New Zealand’s magazine of the outdoors since 1991
APRIL 2015 10 PAIRS OF MERRELL CAPRA SPORT GTX HIKING SHOES TO BE WON
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know more, do more, live more
THINGS
EVERY TRAMPER MUST DO
PARTY IN A HUT, SWIM IN A TARN, BATHE IN A HOTPOOL
ONE DOOR DOWN FROM
PARADISE WHY EARNSLAW BURN IS A VISUAL MASTERPIECE
TRAIL ANGELS The selfless Kiwis
welcoming walkers into their homes LAST OF ITS KIND HISTORIC
COBB VALLEY TENT CAMP OPENS FOR BUSINESS www.wildernessmag.co.nz
NZ $9.95 Aust $9.95 INCL GST
TWO PERSON TENT REVIEW COSY THREE SEASON SHELTERS TESTED
» INJURED MOUNTAINEER’S LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY » SEVEN-YEAR-OLD CONQUERS THE REMARKABLES » TARN-SIDE CAMPING ON AN EASY THREE-DAY NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK TRIP » WALKS IN COROMANDEL, KAHURANGI, MT ASPIRING AND THE RUAHINES!
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contents APRIL 2015 FEATURES
30 How the cullers once lived
Explore the backcountry accommodation that’s (probably) the last of its kind
34 Te Araroa Trail Angels
The selfless souls who welcome tramping strangers into their homes
40 Twelve things every tramper must do Swim in a tarn, party in a hut, visit a wilderness area, and plenty more...
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WAYPOINTS DESTINATIONS
14 On the way home
Gertrude Valley, Fiordland National Park
16 See more Autumn fungi
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YOUR TRIPS, YOUR PIX
What did you get up to last weekend?
The Hungry Caterpillar admired the view on the Lake Morgan Tops
Ella, Lucy, Meg, Annalis and Will created a sand sculpture in Mt Aspiring National Park
The Kettles and Orme families spent the weekend in the Orongorongo Valley, Wellington
Tash Austin visited Bungaree Hut on Stewart Island’s North West Circuit
Hamish and Mat Darling got bogged down on Stewart Island’s Southern Circuit
Maddy Hyland (19 months!) visited Wye Creek Tarns, The Remarkables, with her mum Aroha
SEND YOUR PIX
Lisa Gould overnighted at Ball Hut in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park
Louis Skilton played some tunes at Brewster Hut in Mt Aspiring NP
Phil, Joel, Caleb and Alyssa Pilkington went off trail while staying at Waitawheta Hut in the Kaimais
Murray Grindlay stopped by Lake Howden on the Routeburn Track
Get your photo published here and you’ll receive the Swedish ‘Light My Fire’ FireSteel 2.0 ($22) with emergency whistle and 3000°C spark that works wet lighting stoves and fires or as an emergency signal. See www.ampro.co.nz for more. Full submission criteria at wildernessmag.co.nz – search Last Weekend.
6 APRIL 2015
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
Descending into the Arnst Basin
LAKES PICK OF THE
PAT BARRETT ENJOYS IDYLLIC TARN-SIDE CAMPING ON A THREE DAY TRAVERSE OF NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK’S ST ARNAUD RANGE
SHAUN BARNETT/BLACK ROBIN PHOTOGRAPHY
WILD HERITAGE
The restored tent camp
HOW THE CULLERS Shaun Barnett attends the opening of a restored tent camp in Kahurangi’s Cobb Valley
ONCE LIVED
TE ARAROA TRAIL
MARK WATSON
TRAIL ANGELS
Accounts from those who have walked the Te Araroa Trail are teeming with tales of selfless souls offering a bed, hot shower, meal, or tent space. Matthew Pike asks these ‘trail angels’ why they do it
A Te Araroa Trail walker negotiates the coast at Bream Head, near Whangarei
LIFE LIST
12 THINGS
EVERY TRAMPER MUST DO You can’t really call yourself a tramper unless you’ve ticked all these off, writes Ricky French
SWIM IN A TARN
A tramper takes a dip in the tarn on Pouakai, Egmont National Park
NICK PREBBLE
There’s something primal and pure about feeling the icy lick of mountain wind on your body as you dunk your sweaty, quivering flesh in the equally icy water. It affirms the reasons you are tramping in the first place: simplicity, freedom, shaking off unnecessary gadgets, giving a chilly middlefinger to the crudities of city living, releasing your inner clown, appreciating what nature has laid out in front of you. Clothing is optional: who knows what that slimy muck might do to your togs.