⛰️#7 - New Lodge & Tracks Open, Resources, Weather Chat & more.

Author

Jub Bryant
October 04, 2024

And we are back with the 7th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday…or the early hours of Friyay like this one.

I'll 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.

In This Weeks Edition

🏠 New Lodge Open For Booking In Hawkes Bay

Last Saturday bookings for a new lodge in Puketitiri’s William Hartree Memorial Scenic Reserve opened. If you’re looking for a group getaway for friends and/or families, this could be a great option for beginners with several short walks in the reserve. At $145 total for up to 10 people (in 3 bunks), it seems like great value.

🐑 Track Closures For Lambing Etc.

It’s that time of the year when people will turn up to various tracks (mainly in Northland and Otago) only to discover that they’re closed for lambing. Every year some tracks close for lambing or lambing or other animal activities for about a month in spring. Make sure to check the DOC website to verify the tracks aren’t closed.

There’ll be no doubt some people waking up to do a sunrise hike at Roy’s Peak only to realise they didn’t have to set there alarm at silly o’clock once they get to the car park.

🏞️ Lake Rotoiti Rescue

There wasn’t much spoken about this, but in the lead up to summer and longer daylight hours…it’s a good reminder.

Six trampers were winched out of Nelson Lakes National Park on Saturday after getting stuck on a ridgeline. They made the call to police after believing they weren’t going to get out before nightfall given they were lost, and essentially stuck on the ridge. Between six of them, that’s pretty impressive!

It looks like sunset was still about 90 minutes, but given they weren’t equipped for a night out they made the call to get in touch with police and the helicopter came to pick them up.

I like that they made the call 90 minutes before sunset as there was enough time to rescue them before nightfall which makes things way easier for the rescue teams. It doesn’t mention if they had a PLB on the them, hopefully with six people, at least one did?

🥾Queenstowns Wharehuanui Trail Opening

On Saturday a new trail will be opening in Queenstown on Saturday the 5th. The Wharehuanui Trail is a 13km trail connecting Arrowtown and Arthurs Point. It’ll get plenty of bike use, but I can see it being a fun way to get back from a few hours in Arrowtown if you take the bus there, then a bus back to town from Arthurs Point. The trail gives you some great views of the Whakatipu Basin as you wind your way below Coronet Peak.

😹 Meme Break

☁️ Fun Idea To Keep The Kids Inspired

I’ve joined some friends on a hike with kids a few times, and by crikey, that’s not easy. The number of entertainment ideas you need is always N+1.

I thought this Cloud Finder was a fun idea, and it’s educational at the same time.

Another fun idea could be to use corrugated cardboard and make hut replicas. Here’s one I saw in a FB group.

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

  • I could imagine thru-hikers on the Te Araroa downing this instant caffeinated ramen. Who can afford to wait for your 2-minute noodles…

  • After mentioning a bunch of avalanche news last week, the Avalanche Advisory issued a critical warning. Fortunately, I didn’t hear of any deaths from avalanches this week. I did go through their free course, it’s handy, and takes about an hour to go through.

  • I finished the book Adventures with Emilie by Victoria Bruce about their trip 138 days on the Te Araroa (with her 8-year-old daughter Emilie). I’m always amazed at how much recall people have on their adventures, or maybe she was just taking detailed notes along the way. Victoria opens about about her past traumas and does a great job of getting you on the hike with them.

  • Jordan Munn did a great job restoring the Aokaporangi Biv! Check the before and after photos. From what I gather, this is an old hut that was removed and was a personal project. I’m not sure what he’s planning to do with it?

  • Turns out back in the 90’s there was some beef between NIWA and the MetService. But that seems to have been resolved as they’ll be merging next year. Yay for the weather chat.

  • I wrote about Pigeon Island Hut in this article on Wilderness Mag.

  • Maybe you’ll want to keep an eye out for rust on your next hike? Crazy story from Kate Evans on NZGeo!

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

Well, I'm sending this a little late as I try to get around China's Great Firewall after surviving a 22-hour bus ride and a 25-hour train ride (with 11 hours between them).

Before that, I spent a few days in the Tien-Shan Mountains next to Almaty, Kazakhstan. They'd just had their first dumping of snow, so that was a change-up compared to the last few months. The trail network is pretty good in those mountains, with lots of trails, minimal animal tracks, good signage, and easy public transport access.

Have a great week, hike it up.

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

And send this to your friends and encourage them to sign up here: https://nzhikingnewsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe 

Chur,

Jub