Renata Hut, Tararua Forest Park — Roads are convenient things, often providing easy access to the playgrounds of trampers. That being said, ‘road-walking’ is often something thought to be best avoided if at all possible. A trip down Odlins Road (aka Waiotauru Rd) presents a unique exception to this rule. When I was trying to think…

Waiorongomai Hut, Remutaka Range — Prologue There exists a scale of ‘fun’ often toted by fans of the outdoors. It ranges from Type I fun (enjoyed at the time, enjoyed the memory later) to Type II fun (did not enjoy at the time, enjoyed reminiscing on the pain). The bold may even claim that the scale…

A Southern Crossing of the Tararua Range — I read recently that the word ‘tramping’ is dying out. Apparently the Mountain Safety Council (who arguably themselves are dying out) examined some New Zealand Google searches and found that the word “hiking” was becoming the more common parlance (there’s a good obscure word for you). …

Cass — Lagoon Saddle Loop, Craigieburn Forest Park — Coming out of the bush from tackling the Gladiator I had a problem. I needed to work out how best to spend the next few days whilst making my way to Christchurch to fly back to Wellington. Slowly but surely a plan started to form, starting with a memorable New…

The Gladiator, a four day transalpine loop in south Westland — “What is it all for?”, a question asked by titans of the arena in the first century AD, and by a travelling middle-aged Norwegian academic armed with a high-powered crossbow that we met at Cassel Flat Hut. But I get ahead of myself, you may be wondering why we found…

Nydia Bay, Marlborough Sounds — I take for granted that I grew up tramping. Some people didn’t grow up with the character-building torture of going for ‘short walks’ in the rain through the middle of nowhere as a kid. My friend Grace hadn’t grown up tramping, preffering the hotel lifestyle. When she asked if we…

Ōrongorongo Valley — Driving down SH2 I had no idea where exactly we were headed. My friend Emily was visiting from Whangarei, and we had been intending to do the Cattle Ridge loop in the Tararuas but the weather forecast was looking terrible. …

The Bannister Crossing and the Arete sidle track — I had repeatedly heard the sidle track from Arete Forks Hut to Cow Creek Hut being called ‘the worst in the Tararuas’. A quick search online finds that common words used to describe it include horrid, notorious, non-existent and horrendous. I did however know that the track had recently been…

When it was announced that the backcountry huts of Te Urewera were to be removed, we couldn’t resist having one final valedictory tour… — Ka hanga whare te tangata, ka hanga tangata te whare A people builds a hut, a hut builds a people Te Urewera, a land of rugged mountains cloaked by dense forest, often shrouded in stubborn mist. Homeland of Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Urewera maintains a fearsome reputation for its isolation and…