Wilderness April 2021

BUILD IT and they will come. That’s what Geoff Chapple, the man who almost single-handedly took the idea of a length-of-the-country trail and turned it into a reality, said in an article he wrote for this magazine in 2016. He was helping Wilderness celebrate its 25th anniversary (yes, readers, that means this year is our 30th) by reflecting on some of the momentous changes seen in the outdoors over the years. There have been few more momentous developments than the Te Araroa Trail and Chapple mentioned how on a visit to Top Wairoa Hut, in the back blocks of Mt Richmond Forest Park and reached on a difficult track, he had seen the number of TA walkers increase from just nine in 2010 to 75 in 2014. When he visited the hut…

BUILD IT and they will come. That’s what Geoff Chapple, the man who almost single-handedly took the idea of a length-of-the-country trail and turned it into a reality, said in an article he wrote for this magazine in 2016. He was helping Wilderness celebrate its 25th anniversary (yes, readers, that means this year is our 30th) by reflecting on some of the momentous changes seen in the outdoors over the years. There have been few more momentous developments than the Te Araroa Trail and Chapple mentioned how on a visit to Top Wairoa Hut, in the back blocks of Mt Richmond Forest Park and reached on a difficult track, he had seen the number of TA walkers increase from just nine in 2010 to 75 in 2014. When he visited…

OUTDOORS WITH KIDS There is much to like and enjoy in the March 2021 issue. The food section was a great idea and I especially liked Jo Stilwell’s ‘Food for kids’. There’s plenty of useful information and it’s a nice chatty read. In our experience, it always amazed me how grand a piece of stale bread and Marmite tasted when I was really hungry. Matthew Cattin’s intro on ‘Highways to the trails’ is a fine start to a travel piece. But I got the chills reading Judit Angeli’s piece on taking a toddler on a road trip. Are we readers left to contemplate they actually leave the child alone in the campervan to go swimming? It’s fantastic that people introduce their children to different experiences such as a road trip but baby monitor or…

OUTDOORS WITH KIDS There is much to like and enjoy in the March 2021 issue. The food section was a great idea and I especially liked Jo Stilwell’s ‘Food for kids’. There’s plenty of useful information and it’s a nice chatty read. In our experience, it always amazed me how grand a piece of stale bread and Marmite tasted when I was really hungry. Matthew Cattin’s intro on ‘Highways to the trails’ is a fine start to a travel piece. But I got the chills reading Judit Angeli’s piece on taking a toddler on a road trip. Are we readers left to contemplate they actually leave the child alone in the campervan to go swimming? It’s fantastic that people introduce their children to different experiences such as a road trip…

I was packing for a weekend on Pirongia when Wilderness (March 2021) arrived and immediately rerouted for Umukarikari thanks to the beautiful photograph and description by James Anderson (‘A range of your own’, Wild Trips). It was an excellent weekend out; hot weather, clear skies, and a perfect sunset cradled between the summits of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. However, I have some advice for any other readers planning on doing this trip. It’s somewhat obvious when looking at the map, but there is no water between the trailhead and the summit of Umukarikari and very little shade offered once you’re out of the bushline. I only encountered a few other people on the track and one person, in particular, was searching for the beginnings of a stream that was shown on the…

I was packing for a weekend on Pirongia when Wilderness (March 2021) arrived and immediately rerouted for Umukarikari thanks to the beautiful photograph and description by James Anderson (‘A range of your own’, Wild Trips). It was an excellent weekend out; hot weather, clear skies, and a perfect sunset cradled between the summits of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. However, I have some advice for any other readers planning on doing this trip. It’s somewhat obvious when looking at the map, but there is no water between the trailhead and the summit of Umukarikari and very little shade offered once you’re out of the bushline. I only encountered a few other people on the track and one person, in particular, was searching for the beginnings of a stream that was…