Wilderness September 2021

WHAT WOULD it take for you to accept paying a fee to enter a national park? I ask because one tourism professional is suggesting the time has come to charge for access. Dave Bamford argues in ‘Is tourism’s time up in our national parks’ (p18) that the Covid-19 pandemic is an opportunity to reset the relationship people have with our national parks. He wants to see greater iwi involvement in their management and he thinks the time has come to charge for access, lest we return to the pre-pandemic days of overuse and pollution. He cites the 160,000 people who walked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the one million tourists who visited Milford Sound in 2019 as examples of the way our natural environment is being overrun and degraded. Bamford’s…

THANK GOODNESS THEY DON’T MAKE BOOTS LIKE THEY USED TO I read correspondent River Howe’s letter, ‘Boots not what they used to be’ (August 2021), with some interest. But my own experiences of older tramping boots are rather different to his. I remember well the trials of breaking in new John Bull, or later, Anson D-Ring boots – soaking in water for days at home, drying them out, repeating the process, Dubbin, more soaking in the forlorn hope that the first trip would not result in heel blisters. I still have bone spurs on my heels that compromise my footwear options, caused by years of rigid, inflexible and heavy boots. Nowadays I have settled on a lightweight Italian leather boot. They are quite cheap, require no breaking in and have…

Get your photo published here to receive a Victorinox Escort keyring pocket knife worth $22. Learn more about Victorinox at e.ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz…

FMC TURNS 90 Queenstown is to be the venue this year for Federated Mountain Clubs’ (FMC) 90th birthday party. The three-day event, at the end of October, will feature talks and presentations from some of the top outdoors figures in the country. The event, Taonga Lands and Waters: Conservation and Recreation for the Future, will be held at Queenstown Memorial Centre from Friday, October 29, to Sunday, October 31. Speakers include Environment Minister David Parker, former Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, outgoing DOC director general Lou Sanson, National conservation spokesperson Jacqui Dean, publisher Craig Potton and Backcountry Trust manager Rob Brown. A range of tramps has been planned throughout the weekend. People can register for the event on the FMC website. Campaign to combat untidy Kiwis DOC IS starting a campaign…

STORMS HAMMER TRACKS IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH ISLANDS Major tracks around the country have been hammered by recent winter storms and some are expected to be closed for months. Sections of the Heaphy, Queen Charlotte, Abel Tasman and Taranaki’s Around the Mountain track have been closed by storm damage after heavy rain in July. DOC Buller operations manager Suvi van Smit said the Heaphy Track has considerable storm damage between Kohaihai, at the western trailhead, and Heaphy Hut, with sections of track washed out, fallen trees and a large slip behind the staff hut at the Heaphy River mouth. DOC had cleared trees off the track and repaired damage “as much as possible” before it was reopened on July 30, but the department said extra care is required and…

JULIA AND I walked hand-in-hand to the shuttle, happy, grubby and exhausted after finishing the glorious Heaphy Track. My head on her shoulder, we were settling in for the drive back to civilisation when the driver, who was 10 or 15 years older than us, struck up a conversation. Before long, he asked the question: “So, do the two of you have partners waiting for you in Auckland?” While I was wondering what kind of awkwardness was about to unfold, Julia bravely spoke up. “No,” she said slowly, “we’re each other’s partners.” “I thought you might be,” he said cheerfully. “I just thought you might!” If the fear of awkwardness was present before, I was now regretting the hours ahead from which there was no obvious escape. He pressed on,…