Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Wilderness

After years of planning, and subject to a successful concession process, work is expected to start this summer on the first of three proposed extensions to the Mountains to Sea – Ngā Ara Tūhono Cycle Trail. Warren Furner, from Ruapehu District Council, said work will begin on the lower sections of Te Ara Mangawhero Trail, followed next year by a new 11km trail linking Mangawhero with Horopito. Te Ara Mangawhero will be a 19km shared off-road trail descending from Tūroa Ski Field to Mangawhero, near Ohakune. The Mangawhero-Horopito link will largely follow old tram lines and former farmland on the lower, southwestern slopes of Mt Ruapehu. It will connect with the current 15km Old Coach Road to create a loop ride or walk between Ohakune and Horopito. The third proposal…

Congratulations Hamish Duncan! Hamish’s winning photo of children playing in Kaiaraara Stream on Great Barrier Island perfectly captured a summer moment. And here are some of the best of the rest…. Thanks to everyone who entered. We’ve got another Lumix camera to give away, so keep snapping!…

I was planning to walk Te Araroa alone. I was happy enough but thought I had first better get in some solo, multi-day tramping experience. The Old Ghost Road was a comforting place to start, huge vistas, clear tracks and plenty of company in the huts at night. It was then straight onto Kahurangi National Park with increased solitude and time to sit on mountain tops with only kea for company. On this trip, I discovered I loved tramping alone; more than loved it. It surpassed all expectations, giving more time to focus on what I loved: maximum time in nature, long lunch breaks in stunning locations and just the right amount of socialising. Kea weren’t the only ones playing in the mountains. I encountered other women tramping solo and…

MSR Hubba Hubba 2 $1099 / 1470g / 2.7m2 Features: The most notable feature of the 2022 Hubba Hubba is the Easton Syclone poles, made from an unspecified composite. They have a carbon ‘look’ and are said to be 80 per cent more resistant to bending and breaking than aluminium poles in wind. They’re intended to flex further than both carbon and aluminium poles, but return to their original shape while still providing structural support. MSR has shaved 397g from the tent’s base weight. Slightly lighter zips, less mesh and more storage are among other improvements. 5/5 Pitching: This is an easy tent to pitch, with colour coding indicating the ‘head’ end. The pole is a single unit with two hubs that can be used either way round, so fumbling…

Hamish Fleming (31) and Alastair McDowell (30) have completed an incredible mountaineering feat. In a continuous expedition lasting 31 days, the pair climbed all 24 of New Zealand’s peaks over 3000m. The friends were the 12th and 13th climbers to summit New Zealand’s highest mountains, a quest that normally takes a lifetime to achieve. The previous record was in 1989 when guides Erica Beuzenberg and Gottlieb Braun-Elwert ascended all 24 peaks within a single winter season. McDowell and Fleming refused to use helicopters or motorised transport during the month-long expedition. But they were not merely peak-bagging; they were undertaking an ambitious journey against the odds, into the unknown. It was an open-ended adventure where failure was likely. Before they started climbing, food was flown to strategic alpine huts and also…

I’M DOING IT TO CLIMB A MOUNTAIN Laurie Kinaston is training to summit Taranaki Maunga. When the country first went into lock-down in 2020, Taranaki school teacher Laurie Kinaston set herself a goal of walking 1000km by the end of the year. “I decided I needed a goal for my mental health and to keep fit,” she says. Kinaston had been a regular walker and had done a number of half marathons and the challenging Taranaki Around the Mountain Circuit. But with many events cancelled due to Covid-19, she says having personal fitness goals has been a good way to stay motivated. After knocking off 1000km in 2020, she upped the challenge to 1500km in 2021 and had just 119km to go when she spoke to Wilderness in December. For…

Ten-year-old Mahe Braaksma will never forget riding his bike through the freezing rain in the Catlins, or the day spent walking it over slips on the Coromandel Walkway. They were the hardest days, he says, of his year spent riding the length of New Zealand with his family; an adventure that will stay with him forever. The family from Te Anau – Adrian Braaksma, wife Steff, 12-year-old Jazz, Mahe and seven-year-old Charlie – left Bluff in December 2020, clocking up around 4300km before arriving in Cape Reinga on December 30. The kids took a year off school, doing lessons on the road via Te Kura distance education. Adrian says there were countless highlights. Going over the Omarama Saddle on the Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail was a special moment. He…

Sea kayaking is a wonderful way to discover New Zealand's unique wild coastline. What’s better than being on the water at sunrise, paddling leisurely past rugged cliffs, islands and golden sand beaches? New Zealand’s coastline stretches to around 15,000km and includes every type of seascape from the tallest sea cliff in the world in Milford Sound to the pristine golden sand beaches of Abel Tasman National Park, the Coromandel Peninsula and hidden bays in Northland. To wet your paddles, here is a selection of day trips that’ll get you hooked on sea kayaking 1 OKARITO LAGOON This is a truly wet and wild nature haven. With the Southern Alps as a backdrop, this beautifully calm estuary has numerous channels and rivers feeding into it. It’s a habitat for many rare…

download  Find the maps and route notes for these trips at www.wildernessmag.co.nz 1 TAPOTUPOTU BAY TO CAPE REINGA, NORTHLAND Distance: 5km return Time: 4hr Grade: Easy BY MATTHEW CATTIN Too few tourists venture past the Cape Reinga lighthouse which is a pity; the track leading to Tapotupotu Bay is one of the finest coastal walks in the country. From the car park, a steady downhill ridge leads to the deeply set Sandy Bay, known for passing whales that scratch themselves on a rock protruding from the bay. Swimming here is a must – the water is turquoise and the sand a blinding white – but beware the currents which drag out to sea. From the beach, it’s a steady and exposed climb, with over-the-shoulder views of a unique angle…

GPS and 406MHz All modern beacons transmit a 406MHz signal, but some also transmit the older 121.5MHz signal to help searchers home in on your location once they arrive in the vicinity. Your chosen PLB should also be GPS-enabled so it can send your exact location to searchers. REGISTRATION It is a legal requirement to register your PLB with the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ). There is no charge to do this and once completed, your PLB’s distress signal will be linked to your personal information – name, address, emergency contact phone numbers, medical conditions – that can offer clues to your specific needs as well as speed rescue response time. WHEN TO ACTIVATE? Distress beacons should be used in life-threatening situations and where self-rescue is not possible. RCCNZ…

This dish is commonly known as a popular dessert, but it’s equally good cooked up for a warm breakfast. No oven needed – just grab a couple of your favourite seasonal fruits and you’re away. Profile  Time: 10 minutes Cost: $5 Serves: Two Ingredients 2 apples 1 peach 30g butter 1tsp cinnamon 1tsp cardamom 1/2tsp nutmeg 1 cup muesli Optional toppings: coconut, nuts, chocolate Method At home: put all the spices into a small container. At camp: melt the butter in a pot or pan (for which you have a cover) and chop the fruit into little cubes. Tip into the melted butter and add the spices. Cook the mix for about 10 minutes on a medium-low heat with the lid on until the fruit pieces are soft and starting to…

Get your photo published here to receive a Victorinox Escort keyring pocket knife worth $22. Learn more about Victorinox at e.ampro.co.nz.…

Bridgedale Midweight Merino Performance Fit $42.99 An award-winning sock with a unique blend of natural and synthetic fibres to ensure comfortable blister-free feet. We’ve got two pairs of socks to give away this month. Learn more: www.ampro.co.nz. Salewa Wildfire Leather $299.90 This beautiful leather shoe is built for durability, cushioning and stability on long hikes, including technical alpine terrain. Its solid construction is ideal for everyday use, yet provides reliable support for mountain approaches, technical scrambles and even easy alpine climbs. Learn more: www.bobo.co.nz. LIVING SIMPLY Our Walk1200km North Island retail partner is offering a $100 gift voucher. Explore the range instore or at www.livingsimply.co.nz. Lumix DC-TZ90 $599 We’ve got another Lumix camera to give away in the second of our photo competitions. The best photos show people outdoors having…

It started with a sensation, like pins and needles, down her right side. Then weakness, vision problems and difficulty breathing. By the time Katy Glenie had an MRI scan and was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago, she says it was actually a relief. “I knew something was seriously wrong and this finally gave me a name and something to focus my attention on,” Glenie says. But then she felt her world begin to shrink. A keen tramper, climber and mountaineer, she says being outdoors and physically active was “pretty much the soul of my life”. Once diagnosed, she began to prepare for life without that ‘soul’. “I thought it would be the end of my outdoor life,” she says. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to go…

Summer is a great time to be in the New Zealand backcountry. Except for those pestilent sandflies. If you want to avoid summer sandflies, avoid most of Fiordland and anywhere on the West Coast, particularly near lakes and the coastline. In fact, avoid most of the South Island backcountry. While North Islanders may not be able to boast the country’s highest mountains, they can at least be smug about the generally lesser number (and size) of sandflies. It seems most of the world’s beautiful mountains have some nasty biting, blood-sucking insect. Alaska has tiny but painful ‘no see ums’, Scotland is beset with hordes of midges and Chile harbours some horrible biting flies. Aotearoa, of course, has te namu. Māori legend has it that after the demigod Tū Te Rakiwhānoa…

THE Dusky Track is said to be one of the hardest tracks in Aotearoa. Treacherous mud, notoriously fickle weather, wild rivers and untameable wilderness greet trampers between lakes Hauroko and Manapouri. I had been trying to organise an expedition there for several years and when the weather opened up early last summer, friends and I seized the opportunity. We were students and would cut transport costs by tramping the track as a loop from Borland Road. It would take two days to climb up Florence Stream and its tributaries before dropping over the Merrie Range to Lake Roe Hut. At the other end of the track, we would cross Percy Saddle and return to Borland Road. We crossed the Grebe River near its confluence with the Florence and continued on…

It’s best to avoid getting geographically challenged in the first place. Many people go into panic mode when they feel they are lost. That makes the situation worse. Keeping calm enables clear thinking and sensible decision making. STOP As soon as you feel uncertain about your location stop, look about and think. It may be a matter of looking around for the next marker or one behind you. A fallen tree or leaf litter may hide the trail giving a perception that you have wandered off track. If the answer doesn’t come immediately, keep calm. Let anyone else you are with know, stop and discuss it as a group. Now is a good time for a snack break and a drink. If you can, make a hot drink. When did…