Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Wilderness

MICE IN THE WALLS A howling wind chased me through goblin forest, buffeting scattered rain; my only company along the desolate 4WD road that leads to Waiotauru Hut; a hut described in Jonathan Kennett’s Tararua Adventure guide as a bulldozer shed that is famous for being UG-LY. Kennett is generous. Inside, an old table carved with phallic symbology and two haphazardly-cut pieces of foam stained black with dog paws and fur. The foam bares telltale nibbles that suggest I won’t be spending the night here alone. A lone ruru calls as night falls and the thought of bright headlights and gangs of men wielding axes suddenly enters my head. Don’t be silly. But I look out at the darkening 4WD road waiting for the roar of quad bikes. Almost as…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 15km Just outside the hustle and bustle of Queenstown is the golden Mararoa Valley – its perfect, clear, meandering river framed by scree and snow-capped mountains. Whilst most visitors to the conservation area choose to set up camp in the Mavora Lakes campsite, we travelled further up the valley. The track follows the edge of North Mavora Lake through beech forest before climbing slightly into open fields with unobstructed views up and down the valley. Two hours in, we reached Careys Hut, situated right beside the lake. It’s a good option for those wanting a shorter trip. Continuing northwards, the track climbs over a few small hills with side streams to cross. Boundary Hut is another two hours. The hut sits in a grassy meadow near a…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 8km  VICTORIA DOMAIN is a prominent recreation reserve in Waitohi/Picton. Within its 200ha are over 30km of walking and mountain biking tracks providing spectacular views over Picton, Waikawa and across Queen Charlotte Sound. The area is rich in history, with Māori names given to some parts of the Domain including Te Pahoehoe (‘the Snout’) which is the headland at the northern end of the Domain, and the furthest point of the Snout Track. This track starts at The Snout car park, one of two parking areas along the road on the ridge-line. It’s initially on gravel along the open ridge before entering the regenerating native forest. A number of tracks branch off from here (including the purpose-built Lions Centennial MTB Trail which also heads to the Snout),…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 36km THE WESTERN APPROACH to Three Mile Stream Hut from the Hurunui River is best accessed by either 4WD or mountain bike from Lake Taylor. This negates a long road walk-in past Loch Katrine. Once in the Hurunui Valley, a poled route runs up the valley to Hurunui Hut and its nearby swingbridge. Over the swingbridge, marked routes head further up the valley, down to the lakehead, and north-west up Mc-Millan Stream which is the easier approach to Three Mile Stream Hut. After crossing the bridge, take Hope Kiwi Track for 500m and then turn left onto Three Mile Stream Track. This track continues alongside McMillan Stream through forest to the toe of a spur coming off Macs Knob. The track swings to the north-east and follows…

In the summer of 1974, five friends from Christchurch set off into the Southern Alps for the tramping trip of a lifetime. Beginning near the Gates of Haast Bridge, the plan was to tramp for 17 days in the largely untracked landscape, tramping up the Burke River, over Siberia Saddle and Rabbit Pass, ending at the Matukituki River. On the second night during an evening stroll around the grassy flats near the confluence of Burke River and Hope Creek, where they’d camped, the group stumbled upon an unusual object in the long grass. Pushing aside the grass, they saw that it was a concrete memorial with an inscription to a man named Brian Grady who had died here 25 years earlier. Accidentally killed near this spot, it read. It also…

Black Diamond Revolt 350 headlamp $129.99 Used by: Contributing Gear Editor Mark Watson Used for: Six months There’s plenty of headlamps to choose from these days, but what led me to the Revolt was its compact form, simplicity of use and, most notably, its capacity for being both USB rechargeable and able to take AAA batteries. This makes it a go-to torch for both New Zealand backcountry use – where I like to carry spare batteries – and overseas travel, where I’m more likely to use rechargeable AAAs. At 350 lumens and with a strong long-range beam, it’s capable for route finding and spotting distant track markers, but it can also be used for camp and reading use with its secondary diffuse and red beams. All beams are easily adjustable…

INSULATION Synthetic insulation is durable and will keep the user warm even when it’s wet. It is cheaper, bulkier and heavier than down, but modern synthetic fills are coming close to equaling down in weight and compressibility. Down offers incredible warmth to weight and will be treated with a hydrophobic coating so it resists soaking and allows it to dry more quickly. This means that in wet conditions, down won’t ‘clump’ so easily and will still offer warmth. FILL POWER When choosing a down jacket, note the fill power (FP). This is the volume that one ounce of down fills when full of air and is usually measured between 500 and 800. The higher the number, the greater the warmth and less fill required to achieve it. COLLARS AND CUFFS…

WE ALL BENEFIT FROM ACKNOWLEDGING THE TRUE ‘FIRSTS’ Kia ora Tania Rae for such a heartfelt, gracious and entirely reasonable request that the actual ‘first’ people here, their creation stories and journeys, be acknowledged in the Great Walks hut talks and place names. This is being achieved elsewhere. On the Hollyford Track, for example, Ngāi Tahū- trained guides share stories of the rangatira, Tūtoko, and other ancestors. They also discuss Pākehā history; the colourful Davey Gunn and the tragic settlement of Jamestown. It is telling to read in Rae’s story how place names from his home country anchored the tauiwi / hut warden in our landscape yet evoked disconnection for Tania, born here of Māori descent. Happily, through Treaty settlements and Geographic Board / Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa processes…

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

Congratulations, Hannah Rose Watt whose photo of her walking group at Mt Brown Hut has won her a Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ90 camera worth $599. And here are some of the best of the rest…. Thanks to everyone who entered. We’ve got another Lumix camera to give away in the August issue – submit images that show the change of season and depict walking in autumn and winter!…

Many families with young children cite worries about sleep as one of the major barriers to tramping. It’s hard enough getting a baby to sleep through the night in their own cot, let alone in a shared hut full of snorers, rustling sleeping bags and 2am ‘popping out to the loo’ door slams. As new parents who love to tramp, we agonised over what to do. Many comments on internet forums were critical of parents who took young children into huts. So, we decided to aim for a gradual introduction for our little girl into hut life. Our first overnighter was on the Old Ghost Road when Skye was three months old. This track suited us because of bookable sleepouts. We could test our girl on a lumpy DOC mattress,…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 30km UPPER MAKARORO HUT, RUAHINE FOREST PARK This bright orange four-bunker makes a pleasant haven in the headwaters of a historic Ruahine River. BY SHAUN BARNETT IT WAS UP the Makaroro River that missionary explorer William Colenso toiled in 1845, on his first trip to the Ruahine Range. Colenso was guided by a strong party of Māori – although only one of them had been over the route before. By the middle of the 19th century, Māori knowledge of their former mountain passes was diminishing as sea travel in European boats offered faster and often safer means of travelling around New Zealand. Colenso, though, had been beguiled by the snowy heights of the Ruahine Range as soon as he first visited Ahuriri (present-day Napier). He wanted…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 4.5km THE TRACK WAS built in the early 1800s after W. Rainey and W. T. Campbell, two shepherds who were mustering in the area, found a quartz reef suggesting the presence of gold. By September 1880, James Evan and Thomas Hope had created The Invincible Quartz Mining Company that ended up producing 7500 to 9000 ounces of gold during its operation until its liquidation in 1890. The track was re-cut in 1973, but follows its original 1800s route. The trail starts with a steep, although easy, climb straight after the gate and follows a wide and well-marked path through dense beech forest with occasional clearings towards the west where Mt Earnslaw, the Rees River and Mt Alfred can be seen. After 20 minutes, the remains of a…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 10km LOCAL FARMER Ian Argyle was the driving force behind the track to Platinum Mines, in April 2003. As a young man, taking stock through the valley, he would stop to rest at Black Bridge where the Sledge Track begins. Many decades later, after learning the bush hid the remains of a narrow 800m road built in the 1880s, Argyle and other volunteers cleared the track, naming it for the width of a horse-pulled sledge. The picturesque Kahuterawa Stream meanders beside the track for the first hour of the walk. This part is in good condition, there are a few sets of stairs and patches of uneven ground but it’s a pleasant amble. It’s shaded and has seating in numerous places to rest and enjoy this magical…

ACCORDING to a global atlas of light pollution, one-third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way. That’s a galaxy of around 100 thousand million stars. It’s not just a pretty sky they’re missing out on. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), the recognised authority on light pollution, believes that artificial light is disrupting the world’s ecosystems. Plants and animals depend on nature’s rhythms; day and night, light and dark. Humans, too. Look up the circadian rhythm, our natural sleep-wake pattern that’s governed by the day-night cycle. In 1988, alarmed at the growing impacts of artificial lighting, international scientists established the IDA to protect our nights from light pollution.  The key to their mission is the Dark Sky Places conservation programme. The IDA awards Dark Sky status to…

IT’S easy enough to imagine: the billy is boiling for a cup of tea, but as the pot is picked up it slips and splashes hot water over arms and legs, leaving painful burns When tramping, it’s common to be exposed to a variety of heat sources. It could be fire, a camp stove or hot liquid. Whatever the source of a burn, it’s essential to apply rapid first aid to prevent further injury as the ‘burn process’ continues in the area even after removal from the heat source. It’s sometimes not immediately obvious that a bad burn has been sustained. Important early signs include severe pain and red skin. In severe burns, blistering, oozing and swelling can often occur later. Burns can be serious and even become infected. Any…

Remutaka Cycle Trail section closed due to slip DOC is still to come up with a plan to reopen a slip-prone coastal section of the Remutaka Cycle Trail. The Wild Coast Track between Wairarapa’s Ocean Beach and Wainuiomata Coast Road was closed in February due to a large landslip 1.5km west of Corner Creek campsite. There were already several washouts along the track due to severe rainfall in December, but the latest slip made the track impassable. DOC said the track would remain closed while it worked with engineers and an earthworks contractor to establish a reopening plan. By late March, a DOC spokesperson said a plan had not yet been made. DOC strongly advised people against clambering over the slip or going along the beach underneath it, as there…

Allie Dunn wanted to jazz up her tramping outfit but could only find gear in different shades of grey. So, she took matters into her own hands. The 54-year-old Dannevirke resident, who resumed tramping with friends five years ago, has been knitting her own colourful tramping socks. She’s made a dozen pairs so far and says they are unique socks that work well. “They’re perfect for tramping because they’re made from merino wool so you don’t get any blisters and they keep your feet nice and warm and dry. “I use a squishy stitch on the soles which gives them added comfort. There’s a lot of math involved so getting the size right means they don’t bunch or move around in my boots.” First, she works out what gauge to…

The term ‘col’ derives from the French, meaning ‘pass or depression’ in a mountain range. In Aotearoa, we tend to use it for more difficult, steeper alpine passes. Perhaps that explains why there are no named cols in the North Island and most of those in the South Island are situated in the higher alpine mountains of Kā Tiritiri o Te Moana / the Southern Alps. There is around 121 features called ‘col’, some with imaginative names like Possibility, Revelation, Fools, Echo, Groove, Escape and Battleaxe. Some of these names tell stories. Revelation Col was the place where Jim Dennistoun famously discovered he and his climbing party were in fact en route to Mt D’Archaic, not to a lesser peak nearby. While that story ended in success, Tragedy Col remembers…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 7km THE FIRST 300M are an easy stroll with bridged streams to a small stone cairn which marks the geographic centre of the North Island. This point was first located in November 1961 and the cairn has detailed notes telling how the point was arrived at. At the cairn, turn right (north-east) to follow the track markers up the spur of the mountain. After a relatively easy first kilometre, the track then climbs steadily. There are several small streams, none bridged but none presenting any real obstacle. At points, as the forest thickens and cover increases, take care to locate the orange markers to stay on track. The track takes in a variety of forest that thickens and changes from towering rimu, matai and tōtara to kamahi…

Wilderness WALK 1200km 60km THREE shadows crouched on a ledge above the entrance to the cave, poking sticks into a smouldering fire. Dressed in black and with bare feet, they looked like figures from a dystopian movie. “Any room at the inn?” we chirped hopefully. “There might be if you squeeze through the pinch, there are others in there somewhere,” replied one of the dark shapes. Reports had implied Split Rock Biv was a mansion with three rooms, snow grass-carpeted floors and lovingly crafted stone walls. Blundering down from Fohn Saddle in freezing rain, we’d dreamed of the biv’s dry comfort. We hadn’t stopped for lunch; we were wet, cold, and grumpy; and the only accommodation was a one-metre–high pitch-black crevice. The cave dwellers recognised our state and rallied. Mat…

Matariki is the star cluster that heralds the Māori New Year. Some iwi recognise the start of the new year at slightly different times but, with all, ceremony, reflection and celebration are significant at this time of the year. In 2021, the Government announced that an official public holiday to celebrate Matariki would be held on June 24, 2022. This date will change each year. Professor Rangi Mātāmua led an expert group in determining the key values and principles of the holiday – remembrance, celebrating the present and honouring the future – and when it would be celebrated. The reappearance of Matariki in the north-eastern horizon is part of a celestial, environmental and ecological calendar system called Maramataka. Using the heliacal risings of stars, or stars that are rising just…

Time: 15min Cost: $5 Serves: 1 (4-5 small-hand sized pancakes) Profile BANANA pancakes are quick and easy so you can make them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (or all three). This recipe can easily be doubled (or quadrupled) to suit the size of the group or your appetite. Whatever you’ve got in your scroggin makes a good topping; pumpkin seeds, coconut, cranberries, chocolate, walnuts, almonds – you name it. Ingredients: 1 banana ½ cup oats (or 1x sachet of microwave oats) 1 earl grey tea bag 2 tbsp chia seeds ½ tsp baking soda* ½ tsp baking powder* ¼ tsp cinnamon* ¼ tsp ground ginger* ¼ cup milk (or water) 1 tbsp oil Pinch of salt Oil or butter, for cooking Toppings: seasonal fruit, peanut butter, honey, nuts, seeds, chocolate,…

Sports bras are an important piece of clothing that can greatly affect a woman’s enjoyment of a tramping trip. Half the population spends time thinking about, researching and then trying out various brands and styles of bra to see what works. Then while out adventuring, a bra is another piece of kit to carry and to wash. I surveyed more than 80 women trampers, asking them what they look for in a sports bra and what works. The upshot is: it’s a mostly unseen piece of clothing that can pack a punch in terms of importance. Luckily, there is also a decent range of bras available so with a bit of trial and error there should be something to suit everyone’s needs. TO BRA OR NOT TO BRA Going without…