⛰️#59 - Team Shorts, IKEA Material, Stats, $214k, Lessons Learned, & Lots More.

And we are back with the 59th weekly NZ Hiking Newsletter.

Hopefully that doesn’t make you race for the unsubscribe button.

Edit: Turns out Lake Sylvan Campsite doesn’t have much reception. That’s my excuse for only getting this sent now.

Anyway, I let you know what’s going on in the hiking scene in New Zealand, along with other related bits and pieces I find interesting.

Alright, let’s get into it.

📊 Some GWBN Volunteer Stats

The Greater Wellington Backcountry Network (GWBN) newsletter was issued last week, and there’s some interesting stats:

• GWBN members: 330

• 31 members have volunteered 2200 hours in the last 6 months

• There’s a bequeathment for a 12-bed booked hut at Dracophyllum to replace the current 2-bed ‘bivy’ that’s in bad knick (a.k.a. someone left some money in their will for this to happen).

• They’ve been focused on cutting tracks recently, and over the last year’s the total cost for 1km of tracks to be cut is $270. But thanks to volunteers and GWBN, the direct cost to DOC is ~$105/kilometre.

• In the last 2.5 years, 370km of tracks have been cut over 7400 hours…20 hours/km of track.

• Full newsletter: https://gwbn.org.nz/january-2026-newletter/

🤠 Awkward Situation For Hikers On The Cape Brett Track

• What would you do if someone (or you saw the sign) said it’s too dangerous to follow the designated route, and instead you should cross their private land enroute to the hut? It’s a tricky situation, but one some hikers have been having since the Cape Brett Track was rerouted at the end of last year. That’s because the owner of the private land, Julian Batchelor, receives $3 for each walker that uses his land. With ~5000 people doing so last year, missing out on $15,000 would hurt. But it’s an awkward situation for the hikers…especially if he is becoming forceful. More details here.

  *currently the hut is only accessible by boat due to storm damage.

🗒️ Track News Etc.

• $214,000. That’s the amount earned from the first month of paid parking in Aoraki-Mount Cook, Punakaiki and Franz Josef (started December 15th). I wonder what the actual profits are. Details here.

• When I was sent this link and saw the title of this article I thought it was going to be some kind of parody gig. The title:

  You can spot a NZ hiker by their shorts. Here’s why we won’t don trousers.

  It’s not a parody. It’s a good read, you’ll learn something even. TEAM SHORTS!

• In newsletter #54, I mentioned an impressive cliff rescue in Kahurangi National Park. The result was positive with a successful rescue, and the two people on the trip have written a trip report about the trip, the accident, and what happened when once call for rescue was made. Full blog post here.

• And here’s a lad who documented what happened after he buggered his ankle on the Dobson Track in the Tararua.

• I haven’t come across the photo above before, but it’s started to collect Stuart some awards (now four), recently as the People's Choice Award winner at the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year. He did put in the work beforehand, having planned the shot and chartering a light aircraft so he could take the photo through the open door. More details here.

😹 Hiking Funny

🗒️ More Track News Etc.

• While Aussie’s hut network doesn’t quite meet ours, they’re making sure the huts they do have have the best chance to survive the wild temperatures Aussie has been getting, which is starting many a fire. The wrapping in the photo above is Firezat (Kevlar and aluminium thread), designed to block fire by reflecting radiant heat and embers. It’s not a perfect solution, but the stats look decent. You can learn more about it here: https://www.nordiquefire.ca/firezat

  • Sustaina Grow is a company creating plant pots with wool, as it is a more fire-resistant material. They have wildfire risk in mind when creating their products.

• There was a bit of a write up here about Adam Toth, the Hungarian Te Araroa hiker whose body was found in Deception River (Arthur’s Pass) on December 20th. By all accounts, he was an awesome lad. And it must have been quite confronting for those who knew him, as he’d schedule posts on Instagram that went live after he passed away. Write up here (hopefully you can bypass the paywall).

  • In an unrelated death, a father wants to write a book about his son and his last hike on Mount Baldy (California). This is quite a moving post…and there are lessons we can learn. Namely…weather can change conditions from one day to the next, fast.

• If you’re looking to make your own gear (MYOG) accessories for your gear, a Reddit poster has tested the material from these IKEA shoe bags for three years. There are lighter materials, but for $1.25 you can get into MYOG, creating toiletries bags, trowel covers

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

This past weekend was a fun one spent down in Fiordland. The weather wasn’t looking great, but it was my partner’s birthday so we bit the bullet and went down to see what would happen.

In the end it felt like anytime we were in the car it was raining, but when we were on the trails, it was dry. While I didn’t love it when they got phone reception at The Divide (start of the Routeburn Track) a few years back, it was very convenient to pop by the carpark and check the latest weather to make our plan.

We went up Gertrude Saddle…explored a little bit of the Hollyford and Kepler Track. A great weekend.

It was my first time at Cascade Creek Campsite too, good spot!

Have a great week, hike it up.

As always, reply to this email (or message me on Whatsapp +642041702764) with anything and everything…I’m happy to chat.

Chur,

Jub

p.s. get your friends to sign up to the newsletter: https://nzhikingnewsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe