Innehållsförteckning för August 2018 från Wilderness

I’M OLD ENOUGH to remember the original Kiwi Saddle Hut, with its rough bunks made from sacking and beech poles and its Malthoid roof. Built by members of the Heretaunga Tramping Club in 1947, it lasted four decades, but eventually the ravages of time saw it replaced with a new structure in 1987. Club members maintain it to this day. Perched at 1170m near its namesake saddle, the hut occupies a small clearing in the beech forest. The most direct access is from The Lakes car park, up the Smith Russell Track, which climbs steadily to the summit of Mt Kuripapango. Undulating ridge travel leads through forest and occasional open patches, to finally reach the hut. In the open, views expand across the Kaweka and Kaimanawa Ranges, which together form…

A SHORT DRIVE NORTH of Wanaka, Isthmus Peak features grandiose views of both Lake Wanaka and Hawea, but with a fraction of the company of the popular Roys Peak Track. The most dangerous part of the walk is crossing SH6 at the start. The parking area is on the right, just before traversing The Neck between lakes Hawea and Wanaka. This is a hotspot for oblivious drivers, concentrating more on the scenery than the road. The track is marked through Glen Dene Station (check closure dates with DOC, as it is often closed for lambing and fawning in spring). Merinos graze in the shadows of the schist cliffs taking advantage of the dry climate, akin to their native homeland in south-west Spain. Fences, gates and stiles keep the cattle at…

Lead Lines How to guide your viewer’s attention to the subject is one of the most important challenges for a creative photographer. Lead lines, like trails, rivers or fences, guide the viewer through the image. But even terrain features like trees, rocks or shadows can be lined up to direct the viewer’s attention. Separation Ensure your subject is easily visible and does not disappear in a distracting background. Good separation can be achieved through high contrast (a dark subject before a white background), colour (a blue jacket on yellow grass) or through micro contrast (a busy subject in front of a uniform background). Negative space Avoid creating images that are too busy. A calm space for the viewer’s eyes to rest upon will add balance and further emphasise your subject.…

Four person bothy bag and small foam mat Mostly used for lunch breaks and drinking tea, but good for emergency use too. BACKPACK Black Diamond Cirque 45. Having an avalanche tools pocket for quick access to my shovel and probe is really useful. STOVE AND BREW KIT My MSR WindBurner provides unlimited drinking water and hot drinks but without the weight. I also carry a small wide-mouthed Nalgene bottle inside an insulated sleeve that can be kept warm in jacket pockets. It can also be used as a hot water bottle at night time. In spring, I might bring along a small Camelbak too. REPAIR AND FIRST AID KIT Bindings break and skins can fail, but with a few simple items I can get back home without too much extra…

Marmot Knife Edge jacket $499, 326g (m); 303g (w) Features: Constructed from two-layer Gore-Tex Paclite, the Knife Edge is fractionally heavier than a specialised running jacket. Like most modern rainwear, the Knife Edge is fully seam-sealed, including along its zippers. The pockets have remained dry through heavy rain, and I haven’t experienced any unpleasant leaks through the underarm pit-zips. The jacket’s hood is big enough to fit over a helmet but still manages to feel snug without a helmet on. The hood has a peripheral and rear drawcord to cinch it tight so that it moves with your head. A hem drawcord also comes in handy to minimise heat loss. The cuffs are cut asymmetrically, so the sleeve is longer on the outside of the arm. This provides good cover…

I’M NOT A SCHOOL TEACHER OR A NURSE. CLIMBING’S THE ONLY THING I KNOW HOW TO DO, SO BEING ABLE TO SHARE THAT WITH PEOPLE IN A WAY THAT GIVES SOMETHING BACK IS REALLY GREAT After 30 years of climbing, have the reasons you climb changed? CA: When you are young it’s this amazing, new experience. When you get into your 20s and 30s, you keep pushing yourself, but I think at this point, it’s again about being in the outdoors and how humans react with one another when they climb. Today, while in Wanaka, I went climbing with people I had just met, but there’s this intense level of trust, belaying and helping each other – it’s that personal connection that’s unique to climbing. You play American Football, or…

Wardens need to step up to bullies I read the article about the bullies at Blue Lake Hut and it filled me with sadness (‘Bunks for all but her’, July 2018). What stood out most was the inability of two hut wardens to manage the situation. How can hut wardens be better supported to deal with these kinds of people? I have been on trips where hut wardens have clearly avoided dealing with the non-payers and also not intervened when hut etiquette was not being adhered to (people wearing boots in the hut being the most common example). It is difficult to deal with potentially adverse situations and when figures of authority are not forthcoming with assistance, it is a disabling and negative experience. - Min Lo, email Locals first…

We wanted a physical challenge while experiencing different cultures with a degree of independence. We chose the less-favoured Coastal Camino Portuguese and were not disappointed. This is known as a quiet and peaceful walk that eventually joins up with the Central Way at Redondela in Spain. We started at Matosinhos on the coast in the northern Porto district of Portugal. We walked directly alongside the Atlantic and beside the mountains with spectacular scenery both on the coast and inland. Our paths varied from tarmac, to cobbles, boardwalks, Roman roads, to paths. We walked through woodland, pine and eucalyptus plantations, and through Medieval hamlets and larger villages. We discovered stunning fishing villages, sandy beaches, enjoyed local cuisine and wines. Some days were so quiet we walked entirely on our own for…

WHEN TRAMPING IN regenerating fringe country, you come across them sometimes – a lichen-patterned, hoary old post that was once the strainer that held the wires to keep sheep in, or out. Farmers favoured totara posts because of their exceptional durability; something in the wood’s oils makes them highly resistant to the normal process of decay. Totara slabs made excellent cladding for huts too; a notable example is Cone Hut in Tararua Forest Park. Maori also prized totara, which was soft enough to make a superb medium for carving, shaping into waka, and a myriad of other uses. In his comprehensive book, Totara, A natural and cultural history, ecologist Philip Simpson calls totara ‘the most important tree in Maori culture’. Indeed, totar uis so valued that Maori say at the…

WITH A GOBLIN FOREST walk to a cascade of pools in an old lava flow, Wilkies Pools is a must-do on Mt Taranaki. The 1-1.5 hour loop seemed manageable with our nearly three and five year olds. Loaded up with scavenger hunt bags, winter woollies and snacks, we headed out. The whining dissolved as patches of crisp, icy snow were soon discovered on the side of the track. Snowball fights were inevitable, as were the wet socks and gloves that followed. The spiked mountain totara, gnarled, peeling, pale limbs of tree fuschia, and fern, liverwort and lichen-covered kamahi enclosed the hard-packed track, making for a mystical path of delight for the kids. Scavenger bags were soon full of red and green leaves, berries, stones and twigs, and tummies full of…

I loved the dragon’s tooth rock formation, and there was never a question that it would be my subject. The semicircle of bright grass adds a lead line, guiding the viewer from the bottom of the frame to the rock. Coincidentally, it also connects the person on the left to the rest of the frame. The composition features simple thirds, split into foreground, midground and background. Following the lead line, the viewer will eventually find the person on the left. He is not the best example of separation, but as a secondary subject he is not overly important. He acts as an emotional anchor that allows the viewer to identify with the image and think, ‘Wish I was there!’.…

1. 2B Insect Repellent $24.50 Water-resistant, lasts up to eight hours, 100 per cent natural, New Zealand made. 2B is effective against all biting insects including mosquitoes and sandflies. www.2b.kiwi.nz 2. Go Native Provisions 3 meal pack $39.95 Fuel dad with delicious NZ-made casseroles and curries. Quick to cook – heat and ready to eat in six minutes. As good to eat at home as they are in the wilderness. www.gonativeworld.com 3. BioLite SunLight $39.99 Up to 50 hours of light on a single charge, integrated solar panel offers unlimited light and versatile setup so dad can leave his batteries behind. One hundred lumen dimmable light can change to practically any colour. www.ampro.co.nz 4. Gerber Dime $39.99 The idea is simple: always be prepared. The Dime is a mini multi-tool…

Shaun Donovan: Don’t buy land with access rights if you can’t handle the jandle, I mean the tramping boot. Catherine Kilgour: Some farmers have opened their farms up before the number of trampers was an issue. So no previous ‘rights’ when they purchased the land. Keith Roberts: Access in NZ isn’t your right. Any farmer can deny any private individual entry. Andrew Burfield: It staggers me that publicly-owned access corridors to conservation land weren’t a standard requirement of any deal that came out of Crown lease tenure review. News of a potential Great Walk in Moles-worth Station was met with trepidation by some readers. Robin Kearns: Sadly, the spectre of crowding, mega-huts, and high fees makes the question ‘Could this be the next Great Walk?’ one that’s as ominous as…

TRAMPING IS ONE of the most popular forms of recreation in the country, according to a recent survey which found a quarter of the population has been tramping in the past year. The survey, produced by Sport New Zealand, was conducted throughout 2017 and included 33,000 respondents. It found 24 per cent of adults had been on either an overnight or day tramp in the past year, which was more popular than the combined participation rates for rugby (two per cent), netball (five per cent), tennis (eight per cent), and cricket (four per cent). In total, 23 per cent of respondents had been on a day tramp in the past year and seven per cent on an overnight tramp. Five per cent had recreated in a national park in the…

A summary of stories published at wildernessmag.co.nz DOC ENDS OVERNIGHT PARKING IN TONGARIRO HUB DOC is encouraging trampers to take shuttles to Tongariro National Park, as it cuts back on long-term parking in Whakapapa Village to free up spaces for day-visitors. There will be no overnight parking in the village over winter, while overnight parking over summer has been reduced. There were still about 100 overnight car parks on the roadside before the village, between Chateau Tongariro and the speed restrictions signs. NORTHLAND TRACK CLOSURES A DANGER FOR UNPREPARED Police have urged people to check track closures before they head on a tramp after a group of Auckland trampers were rescued recently. A group of five Auckland women drove four hours to Kaitaia to walk the Herekino Track, but after…

WINTER IN THE backcountry might mean frozen boots, grey skies and slippery tracks, but despite these potential deterrents it is my favourite season to go tramping. Even on the greyest days, slipping on patches of ice and numb fingers in the morning, the tranquillity is hard to surpass. French Ridge Hut is the perfect winter destination. For climbers and mountaineers, the hut serves as a base for climbing Mts French, Avalanche and Aspiring, as well as a stopover on the way to Colin Todd Hut. Built in 1999, it is the third hut built on the ridge. The materials for the first bivvy were carried up the track by members of the Otago section of the NZ Alpine Club in 1939. After numerous repair trips due to wear-and-tear, a second…

THE MOTIVATION FOR this trip was to tread new ground in that most famous of places: Tongariro National Park. Hundreds of people walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing each day, but it’s not difficult to dodge the crowds by visiting in winter. Although, even at that time of year, we encountered several guided groups when our route intersected the trampled trail of the TAC. But, in good conditions, there are almost unlimited options to avoid the madding crowd on this relatively easy terrain. Our route left the trail at Mangatepopo Hut (1190m), crossing the stream and following Mt Tongariro’s western ridge – Hardmans Ridge – all the way to the mountain’s rime encrusted summit. Over the years, I’ve gone this way several times and couldn’t help but notice how a discernible…

DAWN WAS CALLING. Not unusual perhaps, except that this dawn was a rendezvous I had made with the summit of a minor foothill in South Canterbury – and I was late. Coal Hill, 1617m, stands on the south bank of the Rangitata River, not far north of a well known landmark, the often-climbed Little Mt Peel. It’s a fairly strenuous 1100m ascent to the top and given that it was winter, dark, cold, and just a little daunting, I was taking my time finding the way up. The route is lightly marked, starting from easy farm flats at the base of the hill leading out onto the steeper upper flanks. I had moment to pause and wonder what the heck I was doing there, having left a perfectly comfortable sleeping…

THE SPUR-WINGED plover is one of our most successful self-introduced birds, going from a fully protected native species to having that protection lifted in 2010. The first record of the bird breeding in New Zealand was near Invercargill in 1932, and by 1980 they had spread to Northland. Conservation status Native species classified as ‘not threatened’. Features The spur-winged plover is a large, stocky wading bird. The most distinguishing features of this loud and obtrusive bird is its bright yellow bill, eye ring and wattles, the latter of which hang ‘droopily’ down the side of its face. The top of the head and back of the neck are black, extending down around the shoulder area resembling a collar. The rest of the head, neck and under parts are white and…

Rab Continuum $599.99, 355g (m), 310g (w) Features: This is a technical mid-weight down jacket built for the rigours of winter mountaineering. With 148g of 850 fill-power hydrophobic goose down, the Continuum is warm and plush. It’s also compressible and packs down to the size of a melon. Its over-helmet hood is one of its highlights, with three adjustment points for a perfect fit and seal against the elements, while its stiff visor provides protection from rain or sleet. The only downside of the hood design is that the cinch cords need to be tucked away, otherwise they float around the edge of your vision in a distracting way. Two zippered hand pockets, a chest pocket and a hem drawcord complete the jacket’s features. 5/5 Fit: The Continuum has a…

BACHELOR OF Environmental Management student Troy Kendall, is loving studying in Invercargill with Southern Institute of Technology (SIT). The 19-year-old comes from a small Waikato town but has enjoyed his time in Invercargill so much, he now sees Southland as home. Since beginning his course, Troy has found his studies have motivated him to get involved in numerous outdoor activities, a far cry from what he now sees as his unmotivated and underachieving former self. “SIT’s classrooms are interactive and lively, we get to go on regular field trips to various locations and we learn practical, real-life skills that are needed for the workplace. I believe SIT’s classroom-based environment is a lot more family and community-like when it comes to peer-to-peer relationships. Students become close to their classmates and form…