Windy Tops

Tag: link propagation

  • A quick reference online New Zealand topo-map

    If you’re sitting in front of a computer right now (very likely) and just want to zoom around New Zealand’s topo maps, you could check out Gavin Harris’s New Zealand Topographic Map website.

    Gavin’s stitched together all of the current Topo50 maps from Land Information New Zealand, into a big giant topo map of New Zealand. It’s now available through a handy zoomable and scrollable web browser interface similar to a simplified Google Maps but instead with good topo maps of New Zealand. It’s very handy for quick reference of what’s in an area without having to pull out big paper maps, and it’s easy to send around links to specific areas on the map. For instance, here’s the area around the Holdsworth/Jumbo Loop which is one of the most popular weekend tramps in the Tararuas.

    Gavin’s website follows the LINZ removal of it’s NZ Topo Online service, which it no longer considered necessary now that it’s providing downloads of all its Topo maps in various static formats.

    Update, 30th August: Coincidentally launched at about the same time, there’s now also another very similar service called NZ Topographic Maps that’s just been made available, by Reuben Williams of Seagull Web Design. The latter service utilises Google Maps, and paints NZ Topographic maps over the top.

  • Meridian, DoC and the Mokihinui River

    Just to add to some of happenings around the Mokihinui River (historic references: a trip report about walking it, a decision to allow damming it, and the Department of Conservation’s appeal to that decision), it looks as if there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes earlier this year.

    Claire Browning (over at Pundit) has made use of the Official Information Act to obtain communications between DoC and Meridian which make some weird reading. It’s an insight into how these large project applications can work. It gives an idea of the strong differences of opinion between DoC experts and Meridian over use of the land, and also shows Meridian as trying to evade the Official Information Act, essentially by trying to stop DoC from writing certain things down.

    More politics. I’m going back to the Ruahines this weekend. It should be fun.

  • Tongariro Crossing Dangers

    Just quickly, this 5 minute Close Up report clearly demonstrates what’s wrong with the Tongariro Crossing right now, and why probably nothing’s going to change until there’s an unexpected storm that wipes 50 tourists off the mountain. Hopefully that change, assuming it occurs, revolves around more effective education of tourists by whatever means are appropriate, and does not involve restricting the freedom of people to explore conservation land on their own terms. [Update 8th May 2012: I’ve put some thoughts on the latest Tongariro Crossing accident over here.]

    I think this problem is caused by a combination of things, notably:

    • The Tongariro Alpine Crossing (formerly the Tongariro Crossing) is often advertised as the best daywalk in New Zealand, and something that must be done.
    • For many tourists to New Zealand, it’ll be their first experience, their only experience or one of very few outdoor experiences, meaning they’re unlikely to have appropriate clothing and gear.
    • Tourists often come to New Zealand from places with very different conditions to New Zealand’s alpine conditions, possibly through tourist trails of other countries where it’s more difficult for tourists to get to dangerous places unsupervised, and aren’t prepared for what to expect, possible sudden changes in weather or other dangers.
    • Some people set aside a specific day to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and arrange and book other parts of their trip around this date. If the weather isn’t appropriate on the day they’ve chosen, the go anyway.

    To demonstrate the changeability of the weather, these two photos were taken less than an hour apart during November 2007.

    295010825_13b30aedbb-2514466

    295011163_8d0e44ff4b-9729309

    I realise I’m 4 months late with posting this link. I’m afraid I don’t watch much television.

  • Tragedy near Kime Hut, part 2

    Also see Tragedy near Kime Hut and Tragedy near Kime Hut, part 3.

    Last winter there was a tragedy when two trampers died of hypothermia in blizzard conditions near Kime Hut in the Tararuas. One was particularly high profile, which is possibly why the story has gotten so much attention. I wrote some thoughts about it at the time, but reserved comment with the lack of information. The coroners’ inquest began a few days ago, and is now being reported on by the DomPost:

    It’s interesting reading, especially the latter articles, and seems to developing into some good examples of things they might have done better, but more importantly the presence of a culture that wasn’t a safe one to mix with the outdoors, yet also one which is very prevalent (in my opinion at least).

  • A snapshot of Search and Rescue

    The story of Liat Okin has entered the news again lately, specifically because the Southland Area Coroner has been unable to find any explanation of why she would have left the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks which is targeted predominantly at tourists. Back in May 2008, Liat sadly died when she left the Routeburn Track, apparently to follow an unmaintained emergency bush-bashing route for no clear reason and (apparently) out of character, before she slipped and fell. Photos from her camera implied that she wasn’t especially concerned about her situation, and there are still disturbing murmurings (though no solid evidence) about possible foul play, or at least that a person unknown may have shown her the route and encouraged her to follow it, then left her alone. It was a big story at the time, first because Liat disappeared without a trace, and second because after the Police-coordinated Search and Rescue team gave up the search, her family resorted to privately funding one of the largest Land Search and Rescue operations that New Zealand has ever seen.

    Shortly after the search concluded, one of those involved posted an amateur 4 minute video that shows an interesting snapshot of a SAR operation in progress. If you’ve not already seen it, it’s worth a quick look, and if you click through to the YouTube page you can read a better description about what’s going on.

    http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/WhhcaJMKfVY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1

    One outcome of the Coroner’s report seems to be that DoC review its branding of “Great Walks”, noting that the term “Walk” might create confusion for some tourists whose first language isn’t English and who might incorrectly interpret the term to mean that there’s no potential danger. On the face of it and without all the information at hand, I’m not convinced it would have helped in this situation, but perhaps there’s something to the idea.

  • Positive news for New Zealand walking access rights

    It’s been good news that in September 2008, the Walking Access Commission was established (thanks to the Walking Access Act) with the role of facilitating walking access within New Zealand. Some key commitments of this commission are to help negotiate walking access where there is none, to help resolve disputes, to work on an acceptable code of conduct, and to provide useful information for recreational walkers about where they can actually go. WIth respect to the last commitment, as has been noted recently in the NZ Tramper forums, the commission has recently put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of a system that, if it works as intended, will make it much easier for members of the public to access information about specifically where in New Zealand there is public right of access.

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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.

  • 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.

  • Walking your house through the land

    Earlier this evening I was listening to National Radio, on which Bryan Crump was interviewing Ion Soervin about a Walking House project called N55. The audio of the interview can be streamed from Radio New Zealand’s website for about another week. The website for the house itself, complete with photos, is also available, as is a short video clip of the prototype house walking.

    The idea of this specific house began in Denmark. The house is a module that can be lived in, but it has six legs attached and is designed to slowly walk through the landscape in a nomadic fashion, challenging the ideas that a dwelling should exist in a fixed place. The house is powered by solar cells and small wind turbines. It even has a wood-stove, and photos of the interior remind me of a typical New Zealand back-country hut. At present it’s more an art project and an engineering prototype, but as Mr Soervin was commenting, the plans to build it are available and they’re willing to help anybody who might want to build their own.

    What I find at least as interesting are the ideas that are being expressed in association with this house. The radio interview covered some of these ideas, but they’re also discussed on the website. Considering it’s a house that’s able to move, it should be no surprise that its creators are very interested in concepts of property rights of land, and how they’re seen. Specifically, the very concept of exclusive fenced-off property boundaries are not conducive to a house that’s designed to walk. Not surprisingly, the creators are keen to provoke discussion about whether land should be divided up and sold in exclusive ways, rather than keeping land accessible for everyone.

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