22 INSPIRING TRIPS TO WALK RIGHT NOW! New Zealand's magazine of the outdoors since 1991
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JULY 2014
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MOUNTAINS AND GLACIERS
A WALK AMONG GIANTS IN MT ASPIRING NATIONAL PARK
REVIEWED!
TE ARAROA TRAIL
HOW NZ’S LONG PATHWAY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
FOUR WET WEATHER INSULATED JACKETS
THE WILD WEST A four-day cycle journey to rival Otago’s famous rail trail
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Essential crampon and ice axe skills Exploring Molesworth country Discover remote plane wrecks Opposing opinions on the Haast-Hollyford Road
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contents JULY 2014
FEATURES
13 Best of the fest
The pick of the best movies to watch at this year’s New Zealand Mountain Film Festival
30 The wild west
The West Coast Wilderness Trail offers history, heritage, eccentric characters and business people hoping to replicate the success of the Central Otago Rail Trail
36 Are trampers a pain in the (gr)ass? Do trampers get on farmers’ nerves and how can we make them warm to us?
42 A trail of self discovery
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The Te Araroa Trail is more than just a tramp. For some, it’s a life changing journey
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WAYPOINTS 16 Destinations
Ces Clark Hut, West Coast
18 Destinations
Freehold Creek, Ohau Conservation Area
20 See more
Backcountry plane wrecks
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YOUR TRIPS, YOUR PIX
What did you get up to last weekend?
Albie Burgers rearranged the scenery on Mt Ollivier, Aoraki/Mt Cook NP
Lisa Mead visited the tarns below Stag Saddle on the Two Thumb Range
Lesley Smith walked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Tim Mora (right) and friends hiked the Fox River
Damian Wilkinson and Saskia Wohlgemuth climbed Mt Oates
Rebecka Cox walked to Powell Hut in Tararua Forest Park
Aucklanders James Muir, Dylan Walton, Dan Newman and Gavin Pincott walked the Hump Ridge Track
Paul Skinner and his son Jacob climbed Little Mt Peel in Canterbury
Dakota and Indira Robins climbed the Croesus Track to Ces Clark Hut
Gillian Kerr tried to avoid a drenching on the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk
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6 JULY 2014
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
MOLESWORTH
UNRAVELLED
DAVID SHORT
When a storm unleashes its fury on the West Coast, David Short discovers a safe-weather circuit in Leatham Conservation Area amidst a landscape that typifies high country New Zealand: Molesworth country
Saxton Hut bathed in evening sun
CYCLE WAYS
DAVE MITCHELL
Will the West Coast Wilderness Trail do for small West Coast communities what the Rail Trail has done for Central Otago? Roy Sinclair meets the canny and sometimes eccentric small business owners who are hoping to ride the gravy train
Riding through rainforest on the West Coast Wilderness Trail
WILD ACCESS
ARE TRAMPERS A PAIN IN THE
PAT BARRETT
GRASS?
Access to the magnificent tramping found in Mt Aspiring National Park’s East Matukituki Valley is thanks to the Aspinall family which has farmed the valley since the 1920s
Is the urban-rural divide putting landowners off allowing trampers to roam their land? Matthew Pike discovers not all farmers think trampers are more trouble than they’re worth
A
tramper’s eye doesn’t discriminate. If we see a mean looking range or a path to a secluded beach, we’re not fussed whether it’s on the public estate or private farmland – we just have an overwhelming desire to tread it. And why not? For the most part, we’re a friendly bunch. And after all, we’re only there to ‘walk’. We’re not there to shoot wildlife, wheel-spin in the mud, peer into windows or cuddle sheep. If we’re not spotted, no-one would even know we were there. So why would many landowners prefer trampers to stay away? Anders Crofoot, of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, says there are a number of issues with which those not familiar with the day-to-day working of a farm may be unaware. Crofoot, who runs Castlepoint Station in the Wairarapa, says even someone’s mere presence can create problems: “A ewe might run away when they see someone. If it has twin lambs, the ewe may take one lamb and leave the other. It would have been through no fault of the person walking through, just merely their presence that caused the problem.
“You may also get a large mob of sheep, they may all pile into a corner when they see someone, expecting feeding, which can lead to some getting smothered.” Crofoot compares a farm to a factory floor:“You wouldn’t dream of walking across a factory floor, and a farm may look like open space, but the reality is it’s a place of work and things happen that you might not be aware of.” He adds that most farmers will let you cross their land if you ask them and he also allows access to his land if it’s part of a longer journey, such as a long distance walk for charity or a multi-day challenge. Walkers attempting the private Whareama Coastal Walk do, in fact, head across part of Crofoot’s land. But he doesn’t allow people to cross just for a day walk. There are, he says, plenty of other places to go for a ramble. The urban-rural divide is an issue echoed by Barbara Stuart. She and her husband Ian run Cable Bay Farm, just north of Nelson. The family have always encouraged walkers to access their land and, in the early 1980s, opened Cable Bay Walkway, which bisects the farm. For walkers, it’s a great three-hour tramp that can be turned into a full day’s walk by returning the same way or via the coast at low tide. It offers lovely views over Tasman Bay and Cable Bay, the latter being historically significant as the place where a communication cable connected New Zealand to the rest of the world. Barbara says any problems they face tend to be with those who don’t understand how a farm operates. “Not long ago we had a cow which Ian took off the hill because it had a limp. He wanted to see if it would heal or if the cow had a broken bone. Someone saw the limping cow and reported it to the SPCA.
A TRAIL OF
SELF DISCOVERY Te Araroa has only been officially open for two-and-a-half years, but has already gained a big reputation internationally among longdistance hikers. But the 3068km trail is more than just a tramp from one end of the country to the other; it is a life-changing journey that should be on every Kiwi’s bucket list, discovers Edith Leigh.
JINGYI TAN
It all begins here, at the edge of the world, Cape Reinga