New Zealand
know more, do more, live more
vs The World
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Seven great Kiwi peaks that
compete with the world's best
Te Urewera Now it’s no longer a national park, what have Tuhoe got planned for their homeland?
10 top coastal campgrounds
Idyllic spots to while away the summer
Tent
Heavy duty boot review
Because serious trips require a serious boot
buyer’s guide
Found the perfect campsite? Now get the perfect tent
november 2013
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Tips for a successful expedition Four questions to ask before buying your next tent Kahurangi’s Arthur Range mapped in 3D!
Hike to historic kauri driving dams
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contents NOVEMBER 2013
FEATURES
41 New Zealand vs The World
For those without the cash or time to climb the world’s great summits, these seven peaks closer to home could be just the tonic
50 What now for Te Urewera?
Now that Te Urewera is no longer a national park, Wilderness takes a closer look at what changes to the area’s status mean for outdoor recreation
56 Changes through the ages Kiwi tramping legends share how times have changed and why the lure of the hills remains
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62 A walk with views
and ewes In a new series on private walks, Wilderness tramps the fully-catered Whareama Coastal Walk
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WAYPOINTS 18 Places
Queen’s Drive, The Remarkables
20 See more
Get a taste of the pioneer spirit by visiting these three kauri driving dams
22 Top 10
Prepare for your summer beachside holidays with the Wilderness guide to DOC’s 10 best coastal campsites
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49
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Your trips, your pix What did you get up to last weekend? Sean, Ben, Nicole, Robyn and Joshua went hiking on Fox Glacier
Georgia, Jethro and Kirsten enjoyed some sunshine at Chaffey’s Hut in the Cobb Valley
Karen Retter took a break from snowshoeing up Ben Lomond, Queenstown
Peter Vella enjoyed a brew at Larrikins Hut in Kahurangi NP John and Liam admired the view in the Cameron Valley, Rangitata/Rakaia Conservation Area
Nina Sawicki and Mark Henson climbed Mt Murchison in Arthur’s Pass NP
Karen, Margaret, Warren and Woody walked to Te Mara Peak in Tararua Forest Park as part of PNTMC's Peak Bagging Challenge
Caitlin and Katrina took some cheeky photos on the tramp to Waihohonu Hut, Tongariro NP
Send your
pix
Get your ‘Last we ekend’ photo published here and you’ll receive an original Spork co urtesy of www.ampro.co.n z. Head to www.wildernessm ag.co.nz – search ‘last weekend’ – for full submission criteria.
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Thom Shanks climbed Mt Ngauruhoe to celebrate a friend’s birthday Izzy, Ashleigh and Sammy Gibson loving a rest on the Routeburn Track at Key Summit
off the beaten track
Roving through
the ranges
Fording Lawrence River
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Pat Barrett roams from river flats to alpine passes on a circuit of the Lawernce and Potts valleys
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Shaun Barnett / black robin photography
Finding their own way,
Together As part of an historic Treaty of Waitangi settlement, Te Urewera is being returned to Tuhoe and its national park status removed. Josh Gale investigates what this means for Tuhoe and its precious homeland.
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Midway Hut is one of 45 huts in Te Urewera
t’s a chilly winter morning as Joe Doherty and I begin our walk to Lake Waikareiti in Te Urewera. We’re just about to enter the luxuriant beech and rimu forest when Doherty stops me and begins to softly chant. His karakia, or ritual prayer, asks for the forest’s blessings and protection on our walk. The sound floats up towards the canopy and seems as natural as the early morning bird call. Tuhoe are a forest people.They’re as much a part of Te Urewera as any species of bird. And Joe Doherty, having being born and raised here, is a true Tuhoe elder. After he finishes his karakia, we continue on to the shelter at Lake Waikareiti from where we watch snow flurries blow over the northern shore. It’s a bitingly cold winter morning so we quickly return to the warmth of Lake Whakamarino Lodge and a hearty breakfast. The previous day we’d driven into Waikaremoana from Rotorua and Doherty had shown me around his tribal homeland. Leaving the small, run-down town of Murupara, the serpentine State Highway 38 abruptly enters the Korongohukore Hills, the northern gateway to the Tuhoe lands. I’ve driven the road a few times before and seeing the dense bush perceived it as a primeval wilderness. Misty forested peaks hem the road and, other than the occasional wandering horse, there weren’t, to my eyes, many signs to suggest much in the way of a human presence. Driving in with Doherty opened my eyes. He’s a business development manager for the Department of Conservation, and also owns local guiding company Te Urewera Treks. He relishes nothing more than showing visitors around Te Urewera. Where before I’d only seen a wilderness devoid of humanity, Doherty revealed place after place where Tuhoe lived, loved, mourned, fought and died. He showed me his family homestead and the grave of his grandmother, both of which lie hidden just off the highway. From behind the window of a car, you’d be forgiven for assuming it was ‘just bush’.
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Changes through
Sitting around, telling yarns and singing songs. Isn’t that what tramping is all about?
Shaun Barnett / black robin photography
the ages
Ricky French talks to some tramping legends to find out how times have changed and why the lure of the hills remains even as we become less able to explore them
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Hiking performance in its simplest and purest form Reconnect with the Earth. Minimal shoes and lightweight apparel for outside people. Shown: Women’s Proterra Vim Sport
MERRELL.COM/NZ 90 november 2013