Wilderness November 2021

A LITTLE over two months ago, the nation was basking in its Covid-free status. My family had not long returned from a holiday to Waihi Beach and we were looking forward to another short break in September to Wellington, where a first-time visit to Zealandia was high on our to-do list. That trip never eventuated but after more than eight weeks of lockdown in Auckland, I’ve found my daily walk to be a sanity-saver. That said, it still took time to get psychologically ready to begin the Walk1200km challenge. Despite months of planning the challenge, and preparing myself to do it, many Wilderness readers started before me. I had the usual doubts many others face: am I ready to do this? Knowing that once I started, I had to keep…

A LITTLE over two months ago, the nation was basking in its Covid-free status. My family had not long returned from a holiday to Waihi Beach and we were looking forward to another short break in September to Wellington, where a first-time visit to Zealandia was high on our to-do list. That trip never eventuated but after more than eight weeks of lockdown in Auckland, I’ve found my daily walk to be a sanity-saver. That said, it still took time to get psychologically ready to begin the Walk1200km challenge. Despite months of planning the challenge, and preparing myself to do it, many Wilderness readers started before me. I had the usual doubts many others face: am I ready to do this? Knowing that once I started, I had to keep going, come what…

A WARNING TO ALWAYS TREAT YOUR WATER I have enjoyed tramping in many different parts of our beautiful country and have always appreciated our ‘clean, green’ natural environment. Staying at DOC huts and camping beside rivers or streams is one of the great things about living in New Zealand, especially as we don’t have to worry about things like wild animals that may eat us or poison us. We do, however, have an invisible parasite that, up until now, I thought was something very few people became afflicted with and was really nothing to worry about: Giardia. On a recent overnighter, I drank unfiltered water from the sparkling clear streams and rivers we passed, enjoying the pure fresh taste. I also ignored the DOC warning at the hut we stayed in to boil my…

Get your photo published here to receive a Victorinox Escort keyring pocket knife worth $22. Learn more about Victorinox at e.ampro.co.nz. ARE YOU DOING THE WALK1200KM CHALLENGE? We want to see where you’re logging your miles. See wildernessmag.co.nz/lastweekend for submission criteria.…

A WARNING TO ALWAYS TREAT YOUR WATER I have enjoyed tramping in many different parts of our beautiful country and have always appreciated our ‘clean, green’ natural environment. Staying at DOC huts and camping beside rivers or streams is one of the great things about living in New Zealand, especially as we don’t have to worry about things like wild animals that may eat us or poison us. We do, however, have an invisible parasite that, up until now, I thought was something very few people became afflicted with and was really nothing to worry about: Giardia. On a recent overnighter, I drank unfiltered water from the sparkling clear streams and rivers we passed, enjoying the pure fresh taste. I also ignored the DOC warning at the hut we stayed…

HISTORIC REEFTON TRACK REOPENS A 150-year-old track near Reefton has reopened after dozens of volunteers put in thousands of hours of work to clear it in commemoration of a young climber’s vision. Jack Grinsted was working for a local tourism promotion organisation four years ago when he first learned of the 11km Painkiller Track, which ascends a ridge near the West Coast town. He said the track was built in 1872 to access a gold-bearing quartz reef at the head of Painkiller Creek. A road was later blasted out of the rock so vehicles could access the mines. The mines were eventually abandoned and the track reopened to trampers in the 1970s, but it soon fell into disrepair and was stripped from future maps. After talking with fellow climber and DOC ranger Sarwan Chand,…