Wilderness

APPARENTLY, light pollution is so pervasive these days that one-third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way – a galaxy of 100 thousand million stars. In big cities like Auckland the view of the cosmos is a pale imitation of what c

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.

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 be

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

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 Corne

Wellington’s former mayor Celia Wade-Brown caught the walking bug early on. She fondly recalls childhood walks with her mother while on holiday in the UK’s Lake District and enjoying the “fantastic” parks of London where she grew up. Now living near

AT BRIDGEDALE we believe it’s the little things that make the biggest difference to our lives. It’s the little things that put a smile on our faces and a spring in our step. It’s the little things that come together to make big things happen. For ove

Whether you’re moving fast in the hills on a long hike or just out walking on a hot day, this pack is ideal for day hikes and lightweight overnight backpacking. To win, tell us the overnighter you’d most like to do with it. We have two pairs of meri

Focusing on the act of walking rather than the destination can, paradoxically, encourage us to keep going long after we might’ve given up. It’s one of the many benefits of walking meditation, a practice taught by the late Buddhist Zen monk Thich Ngat

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 h

In 2005 I travelled to Annapolis in the US as team manager of the New Zealand women’s lacrosse team for the world cup. On arrival, looking at how the other teams were kitted out, I saw something horrific, something I’d never seen before: Crocs. The e

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 2a

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 thos

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 ca

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. Col

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,

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

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 Qua

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.

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

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 b

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 A

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

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 Governme

It was a peaceful summer evening as I stood peering out the small windows of Syme Hut. I’d grown up holidaying in the Taranaki region but never seen the maunga from this perspective. Sitting at an altitude of 1940m, it felt like I had a direct, level

After five years of hard work, the Queenstown Trail Trust, backed by untold volunteers and local businesses, recently opened the 50km Coronet Loop Trail. This epic trail opens new territory to the public, crossing land owned by developers Soho Proper

AN ankle injury on the trail can make walking difficult and there’s no one rule for how to react. When an incident does happen though, STOP – Stop, Think, Observe and Plan. This should be a quick process if you’re in a dangerous spot. Once out of dan

Time: 15min Cost: $5 Serves: 1 (4-5 small-hand sized pancakes) 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

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

$399.99 / 428g (m), 375g (w) FEATURES: Most notably, this well-designed jacket is made from the Pertex Revolve collection of recycled polyester fabrics. These fabrics are less harmful to the environment and more easily recycled at the end of their

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 rech

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 wh

What led to the first festival in 2002? I went to a film festival in Australia’s Blue Mountains and felt like Wānaka needed an event like that to celebrate the outdoors and the mountains. We had about 12 speakers for the first festival and they were

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