Windy Tops

  • Trip: Holdsworth Lodge to Mitre Flats and back

    I had a free weekend and I realised that I hadn’t been to the Tararuas for about six months! Don’t ask me how this happened because it’s my favourite mountain range. Since I had the time, I made up my mind to get back and visit them again. The weather forecast was changing every hour leading up to my leaving home on Saturday morning, which was probably because the Met service forecasters weren’t very certain about exactly where a particular system was going to hit. It looked as if it might get very rainy, but I guess you can’t really beat the Tararuas when it’s raining. They’re fantastic.

    3501198093_61c6954306_m-6005503
    Between Atiwhakatu Hut
    and Mitre Flats.

    Dates: 2nd – 3rd May, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth road-end.
    People: Just me.
    Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights), Atiwhakatu Hut (0 nights), Mitre Flats Hut (1 night).
    Route: Start at Holdsworth Lodge, walk straight to Mitre Flats (via the track), then walk back.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Surviving for a week

    You may have recently heard something of Matthew Briggs, especially if you follow New Zealand’s general media. A month ago, his story was splashed around many front pages, after he and his dog returned from an ordeal where he slid off a bluff breaking a wrist, ankle and ribs, tied himself up and stopped the bleeding, and set up camp for a week waiting for rescue. Then, when nothing happened, he crawled for two days with his injuries to reach a back-country hut where two hunters who happened to be present walked a thirteen hour day to raise the alarm.

    He might have sold his story to a trashy women’s magazine (or to a trashy Sunday newspaper), but instead he’s written it up in detail for all to read and learn from, over at the New Zealand Tramper website. What he’s created is a first-hand account from someone well qualified in the New Zealand back-country, which is actually very educational about what can go wrong, how to deal with it, how mistakes can occur, and what it’s like to have to cope with the media after something like this. It’s published in five parts:

    It’s definitely worth a read. There’s also been an ongoing discussion about the event in the NZ Tramper forums.

  • Ecology and Conservation History on National Radio

    I seem to have been posting about conservation issues between tramps lately, and so it doesn’t feel too out of place to post some more, especially as I see tramping and conservation to be strongly linked.

    I had National Radio blaring in the background this afternoon and happened to hear parts of what sounded like an interesting documentary on the early destruction of New Zealand’s forests. It turns out that it was episode 2 of Nga Uruora: The Groves of Life – Ecology and History in a New Zealand Landscape. This is a series of six roughly 54 minute radio episodes that was developed to parallel Geoff Park’s 1995 book of the same name.

    Geoff Park, a “respected ecologist and writer whose primary concerns were conserving the last remains of New Zealand’s indigenous lowland forest ecosystems and understanding the colonial history that led to their near-vanishing”, died in March. National Radio is now re-playing all six episodes of the radio series between 4pm and 5pm on Sundays.

    If this timing isn’t convenient or if National Radio reception isn’t convenient, the episodes can also be streamed through the web, or alternatively purchased on CD via Radio New Zealand’s Replay Radio service. Links and details for either are currently available at the link above.

  • Tararua Plane Wreckage to be returned to Tararuas

    I should have posted the update a few days ago that the Shingle Slip Knob Plane Wreckage (earlier mentioned here and then here) is to be returned to Shingle Slip Knob in the Tararuas.

    The story from the Dominion Post is available on Stuff.

    The wreckage was taken illegally in March by Wairarapa Helicopters following a commissioning by the Sport and Vintage Aviation Society for a new museum being built. After discussions with the families of the pilots who died and were buried nearby, the helicopter company has now agreed to return the wreckage, with an agreement that DOC won’t revoke its permit to operate in the park. It seems there will be no prosecution.

    This is good news. The plane wreck has been on the side of Shingle Slip Knob since 1955, clearly visible from one of the most frequented tramps in the Tararuas (The Jumbo/Powell loop). Perhaps it was decided that prosecution of either or both organisations would not accomplish much or might work out worse for everyone. I still have trouble believing that nobody involved could have realised that it was most likely illegal to simply fly into the Tararuas and take things, or that nobody would notice, or that nobody would have a problem with it being done.

  • A snapshot of New Zealand conservation history

    The sanctity of any conserved area, be it national park, scenic reserve, or historic reserve, can be violated at will by the State acting under Sections 7, 32 and 39 of the National Parks Act, under Sections 16, 34 and 97 of the Scenic Reserves and Domains Act or, if either of these avenues by any mischance should fail, under Sections 13(a), 311 and 312 of the Public Works Act. Neither Parliament, nor, least of all, the public at large, need be informed of what is proposed to be done. The first they know is, all to often, heralded by works activity or accomplished fact.

    — Dr J. T. Salmon, Senior Lecturer in Biology, Victoria University of Wellington. Heritage Destroyed — The Crisis in Scenery Preservation in New Zealand. 1960. Page 11.

    I remember growing up in the 1980s with the devoted belief that New Zealand was a clean and green, environmentally sound country. We had a wonderful conservation estate that was open for exploration and fantastic scenery, though it took me a while to discover it properly. New Zealand was completely anti-nuclear, unlike the French who were exploding test nukes nearby, and in related actions committed acts of terrorism in New Zealand, and it was terrorism according to France’s own condemnation before French agents were caught and its government was forced to admit guilt. France threatened wide-spread European Economic Embargoes against New Zealand until we gave back their secret agents, or something like that. This entire event was a major boost to sentiments against nuclear power, which New Zealand didn’t have and therefore New Zealand was clean and green. There was even a movie about the valiant New Zealand neighbourhood watch group catching two bumbling French secret agents (or something like that), starring well known New Zealanders such as Sam Neill and Xena Warrior Princess!

    My friends and I knew that New Zealand was clean and green because the French government was exploding nuclear bombs in our back yard, and we weren’t. And we also had earthquake drills in school during which we screamed and dived under tables, and mohawks were the new rage of fashion. If it were today, I imagine we’d be clean and green because we don’t like the way Japanese vessels hunt intelligent friendly whales in the southern ocean. Fallacies are a wonderful thing for self-assurance.

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  • Trip: Four days of D’Urville, Moss Pass, Sabine, and an ice axe

    Having an ice axe attached to your pack makes you look cool. Therefore, what better way to spend Easter than four days in Nelson Lakes National Park with an ice axe, and also with people who are friends? Well, there are possibly other things that could be at least as good, but the ice axe and other people in Nelson Lakes thing is what I did… despite having begun the trip without an ice axe.

    3441436202_dcd38597e9_m-5900897
    Bernie in front of Lake Constance.

    Dates: 9th – 13th April, 2009
    Location: Nelson Lakes National Park, Lake Rotoroa.
    People: Hans, Mika, Marie, Jen, Matthew, Bernie, Paul, and me.
    Huts visited: D’Urville Hut (0 nights), Morgan Hut (0 nights), George Lyon Hut [formerly Ella Hut] (1 night), Blue Lake Hut (1 night), West Sabine Hut (1 night), Sabine Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Water taxi to D’Urville Hut, south past Morgan Hut to George Lyon Hut for Friday night. Climb over Moss Pass and down the other side on Saturday, to Blue Lake Hut. Roam around and explore on Sunday morning, then continue north up Sabine to West Sabine Hut in afternoon. Continue to Sabine Hut (and return water taxi) on Monday.
    [Photos and movies]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    Our trip had been carefully planned by Steve, who sadly had to withdraw at the last minute over a foot he injured during the Oxfam 100 km Trailwalker the previous weekend. Having hired a cheap rental van and taken it onto the Interislander from Wellington on Thursday night, we arrived at the end of Lake Rotoroa some time well after midnight. I don’t know exactly what time it was, but I do know that after setting up some tents and flies, we were drifting off to sleep some time after 1.30am. We discovered at late notice that we’d almost mis-calculated how much shelter to bring and were short by a small fly or so. Thankfully, however, enough people had brought their own anti-social tents beyond the need of the organised plan. Marie crunched into Hans and Mika’s tent, Jen and Paul set up their small one-person tents, while Bernie, Matthew and I slid under my Huntech two-person fly, which can easily and comfortably accommodate three people despite the name.

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  • It’s only a magnet with a circle attached

    I bought myself a new compass yesterday, which was another Silva Field 7 baseplate compass, identical to the one that I lost last October. It’s the most basic Silva compass on the market. It’s often marketed as being “ideal for youth and beginners”. For me it seems to do the job perfectly well and while I’m not a navigation supremo, I’ve been working on it for a while now and I’ve not yet had any issues with having only the basic features. I guess they market it that way to drive people towards the more expensive parts of their range.

    For several months I’ve been using a baseplate Coleman compass that I found at Rebel Sport for a quarter of the price, and for me at least it works just as well as the Silva Field 7. It’s slightly larger though, if only because it includes extra features like a magnifier that I never use, and ultimately that’s why I decided to replace it. It’s only after I’d been using a smaller Field 7 compass for a while that I noticed the Coleman compass was actually quite heavy, and that’s why I bought myself another Field 7.

    It’s a shame they’re priced at about $35 for something so basic, which I think is more of a branding thing than anything else. If I could get a cheap un-branded compass of similar specifications then I would, but they’re hard to find on short notice. I suppose that all you really need is a magnetically sensitive needle inside a nicely divided circle. It probably helps some people to have a few features like a better grips on the dial thingee and a magnifier for maps (which I’ve personally never used), but I’ve yet to see anyone using something like a typically expensive sighting compass for tramping navigation in New Zealand. Perhaps it’s a consequence of the circles I associate with. They’re in the shops a lot so they must sell, and I’m quite interested to know what sorts of activities people use them for.

  • Quietly passing the time

    It’s interesting how people pass the time in the dark. I didn’t indicate it at the time, but on this occasion Marie’s working on statistical formulae, and Dan’s working on circuit diagrams.

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    At Totara Flats in the Tararua Range, March 2007

    It was raining outside. A lot.

  • Trip: Waterfall Hut via Tussock Creek, and Te Atuaoparapara

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    Bernie in front of the sunrise
    behind Rangi Saddle.

    Last weekend we visited the Ruahines, and I was finally able to see Sunrise Hut, which I’ve heard so much about. It was only a brief part of a much larger weekend, though.

    Dates: 20th – 22nd March, 2009
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Triplex road-end.
    People: Glynne, Paul, Tim, Mike P, Bernie, Harry and me.
    Huts visited: Triplex Hut (1 night), Waterfall Hut (1 night), Waikamaka Hut (0 nights), Sunrise Hut (0 nights).
    Route: From Triplex Hut to Waipawa Forks, up to Waipawa Saddle then climb the south-eastern side up to Three Johns (1569). South-west to Rangioteatua (1704), south to 1715 then south-west to Paemutu (1682). Down scree to Tussock Creek, and to Waterfall Hut for the night. Then up Rangi Creek, over Rangi Saddle to Waikamaka Hut, back to Waipawa Saddle, up the northern side to 1625, north to Te Atuaoparapara (1687), north-east to Armstrong Saddle, then back to Triplex road-end via Sunrise Hut.
    [Photos and movies]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    We begin at the TripleX road-end, in the rain and standing in the muddy road preparing to leave. Sometimes I have concerns that I won’t look as if I’ve actually been somewhere by the end of a weekend, but these concerns are now unwarranted as I realise that half of my pack is already covered in mud. Better yet, it’s splashy mud which has a fantastic transitive quality, and it quickly asserts itself on my trampey clothes. Now I look as if I’ve been somewhere!
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  • Good river stories

    Just in case you had any doubts about how dangerous rivers can potentially be at the wrong time (following from one of my earlier posts), Frank and Sue over at Our Hiking Blog have recently posted a telling story from Tasmania about just how quickly rivers can come up in the rain, how easy it is to be caught out and what the consequences can be like. It’s a serious thing and fortunately everyone mentionde came out okay on this occasion, and also a really good short read.