Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Wilderness

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…

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…

FORMER PARK ranger turned tourism sustainability consultant Dave Bamford reckons the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is one of the country’s leading examples of tourism done badly. The crossing is rated as one of the top 10 day hikes in the world, but Bamford says there are too many tourists walking it. The result is too much environmental, social and cultural damage. Other trouble spots are Hooker Valley in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park and the glaciers of Westland Tai Poutini National Park. In December 2020, Bamford published an essay called Nature Under Pressure. It’s one of eight in a collection called 100% Pure Future, New Zealand Tourism Renewed, edited by New Zealand travel writer Sarah Bennett. In it, Bamford asks the question: Has tourism in New Zealand’s national parks lost its social…

FOZZILS SNAPFOLD BOWLS $27.50 USED BY: Contributing editor Matthew ‘forgot my bowl’ Cattin USED FOR: One year SUPPOSEDLY the world’s lightest pack-flat dinnerware, the 20g snapfold bowl will slot (literally) anywhere in any ultralight tramper’s pack. They’re compact and easy to assemble. The snap buttons pop together securely enough to extinguish any anxiety of a mid-meal bowl blowout, and as for cleaning, simply flatten it out and give it a rinse and a wipe (or lick clean as gear editor Mark Watson prefers). At home, pop them in the dishwasher. The topographic design is cool and includes measurement lines – something I wouldn’t go without, as dehy meals require specific quantities of boiling water. I had my doubts initially about product longevity, having used a similar foldable bowl many years…

If you continue with mountaineering, my snowcraft course instructor informed us, eventually you’d be skilled enough to attempt something like Ball Pass. I’d never heard of Ball Pass but it remained in my head long after the course finished, lingering as a one-day possibility. If I ever managed to become good enough. Eventually, I looked it up, knowing enough to deduce that the route went up the Hooker Glacier, over the pass on the Kirikiritata/Mt Cook Range and down the Tasman Glacier (or vice versa). The lack of any marked track on the map put it into a category of its own: serious stuff. Years later, while staying at Mt Cook Village, I learned that erosion was increasingly a problem around the local glaciers and the Ball Pass route risked…

Climbing Mackinnon Pass with an alpine plant guru certainly took my mind off the physical effort. Dr (now Sir) Alan Mark and I pottered uphill, stopping every few metres for him to show me another gentian, celmisia, ourisia, raoulia and more. This was 1984. The sun was shining, the views were amazing, and I felt lucky to be walking the Milford Track with Alan in our group. He taught me a lot; if only I could remember it. This year, I climbed the pass in misty gloom with no guide to distract me. My own party included some learned botanists but they’d set off much earlier. There was absolutely no view on the damp, freezing pass and I was glad to find a modern, enclosed shelter rather than 1984’s rough…

New Zealand’s network of backcountry huts is unrivalled anywhere in the world and Great Walks hut bookings are always in high demand. Some trampers, however, are choosing to forgo a hut for a tent on these walks. You might wonder why. Tents are heavy and Great Walks huts are generally large, comfortable and (usually) supplied with gas and firewood. So why would you choose to camp? “I’m much happier camping at the best of times,” says Lyttelton tramper Pete Griffin. “I’ve had my share of crowded huts and all the associated heat and noise. If I do stay in a hut, it’s because that’s the preference of my group, and I’ll be the one dragging a mattress outside to sleep on the deck.” Last November, Griffin and four friends mountain-biked…

There’s nothing quite like good food to keep the body powered and the mind content. But planning delicious evening meals for three or more days can be difficult. We’ve taken the worry off your shoulders, with this three-night meal plan. Each recipe is nutrient-dense, high in protein and contains lots of healthy fats to help replenish your body after a day of walking with a heavy pack on your shoulders. Nutty rice with peas and pesto Profile Cook time: 10minServes: 2 Cost: $10-15 Ingredients 100g dehydrated peas 2 packets pre-cooked (500g) heat and eat brown rice and quinoa (or similar) 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup almonds, chopped 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 200g pesto Salt and pepper to taste Most supermarkets have dairy free pesto if you…

WHAKAPAPA VILLAGE TO MANGATEPOPO HUT 8.5km, 3hr From Whakapapa Village, head north on the heavily eroded Mangatepopo Track. It’s harder work than the distance and time imply: compared to other sections of the track, it is heavily eroded and the trail drops and climbs in and out of more streams than you can count. Ngāuruhoe serves as a constant reminder that you are walking in a unique volcanic landscape and World Heritage Area. MANGATEPOPO HUT TO OTURERE HUT 13km, 4-5hr This section, on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, is undoubtedly a highlight of the track. First up is the boardwalk trail to the Devils Staircase, then a climb to South Crater which will get you puffing. There’s time to recover your breath on the flat 1km march across the crater –…

LEE BAY TO PORT WILLIAM HUT 8km, 3-4hr A chain sculpture symbolising the anchor stone of Maui’s canoe starts the walk which sidles above the bay to Peters Point and around to Wooding Bay and Maori Beach. At the beach’s northern end, a bridge spans a tidal estuary and then the track climbs to a junction. Head right and descend to Port William, where the 24-bunk hut is in a sheltered bay surrounded by large gum trees. The trees date to a settlement populated by Shetland Islanders in the 1870s. PORT WILLIAM HUT TO NORTH ARM HUT 13km, 6hr Retrace steps to the track junction to begin the walk’s forest section, which follows the route of a tramline. The bush is not spectacular because much of it was milled in…

KEPLER TRACK CAR PARK TO LUXMORE HUT 13.8km, 5-6hr The track hugs the shore of Lake Te Anau to Brod Bay, where there’s a steep switchback ascent. Above the treeline are stunning views over Lake Te Anau which is revealed from amongst the tussock. The hut is then reached within an hour. Sidetracks to Luxmore Cave and Mt Luxmore are worthwhile. LUXMORE HUT TO IRIS BURN HUT 14.6km, 5-6hr The day begins with a climb to a ridgeline which provides staggering views across the south fiord of Lake Te Anau and the Murchison Mountains. The tops travel in this section is marvellous – perhaps the best of any of the Great Walks. Two shelters – Forest Burn and Hanging Valley – provide spots for a snack or break from the…

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…

GOOD JUDGMENT comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment, or so goes the adage. Mistakes and misadventures might not be fun at the time, but they can teach us valuable lessons. Reflecting on my own mistakes in the backcountry – and the following three are certainly not the extent of my errors – I realise that each has had a ripple effect on my time in the outdoors, helping improve preparation, decision-making and ability for self-reliance. Although learning from others’ mistakes might not be as impactful as learning from one’s own, I hope readers find some take-outs in mine. YOU ARE NOT SMARTER THAN YOUR COMPASS We left Maungahuka Hut early, headed for the Holdsworth Road end and planning to complete a weekend crossing of the central Tararua…

BEADY-EYED, grey-faced, yellow-fronted, brown-backed tiny insectivores that flock together with birds of a different feather. That’s one way to sum up one of our smallest endemic birds, known as the pīpipi or brown creeper. The Māori name pīpipi seems a fair representation of their most common chittering call, although their repertoire also includes canary-like notes similar to its relative the mohua/yellowhead. Te Wai Pounamu/South Island trampers are more likely to hear these small, brown birds than see them. And even if sharp eyes spot them flocking through the trees, these tiny passerines are quite often present in mixed flocks which might also include tauhou/silvereyes, or riroriro/grey warblers. Pīpipi (Mohoua novaeseelandiae) belong to the same genus as mohua and pōpokatea/whitehead. The females weigh only about 11g, and the males a slightly…

Thru-hikers talk often of post-trail depression – an untethered state of withdrawal experienced when the boots come off for the final time, and after several rhythmic months of walk, eat, sleep, wake, repeat, the journey is over. For half of my life, I’ve chased the Great Walks, ticking off one after the other, and I’m not sure I’m ready for the pursuit to end. How am I going to feel when I’ve ticked off the lot? I was 15 when I walked my first; the stunning Lake Waikaremoana. We drove for five gruelling hours in my school’s sweaty people mover to begin at Hopuruahine Landing. The final few hours were spent gritting teeth on gravel beneath towering podocarps. I remember skidding past two Maori teens riding bareback on dusty horses,…

Sun, two families, surf crashing onto granite boulders, battalions of nīkau palms standing shoulder-to-shoulder, coarse pink-gold sands, and hazy sea mist. That’s our first memorable day walking the Heaphy Track coastline. Our children –Tom, Lee and Alexia – have grown up with the MacIver family – Louis, Ari, Safi and Remy – whose parents, Juliette and Ken, we first met at ante-natal classes 20 years ago. Tania and I found encouraging the children to tramp the Heaphy was much easier with the incentive of the MacIver family to walk with. And, along with us, post-Covid 19, most others walking the track are New Zealanders. I hadn’t walked the entire track since 1988, when working as a summer ranger in Golden Bay. Then, along with a fellow student, I shouldered perhaps…

Most Great Walks offer an appealing diversity of scenery; forests, mountains, river valleys, beaches. Picking a highlight from each is subjective, but having walked (or paddled) them all, these are the sights that have stuck in my memory. Tongariro Northern Circuit Volcanoes, desert-like landscapes, old explosion craters, dazzlingly colourful lakes; there’s a great deal to appreciate about the Tongariro Northern Circuit. However, one of my favourite sections is the more understated Ōturere Valley. With its numerous lava formations of all curious shapes and sizes, it has an eerie quality in misty weather, and even under the cover of snow, these formations seem like otherworldly sentinels. Lake Waikaremoana If you’re tramping the Lake Waikaremoana Circuit anticlockwise, beginning from Ōnepoto, there’s a steady climb through beech forest, which becomes progressively more stunted…

TAUMARUNUI TO OHINEPANE CAMPSITE 22km, 3-5hr The lesser paddled upper reaches of the river will give you a greater chance of solitude, and enjoyable sets of rapids as you drift through rolling hills and farmland. Fast paddlers will reach the campsite within 3hr and some may wish to continue to the smaller Poukaria campsite. OHINEPANE CAMPSITE TO WHAKAHORO CAMPSITE 35km, 6-8hr Day two is punctuated by more rapids, but it is prone to treefall which can become trapped in the water and can be dangerous for paddlers. The scenic Whakahoro Campsite is reached on a 400m track from the landing and offers views over the river. Yes, you will need to carry your barrels up. Fortunately, paddlers can eat their feelings away at nearby Blue Duck Cafe. WHAKAHORO CAMPSITE TO…

MARAHAU TO ANCHORAGE HUT 12.4km, 4hr The walk begins with a boardwalk across the estuary and then weaves in and out of gullies above numerous bays and coves. It’s easy-going with the chance to drop into many golden sand beaches on the way. The track turns inland at Akersten Bay and climbs over the headland to reach 34-bunk Anchorage Hut. There are eight campsites on this section. ANCHORAGE HUT TO BARK BAY HUT 11.4km, 4hr The track continues around the coast to Torrent Bay Village and campsite and then onto Bark Bay Hut. There’s a high and airy swingbridge crossing Falls River. Unusual cascades and swimming holes can be found up Tregida Creek on the Falls River Track. Bark Bay is an intimate microcosm of the seascape of Abel Tasman…

GLADE WHARF TO CLINTON HUT 5km, 1.5hr After a boat cruise across Lake Te Anau to Glade Wharf, it’s a leisurely walk alongside the Clinton River, through beech forest, to Clinton Hut. There are swimming holes in the river and, from the hut, a short wetland walk. CLINTON HUT TO MINTARO HUT 16.5km, 6hr Walkers continue up the Clinton Valley in easy fashion and gradually climb to meet the river’s source at Lake Mintaro. The upper valley is a dramatic place – especially the Clinton Canyon, a defile of rock and precipice 2000m high, split by fissures where waterfalls tumble. The new Mintaro Hut (built in 2021) sits amongst the forest a short distance from Lake Mintaro and about 1hr from Mackinnon Pass. If the weather is fine, it might…

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,…

When Greg Laslett goes tramping, he likes to study and rediscover the logging era tracks and campsites in Coromandel Forest Park. “Over time, the content of my pack has settled down to a core set of kit which I can add to depending on the trip and duration,” Laslett says. “What has revolutionised overnight tramping for me has been switching from using a tent to a bridge hammock. Almost every night in the bush is now comfortable.” A bridge hammock is hung between two trees and has bars at the head and foot to stretch the ends wide. Laslett has fine-tuned his kit to a base weight of around 10kg, which goes up to 12kg with added water, food and trip-specific extras. “I could get it down to 8kg or…

LIVERPOOL HUT sits high above the Matukituki Valley and provides visitors with magnificent views of Mt Aspiring/Tititea. It’s an adorable red hut, particularly well-known for having a loo with a view. There’s no fireplace, which my group didn't think would be an issue in January but above the bushline horizontal hail began to hit us, and I did wonder what had become of my ‘summer’ holiday. We took shelter in the hut and just in time for sunset, the clouds cleared. The evening was spent learning about the night sky from another tramper who was an astronomer. Next morning, all the puddles around the hut had frozen solid. The hut is reached on the West Matukituki Track beneath towering mountains and glaciers of the Snowdrift Range and Kā Tiritiri o…

Upgrades to the country’s next Great Walk will get underway soon, but plans for a new hut on the Hump Ridge Track have been put on hold. The Southland track won the contest to become a new Great Walk in 2019 and DOC put $5m towards upgrading it, with work expected to be completed later next year. The three-day walk skirts the southern coastline, before climbing through native forest to the tops of Hump Ridge where views of Fiordland and to Rakiura/Stewart Island can be enjoyed amongst impressive limestone tors. It was built in 2001 and is run as a semi-private walk, offering a touch of luxury to the Great Walks portfolio. Rather than huts, it has lodges and trampers can upgrade to a king-sized bed with linen and towels…

So, you’ve sorted the booking, what about the actual tramping? Some Great Walks are harder on your gear than others – imagine three days of rain on the Milford – and equally as tough on your body (are you ready for the near 80km length of the Heaphy, or the steep climbs on the Routeburn and Kepler?). Here’s your Great Walks checklist. Is your gear up to scratch? Many of us have tramping boots, a rain jacket and a tramping pack from years past, but when was the last time they saw serious use? Check out DOC’s Great Walks website pages and see the ‘What to Take’ list specific to each walk. Then get your gear out and have a look. Does anything need to be upgraded? If you’re not…

The couple descending Mackinnon Pass were struggling. “The track is so rocky it’s really hard on my feet,” the lady sighed. They were in their late 50s, neither had ever been tramping and they’d chosen to start with the Milford Track. They told me, they didn’t think it would be so hard. Hearing this doesn’t surprise Sam Buchanan, who has been a hut warden for eight years, mostly on the Tongariro Northern Circuit but also on South Island tracks. Last summer, New Zealanders took to the Great Walks in their droves; booking data showed 75 per cent more Kiwis undertook a Great Walk compared to the previous year. Buchanan said many were first-time trampers, and he met a lot who found the walks harder than expected. “There is this expectation…

ONEPOTO TO PANEKIRE HUT 9km, 4-6hr From Onepoto Shelter, the track will test lungs and legs with a strenuous ascent to Panekire Bluff. Views over the lake are spectacular, although the exposure is too and trampers would do well to watch their feet. From here, the track follows an undulating ridgeline to 36 bunk Panekire Hut. PANEKIRE HUT TO WAIOPAOA HUT 8km, 3-4hr It begins with a gradual descent through mossy podocarp forest with a steep gradient from the top of the Panekire descent. Within a few hours, the lakeside Waiopaoa Hut will be reached. WAIOPAOA HUT TO MARAUITI HUT 12km, 5hr The Waiopaoa Stream is followed early, then it’s grassy flats before the track returns to the lakeshore. At the Korokoro Falls Track junction, drop your pack and take…

ROUTEBURN SHELTER TO ROUTEBURN FALLS HUT 9.8km, 3-4hr There’s a gradual climb through lush beech forest to start, following the Route Burn River to Route-burn Flats which is flanked on both sides by the Humboldt Mountains. Keep an eye out for the native bird-life: whio paddle the river and yellowhead, titipounamu, robin and kākā can be seen in the canopy. Once past the flats, the track climbs steadily through thriving beech to Routeburn Falls Hut, situated beneath the stunning falls and with million-dollar views over the valley. ROUTEBURN FALLS HUT TO LAKE MACKENZIE HUT 11.3km, 4.5hr The track continues alongside the Route Burn Left Branch through a spectacular hanging valley. A steep ascent takes walkers high above Lake Harris, which is sidled past on the way to Harris Saddle and…

UPPER Most hiking shoes are made from a combination of leather and/or synthetic materials such as mesh or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) which is a rubber-like material. They are light, easy to break-in and care for, highly breathable and quick-drying. 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 shoes being more comfortable on level ground and when moving fast. Firmer shoes are better for when precise footholds are needed on rocky terrain and while climbing and scrambling. Some midsoles are PU (polyurethane) which is firmer and more durable than EVA. OUTSOLE WIDE-SPACED AND DEEP LUGS ARE DESIGNED TO SHED MUD AND OFFER GRIP IN ALL CONDITIONS. A PRONOUNCED…

What were your first impressions of the Khumbu landscape? Magnificent. It was on a scale I hadn’t really seen before. Getting into Khumbu was a revelation for me. It’s an absolute wonder. Massive sheer walls, fluted ice – it’s such a magnificent place. Very quickly what followed was a real fascination with the Sherpa people and their culture. You wrote many times of Sherpa hospitality – what was that like to experience? Their culture is very communal. We once got caught in a rainstorm and were barrelled into a stone house with a family. They weren’t wealthy, that’s for sure – they were cooking a dinner of potatoes covered in dirt, but when they served up dinner, we were first served. There was never any hesitation and that certainly made…