outdoor shop in Te Anau. My criteria were: small, light, but able to chuck out the grunt when necessary for cooking bigger meals. Ultimately, what I really wanted was a stove I could take on solo trips but would still hold up for group cooking. Weighing in at just 88g, this ticks all the boxes. It expands to fit a pot but packs down neatly, and the adjustable valve allows precise control over the firepower. It’s still going strong after many trips, including several nine-day solos. In fact, mine is the Mark II…

Let’s start with the obvious: why walk the Mataura River? For some time, I've wished that someone had written about the river way back and left a record of it so that somebody like me, living now, could read about what it meant to people and what they felt about the river sometime earlier. That was something I wanted to do. But you’ve never written a book before – was it difficult? Along with walking up rivers, books have been central to my life and as a consequence I've held them in such high regard that I never saw myself as somebody who would write one. It was made more difficult for me because I didn't want to write something that reflected poorly on the river – it was meant…

KNOW-HOW, CAN DO The article ‘Subscribe to outside’ (August 2020), resonated strongly with me – and provided some really helpful advice. I get many comments, particularly when photo sharing on social media, from people envious or admiring of our family tramping trips. I thought it would be great to organise a family tramping trip with a bunch of kids and their reluctant parents, with a few ‘newbies’ who could take on the adventure with the support of more experienced trampers to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip. I didn’t anticipate that within 35 minutes of a Facebook post, I would be booking out all 26 bunks in Waitawheta Hut. I’m now faced with the exciting challenge of introducing 10 adults and 12 young people aged 6-13 to tramping. The challenge…

AT THE SUMMIT of Mt Ruapehu, seven Kiwis started their journey to the coast. It was early 2017, and the adventure would see the friends spend a month kayaking the Waikato River on its slow voyage to the west coast. Though the 425km river can be kayaked in little over a week, expedition member Dan Kelly says the group took its time to meet the locals and get to know their environment. Unlike the Whanganui River Journey which can be enjoyed obstacle free, the Waikato is a different beast. It has eight hydroelectric dams, mosquito-infested drains and control gates to bypass, as well as the boisterous Huka Falls. And all of this on a “motley mix” of vessels borrowed and begged from friends and family. “We had to bush bash…

THERE IT WAS AGAIN: that unbridled sense of fear. It had followed me, a constant companion through every single one of the 1600km I’d hiked so far. It was ever at my back, a shadowy presence that chased me down the trail and often caught me. I could hardly move from my seated perch at the top of the staircase. I looked down towards almost certain doom at the foot of the hill below. There, cars whizzed along the highway, oblivious to my predicament which was unfolding 140m above on the Paekakariki Escarpment Track. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied the first of the two swingbridges I would have to cross. I was paralysed, stuck fast in the knowledge that my preferred exit (turning around and heading…

Kiwi Camping Kea 4E $329 Single room four-person tent with two entrances and an extendable vestibule, two windows with ‘no-see-um’ mesh and storm flaps, air ventilation ports, vestibule groundsheet, bug screened fold-away doors, power cord entry, 5000mm aqua rating and 3-year warranty. www.kiwicamping.co.nz Traverse Cooler Box 42.5L $329.99 Leak-proof, impact-resistant cooler made from food grade non-toxic PE materials, UV and corrosion resistant, stainless settle lock doubles as a bottle opener, recessed drain plug, adjustable handles. Also comes in 19l, 71l, 104l. www.huntingandfishing.co.nz Kiwi Camping Rover Queen 10cm Self-Inflating Mat $379 Cross-cored compressible foam expands in minutes and is wrapped in durable soft stretch fabric. Three-way valve provides easy inflation and deflation. Includes repair kit, carry bag and compression straps. www.kiwicamping.co.nz Gasmate 3L Watertech Portable Hot Water System $499 Heats up…

THE DUSKY TRAIL was named after the Dusky run block, and half of it travels through Pukaki Downs, Rhoboro and Ben Ohau stations on public easements. The rest of the trail passes through Ruataniwha Conservation Park. This 37,000ha park takes in large tracts of high country between lakes Ohau and Pukaki, along the Ben Ohau Range and below the Neumann Range. The trail initially climbs through a forest of self-seeded conifers tightly packed together like soldiers on parade. They have spread to the edge of a terrace where you drop down onto the open flats of the Twizel River. Clumps and individual trees from wind-blown seed are colonising the river flats to the base of the Black Hills. It looks as though they could eventually swallow up the whole of…

IT’S NOT QUITE instant as you do have to cook pasta, but this mac ‘n’ cheese recipe is a great option for anyone who can’t have dairy or wants a lightweight easy option on multi-day trips. The spinach in this recipe is optional and would probably only be fresh enough if used on an overnight trip. You can find nutritional yeast, an inactive form of yeast which has a tasty cheesy flavour, in most supermarkets’ ‘health food’ section or in organic/wholefood stores. PROFILE Prep time 3min Cook time 10min Serves 2 Cost $5-6 RECIPE 3 cup uncooked pasta, elbows or shells (or however much you want to feed 2 people) 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast ½ cup cashews ½ tsp veggie stock powder ¼ tsp onion powder Pinch turmeric powder 1…

DOWN JACKET During my first winter in NZ, I got a RAB Women’s Microlight Alpine jacket and took it out for its maiden voyage in Paparoa National Park. While traversing a ridgeline, an unexpected blizzard developed and I had to wear this jacket as my outer layer. I thought I would surely ruin the thing but its water-resistant qualities were up to the task. I still use it today on every trip and wear it over all my other layers for impenetrable warmth. TENT My tent is a relatively vintage MSR Hubba that was given to me in 2013. I love it for its ease of set-up and trusty durability. It received a few holes last January thanks to kea at Homer Hut but with the help of Gearaid repair…

Get your photo published here to receive a Light My Fire ‘Re-kit’ Cup/Straw/Spork made from environmentally-friendly bioplastic and worth $20. Learn more about LMF at e.ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz…

IN THE LATE 90S, MY DAD – an aircraft engineer – was invited to work at Boeing Seattle for several months. He came home brimming with the exciting news – the family could fly over free to visit, and what’s more, we could go to Disneyland. It sounds like every eight-year-old’s dream, but the plan broke my heart – the trip would mean missing our annual family camping trip to Otamure Bay, Whananaki. My brothers felt the same, and though I don’t remember complaining, apparently we were so distraught, Dad rescheduled his business trip so we could go camping. Like many Kiwi families, we spent summer after summer camping on the same small patch of grass. Our canvas city consisted of four other families for up to five weeks at…

Ahipara Holiday Park, Northland Beloved for its chill surfer vibe, clean facilities and proximity to one of Aotearoa’s best surf breaks, Ahipara Holiday Park is a launching pad to 90 Mile Beach, Shipwreck Bay and beyond. Stay in summer, and you’re bound to cross paths with sandy Te Araroa Trail walkers on their pilgrimage to Bluff. Hahei Holiday Resort, Coromandel With crystal waters, white sand and shady pohutukawa groves, Hahei Beach is one of New Zealand’s best beaches. The popular campsite holds prime beach-front real estate and visitors have access to plentiful facilities, including kitchens, laundry, coffee and seasonal food trucks. Mt Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, Bay of Plenty Situated at the base of ‘The Mount’, visitors are right in the hub of this summer hotspot: beach…

“I THINK YOU BETTER GIVE ME THE TENT”, suggests Margaret. “You resent carrying it.” Oh no, had I made it that obvious? I suppose I did mention more than once that in my current state of fitness my pack was too heavy for me. It doesn’t help that we’d picked the hottest day of summer to walk up Watson Creek to the Ella Range, in Nelson Lakes National Park. I’m sweating profusely, haven’t had enough to drink and am feeling a little nauseous from the heat. Margaret suggests a stop. I guzzle a litre of water and we immerse ourselves, clothes and all, into the small cooling pool we have stopped beside. Immediately my load feels lighter. It’s great to have good friends with you when you’re having a bad…

At 33, John Davies’ life changed forever. After a run of 60 hour work weeks, he was enjoying a hard-earned holiday in Sydney’s Blue Mountains with his wife and two children. The plan was to do very little, to relax and recover from work. However, Davies’ exhaustion – though understandable – was unprecedented. Despite being physically fit, he was sleeping 16 hours a day and tiring on short walks. He’d lost weight, his vision was blurring, and then there was the thirst – it was unquenchable. Davies’ wife – a nurse – suggested he might be diabetic, and a blood test soon confirmed her suspicion. Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong autoimmune condition where the body attacks the cells that make insulin. Though it usually occurs in adolescence, it can…

SOMETIMES A SIMPLE pasta isn’t enough to satisfy after a hard day’s slog, and there is little worse than a grumbling tummy for company in a cold hut. Before you rethink your entire meal plan, however, it’s worth considering how you can add sustenance to your meals. A good EGG ‘If you’ve got an egg, you’ve got a meal’ is one of my mother’s favourite sayings. Why? Because it was one of her mother’s most used phrases, as she raised seven kids on a budget. For nutritional value, eggs are hard to beat, and are packed with protein, iron and vitamins. Brave trampers may like to carry them raw, but hard-boiled or powdered eggs are a safer option for transport. Throw them into your pasta, fried rice, wraps or atop…

UPPER Leather or a combination of leather or suede with a 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. ANKLE CUFF Boot height is to above the ankle, reducing the chance of trail debris entering the boot. Higher cuffs offer better ankle support and are softened for comfort. If you expect to carry a heavy pack, higher ankles are better. Midsole Most midsoles are EVA, a polymer designed to handle the stress and impact of walking over uneven ground. Varying densities of EVA provide either firm or soft support, with soft-flex boots being more comfortable on level ground and when moving fast. Some midsoles are PU (polyurethane) which is firmer and more durable than…