Wilderness November 2025

IT WAS with some trepidation that I accepted Chris Williams’ pitch for his story about using ChatGPT to plan a tramping trip (see p16). My last foray into AI was to create illustrations for an article about the different types of Te Araroa Trail walkers you might encounter, and it went down like a lead balloon with readers. Won’t be doing that again, I promise. The proliferation of AI means we’re all interacting with it in some way, many of us on a near-daily basis: who hasn’t had Google serve up an ‘AI overview’, for example? Whether we realise it or not – and whether we like it or not – AI is everywhere, even in the outdoors. Reader perception was one reason for my hesitancy in accepting the story.…

WASP STING LESSON I recently walked to the Holdsworth Lookout in Tararua Forest Park with my husband Keith. We were nearing the historic signpost when I felt a sharp sting on my ankle. I ignored the irritation, but the sting continued and was quite a piercing annoyance, so I took off my boot. A small wasp dropped off my sock and disappeared. I re-laced my boot and continued to our lunch spot. About now my upper body started to itch. I was hot and sweaty. I thought maybe I was having a reaction to the sting and took an antihistamine pill. Five minutes later I took another, as the first had made no difference at all. I pulled my T-shirt up and saw a red rash on my stomach; Keith…

Get your photo published here to receive a meal from Real Meals worth $18. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz. LEARN MORE ABOUT REAL MEALS AT www.realmeals.co.nz.…

As a former lecturer in outdoor education (OE) and the parent of a teenager, I’ve watched the government’s NCEA replacement project with alarm. In it, the government has removed OE from the senior curriculum subject list and placed it in a vocational-only stream. This risks undermining a subject that has become central to how thousands of young New Zealanders grow, learn and thrive. OE is not just a nice-to-have. More than 370 schools offer it, and enrolments have more than doubled in the past 15 years. OE is one of the most effective ways to keep students engaged in education. It gives young people the chance to step outside of classrooms, test themselves, and build confidence in real contexts – tramping, paddling, climbing and camping – while building deep appreciation…

A device designed to improve search and rescue operations is now being used in New Zealand. The RECCO SAR helicopter detector is housed at two locations: GCH Aviation, the Canterbury Westpac rescue helicopter base in Christchurch, and with the police at the Ruapehu Emergency Services base in Waimarino. Designed in Sweden, the helicopter detector is capable of scanning large areas of bush or alpine terrain to locate missing people. It is suspended beneath a helicopter as a sling load and allows crews to cover wide search zones quickly and efficiently. “This could be a real life-saver when we are searching for people in the bush or in an avalanche,” says GCH Aviation air rescue crew chief Rick Knight. The system works in tandem with RECCO reflectors, which can be built…

Each Monday, we poll Wilderness readers on topical outdoor issues and all things tramping-related. Here are some recent poll results. Should international visitors be charged to visit popular tourist sites? Yes: 85.5% No: 14.5% Would you like to walk Te Araroa? Yes: 68% No: 24% I’ve already walked it: 8% Do you support DOC’s marketing initiative to secure more donations from philanthropists and businesses? Yes: 34% No: 6% Stop cutting budgets and fund the department properly: 60% Polls are published each Monday in the Wilderness Daily newsletter. To take part, subscribe to the newsletter at wildernessmag.co.nz/newsletter.…