BACKCOUNTRY A New Dawn? - PLUS: FMC's election guide - KiwiShare - NZ Alpine Club
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BACKCOUNTRY
Number 220 June 2020
Quarterly bulletin of the Federated Mountain Clubs
A New Dawn?
PLUS: FMC’s election guide – KiwiShare
Photo by Neil Kerr.
Fraser McDougall & Sam Smoothy
in the Richardson Mountains,
New Zealand.
For over twenty-five years Bivouac Outdoor has been proudly 100% New Zealand
owned, and committed to providing you with the best outdoor clothing and equipment
available in the world. Gear to keep you dry, warm and safe either in-bounds,
sidecountry or backcountry this season. Ski, board and gear hire plus full workshop
and servicing facilities available this season at our Tower Junction (Christchurch) store.
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BACKCOUNTRY is published four times a year
by the Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand
(Inc.), Wellington. www.fmc.org.nz It is free to
this issue
members of affiliated clubs.
ISSN 2537-8376 (Print) ISSN 2537-8384 (Online)
04 PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
CONTENT AND SUBMISSIONS 10 NOTICE BOARD
The editorial direction of Backcountry is to provide a
forum for the expression of opinions and for news
and debate on matters of interest to those who use
12 LETTERS
New Zealand’s public lands. Opinions expressed
in Backcountry do not necessarily reflect those of
14 A TRIBUTE TO ARNOLD HEINE
Federated Mountain Clubs or of affiliated clubs.
Contributions should be submitted to backcountry@
18 REMEMBERING JIM GILKISON
fmc.org.nz. Photos should be .tif or .jpeg files
between 1MB and 5MB. See www.fmc.org.nz for 21 DR MIKE FLOATE
more detailed information. The final content of
Backcountry is decided by the editor. An executive
committee chaired by the President of FMC will
22 OUTDOOR COMMUNITY
consider concerns relating to published items. Regional leadership development
24
Email the editorial subcommittee, eo@fmc.org.nz.
Editor: Peter Laurenson, The NZDA: A kindred organisation
peter.laurenson@fmc.org.nz, tel 021 446 725
Advertising: Dan Clearwater,
adverts@fmc.org.nz, tel 021 215 7059
26 A NEW DAWN?
Design: Jo Kinley, Hullaballoo Design, Recreation transition
www.hullaballoo.co.nz
Copyediting: Juliet Oliver, julieto@xtra.co.nz 28 EVs for mountain recreation
FMC CONTACT DETAILS:
General enquiries: Danilo Hegg,
32 Environmentally friendly in print
danilo.hegg@fmc.org.nz, tel 027 339 2688
Membership and Backcountry distribution: 35 KiwiShare 2020 Election Guide
Rebecca Gray, administrator@fmc.org.nz,
tel 022 1640 288 39 Quick Backcountry Insight
Supporters of FMC: Individuals may become
supporters of FMC for $45 annually. Supporters
receive Backcountry and the FMC Discount Card,
40 FMC TRAVEL CLUB
which offers discounts including FMC maps
and books and a DOC Backcountry Hut Pass.
43 WEATHER WINDOW
Supporters also get regular email updates.
Annual Subscription to Backcountry is available
46 PHOTOGRAPHY
to organisations and libraries (but not individuals)
for $30 (overseas $40). 48 TENURE REVIEW
Backcountry is printed using vegetable-based inks
on Sumo Gloss & Matt, a chlorine-free and acid- 50 ACCIDENTS
free paper, sourced from a sustainably managed Separating from your gear
plantation forest.
Deadline for contributions Deadline for 52 ACCIDENTS
contributions for the August 2020 Backcountry is
19 June 2020 (send copy to: backcountry@fmc.org.
The danger of assumptions
nz). It should be distributed to clubs by mid-August
2020. The copy deadline for the November 2020 56 UNCLE JACKO’S COOKERY CORNER
issue is 14 September 2020. 25 years on
60 REVIEWS
Follow us at www.facebook.com/fmcnz
An online space for NZ’s outdoor
community. Find out what’s happening
in our backcountry, with news, views COVER Looking east from Fanthams Peak to Mounts
Tongariro, Ngāuruhoe and Ruapehu, a climber
and ‘how-tos’, on all things outdoors. contemplates the dawn of a new day Photo: Peter
www.wilderlife.nz Laurenson, www.occasionalclimber.co.nz
3
President’s Column
JAN FINLAYSON, FMC PRESIDENT recreation and tourism, and more broadly,
to reaffirm, reconsider, restore, remove, and
New dawns create anew as appropriate.
Every day’s a new universe. Most are so The Government and DOC got straight
like the one before, you carry on as usual; into considering just those things. Present
but occasionally, dawn brings something messaging from them is that they have a
so different, you’re forced to reassess real appetite for cracking into recreation
everything you do. The eastern horizon has infrastructure works and getting people out
been electric with change in the last few there enjoying nature. In principle, this is
months. real cause for celebration.
It began with the February tempest There are enormous opportunities to
that chucked southwestern South Island restore forgotten recreation infrastucture
infrastructure left and right. Along with and create new basic trails (great, not Great,
challenge, it presented the Department of walks), connections, and huts and campsites,
Conservation with the opportunity to look close to where people are and more widely
strategically at recreation and tourism around New Zealand, for New Zealanders.
provision across the area: not just at the Done right, there should be excellent bang
‘where’, but also at the ‘why’, the ‘for for buck. Built into these opportunities is
whom’, and the ‘how’; at the backcountry the chance to reset international and, to
trails that have become footpaths and at the some extent, domestic tourism as a supply-
huts that have become expensive lodges; and focussed industry that is far more respectful
at provision of budgetary and infrastructural of Aotearoa’s land and communities than
contingency. The southern operations the industry we’ve known until recently.
director assured me that this review would It won’t happen on its own, though.
happen. The havoc that weather brought Courage and good judgement are needed
also gave the chance to strengthen what to ensure New Zealand avoids a return to
was already a solid friendship between tourism orthodoxies that leave trails of
recreationists and the Milford Road Alliance, environmental and social wreckage, and at
whose leaders went out of their way to the same time, steers clear of re-treads of
ensure the outdoor community got suitable other dinosaur activities – or indeed, any
access as soon as possible. new enterprises – that are corrosive to
But climbers and trampers had only conservation, recreation, and the common
just returned to State Highway 94 when good generally.
a different kind of storm hit, this time As an aside, in my last column, I referred
engulfing the globe. The coronavirus to kōrero I’d had with the Parliamentary
Covid-19, at the time of writing, had frozen Commissioner for the Environment’s
international tourism for an indeterminate office on re-wiring tourism. A suggestion
period, and even temporarily halted I didn’t report was the only partially-
backcountry recreation. Like February’s flippant proposal that Aotearoa become a
westerly deluge, its aftermath presents destination that makes a prideful virtue of
a chance, albeit on a far expanded scale, inconvenience for genuine sustainability’s
to properly evaluate what New Zealand’s sake: for example, by insisting on public
been doing with respect to conservation, transport use; or by anchoring tourist ships
4 June 2020 | Backcountry
offshore and tendering passengers; or by As people return to New Zealand’s wild
eliminating single-use plasticised food lands, it’s with the perspective gained from
containers and utensils in favour of multi- contemplation and exploration of backyards,
thousand-use ones that require the user to neighbourhoods, and books; from the chance
sit down and spend time. Of course, it would to see a World in a Grain of Sand.
impact on everyone here, too. There’d be no
harm. If I was just partially glib in that pre- General election 2020 - KiwiShare
Covid time, I’m less so now. When Covid-19 roared in with world-
At the time of writing, DOC was consulting changing fury, I took a step back to look at
FMC very well on most aspects of possible FMC’s draft KiwiShare election campaign,
post-Covid conservation and recreation which had been formulated late in 2019.
works; this has included asking for our views Affirming not only the campaign, but the
on an enormous multi-organisation, nature- durability of FMC’s kaupapa, it stands up
based package. Despite my queries, however, well – very well. Indeed, a happy own goal
it has remained unclear what extraordinary is that it seems large parts of KiwiShare
processes might be used to fast-track will be adopted before the campaign is even
projects. Proposals need to be measured launched, as the Government and DOC are
early and honestly, against legislation and keen on many of its points for post-Covid
plans, and by people with strong knowledge recovery. It’s a campaign for this time – and
bases – and decision makers need to have for all times.
the courage to say ‘no’ if necessary. History KiwiShare is about our place; if not a World
spells this out in big font: where proposals in a Grain of Sand, then a World in Aotearoa
are driven politically and don’t go through New Zealand. It’s about genuinely fostering
the usual approval systems – for instance, outdoor recreation for Kiwis; getting proper
that zombie project, the Oparara tourism protection for the land, including certain
development – it can be hard to kill them parks’ creation, linking public lands in
off, no matter how poor they might be. I’ve meaningful ways, conservation growth
written to Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis, and actual sustainability in recreation, and
Infrastructure and Regional Economic building DOC’s capacity in line with the
Development Minister Shane Jones, and importance of its role.
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, urging Built into KiwiShare are mini-campaigns.
that post-Covid projects be properly, even if Check out our proposal for a Wild Rivers park
rapidly, scoped. on the South Island West Coast (www.fmc.
Decisions made at this time should not be org.nz/advocacy/rivers). The land, presently
a cause for regret. Future New Zealanders mostly in stewardship, is bursting with
should admire their farsightedness, and be beautiful life, and the wildness of the rivers
thankful for them. running through it is real – rare, and in need
Meanwhile, following the heavy weather of of protection. Look, also on www.fmc.org.
the early 2020s summer and autumn, the dawn nz, at our proposal to affirm the status of
holds promise. I hope that the hills are open unformed legal roads and to put the Walking
again by the time this Backcountry reaches you. Access Commission in charge of them. As
Out there, things will likely have changed in our campaign says, these roads are roads, as
the absence of humans, especially where the much as State Highway One is a road.
footprint of our species has been overbearing. Northerners will note that, along with
The chance to embrace the challenges and calling for an ‘upped ante’ on Auckland
delights of Southwestern Te Waipounamu recreation, the campaign pushes for proper
under clean, quiet skies has special allure. resourcing of kauri dieback research. That’s
June 2020 | Backcountry 5
‘resourcing’ in all relevant ways, including the launch we plan for 19 June; your club will
intellectual. Such provision needs to be receive information about this.
sufficient to determine what the issue’s
scope is, and isn’t, and to allow all academic Department of Conservation
and related needs to be met. It’s time to get Meetings with DOC have been ramped
this one right. up from monthly to weekly to keep pace
As I wrote this column, it was uncertain with the quick-changing circumstances.
whether KiwiShare could be printed because Reflecting the physical realities of shutdown,
of Covid-19 restrictions; if not, it’ll be and the general refocus that Covid-19 has
available online. Meanwhile, at the centre of forced, there have been some changes to
this Backcountry is a four-page insert based the substance of the kōrero. But the primary
on the campaign’s issues; it can be pulled change is, actually, the tempo of our
out and used as a starter for questions for relationship and what it’s achieving. FMC
politicians. It remains to be seen whether the is asking for answers and action on long-
Government and DOC will leave any part of standing issues and other matters and, in this
our campaign unadopted. If they run with the Covid-energised milieu, to a large extent,
lot, it’ll be a problem I’m delighted to own. we’re getting them. For instance, attention
Regardless, there’ll be plenty to celebrate at has turned to gazetting the southern Rakiura
Looking north and east from the southern edge of Fanthams Peak to Mt Taranaki, at sunrise. The shadow of Mt
Taranaki is far left Photo: Peter Laurenson, www.occasionalclimber.co.nz
6 June 2020 | Backcountry
wilderness area; a push on maintenance of there are several reasons. Overseas travel
family-friendly tracks is likely; and there’s options are now readily available online; the
genuine willingness to look at issues such expectations of people choosing group travel
as the potential to work with councils and abroad, relating to standards and liabilities,
the Walking Access Commission on basic have changed in the 28 years since the FMC
formation of certain unformed legal roads, Travel Club began; in June 2019, FMC adopted
and at eliminating capital asset charges on a Recreation Transition campaign aimed at
huts. These join a raft of other issues FMC making environmental sustainability gains,
is working through with the Department. Of a goal largely imcompatible with flight-
course, the proof of the pudding lies in its dependent overseas travel; and Travel Club
eating, but for now, I can say that FMC and convenor John Dobbs planned to retire
backcountry recreation are being served well within the next year. Covid-19 has now
by the Department of Conservation. made the remaining trips scheduled for
2020 unviable. I sincerely thank John for
FMC Travel Club his smooth running of the Travel Club and
At its March meeting, the executive decided financial contributions to FMC over more
to wind up the FMC Travel Club (read than two decades.
more in the Travel Club section). In brief,
June 2020 | Backcountry 7
Health and safety, again I know they will continue to support our
I have expressed cautious optimism that work. I welcome new executive members
our nation is taking a turn for the better – Allan Brent (Christchurch), Norm Judd
that is, for realism – on health and safety. (Auckland), Lauren Kelley (Blackball), and
It’s a big ship to steer, but a post-Covid Tony Walton (Auckland).
focus on outdoor recreation could lend some Additionally, I want to pay tribute
energy to the task. As I said in an earlier to former FMC executive member and
Backcountry article, ‘The Risks of Risk-free’, continued stalwart Mike Floate, who passed
attempts to keep people from immediate away recently. Mike was devoted to the
harms, by making nature less natural and outdoors. He was also an expert in high
encouraging passivity, can create other, country ecology. His fieldwork and writing
more insidious risks. My feeling is that this relating to Crown pastoral tenure reviews
has been increasingly understood where were of the highest quality and effectiveness,
such understanding matters. A few months and his advocacy for backcountry recreation
back, the Government’s road safety approach was fierce.
subtly shifted direction to one which works
within the knowledge that accidents will Patron
happen. Stats NZ has embraced FMC’s offer Your club will have received an invitation
to contribute to its wellbeing indicators. And to a General Meeting, to be held prior to
DOC’s in-development work to exorcise our election campaign, Covid-19 willing.
silliness from its approach to visitor safety Doubling down on the festivity of the
is promising. launch, the meeting’s purpose is to elect
Having said that, the Department has Les Molloy as FMC Patron. With a lifetime’s
installed scorn-inducing ‘boil water’ notices fruitful dedication to conservation and
at huts and campsites. Mousy, officious recreation, and known to many as the Father
offspring of the building code, such notices of Wilderness, Les was already a figurehead
in the backcountry will likely cause some for FMC. I’ll be delighted to formalise that.
people to carry and use too much fuel, may August’s Backcountry will contain a profile of
lead to gastro own-goals caused by mass Les.
ignoring, and are unnecessary; in the end,
anyone who has the competence to reach These new dawns
backcountry huts in one piece probably has Traversing autumn in Covid shutdown,
the nous to check for dead possums on their New Zealanders watched numerous dawns.
roofs (and if not, could likely benefit from Perceptions of space, time, and life’s
salutory lessons). ordinary things shifted. Splendour will have
been found, by many people, close to home.
Departures and arrivals Unlike the daybreaks of the shutdown
I wish to pay tribute to departing long- period, dictated as they were by
standing executive members Phil Glasson meteorological actuality, there’s much
and Pat Holland. Both have shouldered about future eastern skies that FMC can help
substantial roles, Phil largely in finance and determine. And much of what we paint into
constitutional matters, and Pat as Top of the that horizon will be simple, and quiet, and
South convenor, among other things. They local.
leave FMC in good stead. I also sincerely Ka kite anō au i a koutou.
thank expressions committee convenor
Crystal Brindle, and Alan Grant, Stu Hutson,
and Enda Walsh for their contributions;
8 June 2020 | Backcountry
FMC MOUNTAIN & FOREST TRUST
Photo: Mitchell Everly, FMC Individual Supporter
Can you spare a few dollars
for those who will follow
in your footsteps?
The FMC Mountain & Forest Trust exists to support research,
instruction, facilities and publications that enable mountain
recreation and conservation. It also supports the
FMC expedition scholarships.
To donate, apply for funding or learn more
visit www.fmc.org.nz/fmc-trust
Noticeboard
school students. Visit www.mountainfilm.nz
FMC NEWS or www.fmc.org.nz/members-area/nzmff/
FMC Youth Award Grant to register for the free school films.
These cash grants have been made available
with the support of the Maerewhenua Trust Enter the 2020 FMC Photo
to assist young people in achieving youth competition
awards, such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s FMC encourages those clubs that haven’t
Hillary Award and Venturer Awards. participated to have a go in 2020. This year
Applications normally close on 15 March, a special prize will be awarded, the winning
June, September and November, but with club drawn at random from entries.
the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, We also encourage all clubs and their
please visit our webpage for the latest members to delve into old photo albums,
information on the scheme. www.fmc.org. and enter those classic shots in our ‘historic’
nz/youthawardgrant category.
We’ve created helpful resources for ‘How
NZ Mountain Film Festival – free to run a photo competition’, including ways
films for schools to do it completely online, and are happy to
FMC support means a selection of the best provide advice and assistance to clubs.
films from the festival are available FREE for Entries close on 1 September 2020 forIndividual supporters, and 15 September but we usually don’t spend all our budget.
2020 for Clubs. Visit www.fmc.org.nz/ We hope to see a few more clubs applying
photo-competition/ for full details and links for funding, to give their local backcountry
to those resources. infrastructure a bit of a hand.’
The next round closes at the end of August,
Regional leadership courses a visit www.backcountrytrust.org.nz for more
success information. As well as the funds, the Trust
Two courses ran in Waikato and Wellington can connect you with people who have the
in March this year, while a third in Southland skills to help you out, both for planning and
unfortunately had to be cancelled due to with practical work in the field.
Covid-19. FMC was pleased to have assisted
these courses, and is looking at how to build PUBLICATION NEWS
on the success, and help others to follow Fording for everyone
suit. Fording rivers and streams is an essential
part of the fabric of our backcountry
HUT NEWS adventure. Trampers, climbers, hunters, and
Next Backcountry Trust funding anyone else interested in good fording, can
round find my report Fording for Everyone on the
Grants manager Rob Brown says ‘We’ve had FMC Wilderlife site www.wilderlife.nz/in-
a number of clubs involved in great projects, the-mountains/river-crossing.
This new version of research I carried out
ten years ago is now revised, shortened and
rearranged.
The new fording method is given
prominence and I urge readers to consider
trying it out and benefitting from its obvious
advantages. Light, cheap, floatable, seven
millimetre diameter, polypropylene rope,
and tape instead of harness, make it an
accessible, easily learned routine.
I discuss what we carry in our hands, the
pros and cons of sticks, metal or wood, and
ice axes.
I found the coroners’ reports on drownings
in the backcountry to be of inestimable value.
These have been retained in the new version;
we need not repeat the mistakes of the past.
The new two-rope routine was tested
independently by two groups, one in the
North Island and the other in the South
Island, both with success.
Brian Wilkins, NZ Alpine Club
Rob Brown, Manager of BCT (left) and a dedicated
volunteer crew restoring Toka Biv in the Ruahine Range
Photo: Peter Laurenson, www.occasionalclimber.co.nz
11Letters
Attitudes Waikaremoana not so ‘great’
‘I missed the bus’ – ‘The bus left without Two buddies and I are knocking off the great
me’, one comment I often hear from rural walks (GWs), one per year. We started this
children upon a school bus, the other from eight years ago with the glorious Milford
young adults in the city. No one denies either Track. Stunning as it was, we had maybe
the ‘right’ to be on the bus. It is not one’s underestimated how challenging it was
race, creed, or affiliation to a group that going to be. Nevertheless, we continued and
fully identifies one, but one’s personality. we got to number eight last February 2019 –
Many farmers are in the process of audits Waikaremoana.
by Worksafe NZ for Health and Safety. This We chose GWs as we are ladies of a certain
process is time consuming and costly. While age and required a degree of reassurance,
at a special event held on a high-country not wishing to be in complete wilderness.
station to raise money for a local school, Although absolutely stunning, as are all
the subject was raised by many farmers, of the great walks, Waikaremoana left us a
public access to farms being a problem with bit saddened. Below is a list of issues which
the attitude from some people of ‘it is my really didn’t fit with our previous seven GW
right’ with no thought of ‘with this right experiences.
I also have a responsibility’. The general yy Not run by DOC. No rangers in any of the
consensus from the farmers was that ‘even huts we stayed in. On our second night
though I may not be legally liable, I don’t no others in the hut at all. Very lonely.
want the hassle of having to deal with them’. yy No water (cardboard sign advising to use
What one does off farm will determine if one lake water). Luckily we had our gas and
is wanted on a property. stoves.
On a day trip to Woolshed Creek Hut in yy Dirty huts, discarded empty food
the Mount Somers area, a family was in containers; nobody had swept or cleaned
residence and the children wanted to sleep before leaving.
outside. Their parent’s response was ‘We yy Toilets were nothing short of disgusting,
have paid for these tickets and it is our right to the point we just couldn’t use them.
that you have a bunk for the night’. In the We had never seen so many blow flies.
days of the old musterer’s hut, many were yy Pick-up last day was two pm, not enough
happy to give up a bunk to those who needed time for an enjoyable walk. No later pick-
it most. Now, a booking system is required. up option for slower walkers.
The parent was quick to put the blame on yy We had never seen so many possums.
DOC if their children were to become sick They were everywhere. 1080 drops
due to a long-drop toilet. essential here if native birds are to have
At a gym two children were playing on all any chance at all.
the equipment while both parents had eyes We did contact iwi and were advised it would
on cell-phones, also with ear phones in. be put up for discussion at a meeting, but we
Safety? Rights? never heard back.
Hopefully much of this has been rectified
Sharon Boulton, farmer and Geraldine and people are having a more enjoyable
Tramping Club member
experience. If not, we very much hope that
local iwi will make efforts to improve this
beautiful walk for others’ enjoyment.
Hazel Aughton, Cambridge Tramping Club
12 June 2020 | BackcountryQuiz master called to task Editor’s reply
Dearie me I do like a challenge, but that Thank you Kathy for your letter pointing out,
quite rightly, that I shot myself in the foot with
last Backcountry quiz was full of, shall we be
the image featured. After some more digging
corny and say, New Frontiers! (By only page I learned that most (but not all) kayaks are
13 it wasn’t apparent that most answers covered and some canoes are sat in rather than
were to be found in later articles.) I started knelt in. It seems the most obvious distinction
well, two from two, guessed well for three, is the kayak’s twin blade paddle. Could it be
then faltered. But I do query number four. time for a new name for some vessels - the
‘kaynoe’?
If indeed you kneel in a canoe with a single
paddle, and sit in a kayak with a twin-blade
paddle then what, pray tell, is that boat in Although the Backcountry
the photo on the quiz page? Please take this shows which club a
correspondent belongs
in the light hearted manner it is meant – the
to, views expressed in the
latest Backcountry has been full of absorbing letter do not necessarily
reading in which to engage during lockdown. reflect those of the club.
For the best letter, a 2021
Kathy O, FMC individual supporter Backcountry Huts calendar
courtesy of Potton and
Burton publishing (www.
pottonandburton.co.nz) goes to Kathy Ombler.
This one is definitely a kayak! On East Waikaia River Photo: Zak ShawRemembering A tribute to Arnold Heine, FMC Patron
GEOFF SPEARPOINT, HVTC They stayed true to that vision. From
ongoing trapping programmes in the
On Saturday 15 February 2020, I joined Jan Eastbourne hills and planting on Matiu/
Heine, other members of the Heine whānau Somes Island to more wide ranging
and close friends at the original family volunteer work with DOC around the country
farm in Supplejack Valley, Upper Moutere. and offshore. It is exemplified in the FMC
We were there to say farewell to Arnold, a Bulletin 112 editorial for March 1993. Arnold
sparkly-eyed man who had influenced so wrote, ‘The summer has come and gone –
many people, and also to place his ashes and I spent most of it away from Wellington;
a small plaque at the base of a large redwood hut maintenance and botanising in Nelson/
tree. The tree had been planted by the family Marlborough, kākāpō supplementary
in the same year Arnold was born, and was feeding on Little Barrier Island and then the
one he had a special affinity with. His sister Chatham Island pigeon project in January.
Marie is buried close by under the same tree, It always amazes me to continually find
with a similar memorial plaque. these new places to explore and appreciate
An excellent obituary for Arnold, written in the lesser known places of New Zealand.’
by Les Molloy, was published in the last Many have been inspired by their practical
Backcountry. A full obituary also appeared in example.
the 2019 NZAJ. In this article I simply want to Exploration was a major theme throughout
pay a personal tribute to a friend and mentor Arnold’s life. When, as a freckly 16 year old I
who was in many ways a second father first visited Jan and Arnold’s house in Brook
to me. And not just Arnold. I also want to Street Lower Hutt, to have dinner with
honour a similarly remarkable woman. Jan them before tramping club, I walked into a
has been an equal partner on most of their house with floor to ceiling book cases full
adventures, and many of those enterprises of the most wonderful narratives. Not just
would have struggled or failed without her adventure stories, and exploration classics,
support. but also scholarly histories and studies about
Arnold grew up in Supplejack Valley, Central Asia, Antarctica, everywhere remote.
and in latter years he and Jan were able to Shipton, Shackelton, and books like The
purchase some land with a stream through Mountain World, and Fosco Maraini’s Where
it that was part of the original farm. Here Four Worlds Meet. It was truly inspirational,
they planted hundreds of flax, shrubs, and and I can still see those shelves in my mind’s
trees they had grown from seed, in their own eye.
restoration project. The wider Heine whānau Books were a major part of Arnold’s life,
still own farmland adjacent. and something he never lost the love of.
Voluntary conservation work and Visiting his house in Brook Street and later
protecting native species were essential Kotare Road in Day’s Bay it became very
themes for the Heines for much of their lives. clear, looking at the stacks piled up in the
Almost fifty years earlier they set up the Hutt living room, that a weak spot for books had
Valley Conservation Society to look after the allowed the books to take over the house
regeneration of natives and fight fires on the somewhat.
Eastern Hutt hills. In 1970 Jan had written, With such a love of books it’s not surprising
‘…we…must undertake to teach children and that Arnold set up the FMC book order system
other adults the ideals of conservation and through the Bulletin, and reviewed many
to show them that conservation is a way of outdoor books in it. Looking back through
life.’
Arnold Heine carrying his food and gear up onto the Sealy Range, en route to Mueller Hut to be hut warden (with
Jan) for a week. February 2007. Arnold was 81 Photos: Geoff Spearpoint
June 2020 | Backcountry 15those reviews I am struck by just how many
reviews he did and their perceptiveness,
fairness and encouragement.
Books also took them inside other people’s
explorations across the globe, so it is also
not surprising that, when opportunity arose,
they embarked on their own journeys to
some of those far off places. To Kashgar
and the foothills of Kongur (7,719 metres)
in the early 1980s, Eastern Europe in the
early 1970s, a circuit around Mt Kailash in
western Tibet in 1997 with friends John and
Diane McKinnon for instance.
In typical Arnold and Jan fashion the
journeys often fitted in with visits to friends
like Bob McKerrow, who worked for Red
Cross in far flung places such as Almaty in
Kazakhstan. Such was the case in 1998 when
Arnold followed the Karakoram Highway
to Pakistan, and later visited Tashkent,
Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. The rich
history of these places filled many books on
their shelves back home.
In another exploring life, this time
in Antarctica, Arnold was part of some Arnold at his home in Days Bay, with the rope he used
significant long-range traverses in the late on many transalpine trips in the Southern Alps
1950s and 60s, journeys to places never
previously explored, where his engineering December 1969 built Asgard Hut at 1,300
resourcefulness was essential to keep the metres on the Asgard Range, above the
party moving and able to carry out their Dry Valleys. From there, Arnold and Ken
scientific work. Gousmett climbed Mt Obelisk (2,200
He was also instrumental in the metres). I had the good fortune, in 1985, to
establishment of Vanda Base, and in stay in this little A-frame hut myself, and
with John Alexander, Vanda Base leader,
From left: Arnold, his brother Bernard, Jan Heine, and also climb Mt Obelisk. I went south but once.
Anne Hall at Bernard’s house on the farm at Supplejack
Valley, Upper Moutere. April 2009 Arnold spent about 16 seasons in Antarctica.
During the 1950s Arnold led a series of
wonderful exploratory transalpine journeys
into places in the Southern Alps that have
also become dear to my heart. The Wilberg
Range, the Garden of Eden and other places
further south, such as O’Leary Pass, the Five
Fingers Range in the head of the Arawhata
Valley and the Olivines. Many of them
involved traverses that had not previously
been done, such as the traverse from the
Derivation Névé in the head of the Joe River
and across the Thunderer Glacier to the
16 June 2020 | BackcountryOlivine Ice Plateau. his wise words. He was a guy who touched
Enthusiasm for these remote places came many of us, and we all felt uplifted for it.
through in his photo albums, and I had the Deafness plagued his later life, making it
great privilege of sitting with him recounting harder for him to participate, and that was a
trips and places. No wonder I became real frustration to him, but he enjoyed social
captured by transalpine trips. I joined many occasions.
trips Jan and Arnold were on. In the 1990s Arnold understood the cogs of politics very
they came from a tough trip in the Okuru well, and there is a lot we can learn from
to join us on a trip along the coast from the his style. He wasn’t interested in winning
Cascade River to Big Bay. Naively, I expected battles, with their implications of winners
the travelling to be at a relaxed pace after and losers. Instead, he remained focussed
their Okuru experience. Not a bit of it. I found on beneficial outcomes for conservation and
myself having to work hard to keep up! protecting opportunities for New Zealanders
Arnold always made an effort to keep on their public conservation lands.
in contact, was a good networker and his The breadth of Arnold’s interest in the
collaborative approach on trips was strongly outdoors is nowhere better illustrated than
valued. He enjoyed a good discussion on any in the features that appeared in the FMC
topic, and I was constantly surprised by the Bulletin during his tenure as editor. He was
lateral thinking he would bring to a subject, interested in, and got involved in everything,
offering new insights, and many appreciated including ski patrol, instruction manuals,
national and forest park legislation and
Arnold at Round Hill during an August 1983 pre-
management, Mountain Safety Council, first
Antarctic training course Photo: Colin Monteath
aid, avalanche awareness, advocating for
wilderness, public access, and the protection
of conservation lands. But it was all the extra
little things that made me realise the full
scale of his interest. A camera users’ survey,
melanoma awareness, kea and kākā surveys,
an explorers’ corner …
In the end I found myself throwing my
hands in the air trying to cover it all. It is
just too broad. From all these wide interests
of his came a desire to protect our flora,
fauna, and conservation lands and inspire
New Zealanders to explore, whatever their
circumstances, our mountain lands. As it
should be, the last word is Arnold’s.
In the first Hutt Valley Tramping annual
magazine in 1966, Arnold, who was then
club president, wrote,
‘I think the mountains have a part to
play – those of us who travel in them, gain
something very precious and not easily lost.
It is a way of life which will draw many in the
years to come – let us encourage it in every
way we can.’
June 2020 | Backcountry 17Remembering
Jim and the Routeburn
MIKE SCOTT, GOLDEN BAY ALPINE AND
TRAMPING CLUB
Jim Gilkison first crossed the Routeburn
Track in 1928 with his father (author of
Early Days in Central Otago) and they ate
oatmeal. Half way down the zigzag above
Lake Mackenzie the track finished at a pile
of picks and shovels left by the men who’d
been working on the track and had dropped
them when they went off to the first War.
Jim told me this.
The Track clearly made an impression
on him, because in 1968 he left his job as
accountant at Radiation Ltd in Dunedin to
test the viability of operating a guided walk
over the same route he and his father had
walked 40 years before.
I first met Jim in Queenstown in 1971 when
Jim, with Ton Snelder and another tramping companion,
I applied for a job as a guide on his newly on their first Routeburn trip in February 1969 Photo:
established walk. I’d just finished building Snelder family
a house in Queenstown and was looking
for further employment. It was Sunday, all riverbed, then waiting at the Glenorchy jetty
the shops were closed (remember this was for Harry Bryant to bring his boat across the
Queenstown’s prehistory) and all I had to lake head from Kinloch, when he saw the bus
eat that evening was cabbage and an egg. arrive. The Dart bridge came later, in 1974.
I had boiled the cabbage, placed a poached Once at Kinloch you waited while Harry got
egg on top and was about to embark on my one of his open-top Bedfords going (with
meal. Jim knocked, walked in the door with .303 under the seat in case you saw a deer)
his partner Ton Snelder, looked at what I and for Connie, his wife, to produce scones
had in front of me and said to Ton ‘well, he for morning tea, which the group consumed
can cook anyway’. at ‘Harry’s Lodge’ at the beginning of the
My interview consisted solely in his Track.
discovering that my parents had played Harry had built the Lodge for the big groups
tennis with Jim’s brother. Avalanche of day trippers who, in days gone by, 600 at
training, first aid or survival skills weren’t a time, had come up the Lake in the Earnslaw
mentioned. And he already knew I could to be bussed by Harry to the beginning of the
cook. Jim’s methods were old school – I was Track. The lodge was built of bush timber,
right for the job. had all the character of ‘the old days’ and so,
The Routeburn in those days meant going of course, DOC later designated it unsafe or
by bus up the Lake on a road like the Dart insanitary or something, and demolished it.
18 June 2020 | BackcountryHarry made tea in a four-gallon kero tin like porridge, he revered it. over the fire in the Lodge, Connie’s scones The huts, one at Routeburn Falls and one were eaten and the group of 12 punters at Lake Mackenzie, were built as lightweight were lined up, introduced, and told what to kitsets in Dunedin then choppered in to expect in their four days on the Track. First their respective sites by Don Spary of the night at the Falls, second and third at Lake then fledgling Alpine Helicopters, and Mackenzie, then out to the Divide. reassembled. They had two bunkrooms of Jim (great grandson of James Hogg, also six bunks each, and if there was a full party known as the Ettrick Shepherd, the Scottish of 12, the guides slept on the floor. A small poet and novelist) was about 65 at the time, dining room, smaller shower room, and tiny was one of the founding members of and storeroom completed the design. The guides had been an instructor with the NZ Alpine stayed with each party from the beginning of Club, and had a variety of wise suggestions the trip until the end and generally the mood to offer as you plodded along. ‘Start off slow, was convivial and often hilarious. and get slower’ was one I remember, and When the evening meal was over and Jim another was ‘never rope yourself to someone was with the party, he’d sit at the head of the you haven’t been on three un-roped climbs table with what looked like a glass of water with’. but wasn’t, and recount tales from his past. He had a number of sheltered spots along ‘I was holed up in a tent with Harold Service the track, under a leaning rock usually, on Earnslaw waiting for the weather to clear. where he liked to poke dry firewood, in case I carried a barometer in those days. After a of emergencies. Jim’s Scottish background bit Harold said to me – Jim, I do wish you’d made him resourceful, canny and frugal. stop tapping that thing, it’s not making the If there was a cupful of porridge left over slightest difference to the weather’. from breakfast, he would carefully package Or the time he was in the old Routeburn it and carry it to the next hut. His Scottish Flats hut on a particularly cold night when ancestry showed with oats – Jim didn’t just his sleeping bag wasn’t up to the task. All Jim and a tramping companion gazing down the Hollyford Valley Photo: Government Tourist Organisation
he could find in the hut to add as another sorts of conditions, and the general tenor
blanket was a detached door which he of the place was one of bonhomie and high
managed to manoeuvre on top of himself. spirits.
Jim wasn’t a handyman but he’d gathered 1928 must have been a good year because
around him some old friends who’d come up that was also the year Harry Bryant started
on the track at the beginning of the season running his buses from Kinloch up to the
to do repairs; check the two way radio beginning of the Track. Over the years he
and fix the bits of the aerial the keas had had developed a commentary delivered over
dismembered over winter; adjust the water a crackly intercom and peppered with Harry
supply, which was usually full of gravel; jokes, the effect of which on the passengers
and empty the long drop ready for the next in the back he would check in his rear-
season. Harold Service, Bob Rickman, and view mirror. In honour, I suppose, of Sandy
Jack Richardson were regulars. Bob was Powell, British radio comedian of the 1930s,
particularly useful for shovelling out the he would always begin with ‘Can you hear
longdrop since he had no sense of smell and me mother’ (Crackle, crackle, big grin. Check
smoked roll-your-owns. Once he’d filled the rear vision mirror).
the 44 gal drum with last season’s goods ‘Those there are Paradise ducks. The one
(the temperature never got high enough for with the white head is the female. They’re
decomposition) a chopper would lower a the ones that make all the noise. Just like
strop and whisk the load away somewhere people.’
out of the Park. The backwash from the ‘I started driving buses up here in 1928
chopper’s blades on the open drum was an and never had a licence. They didn’t get this
uncomfortable hazard for the man (Bob) on far.’
the bottom end of the strop and accidents If the timing was out or a muffler came
were only amusing to those off to one side, loose, Harry’s tool kit was spread up the
while Bob rushed into the hut to rinse out his road beside remembered fenceposts.
mouth and eat chocolate biscuits. ‘The mountains on our right are the
Jim lived in Dunedin but had a crib in Humboldt mountains. They have goats but
Queenstown on the side of Queenstown Hill, no deer. The mountains on our left are the
which became the guides’ accommodation Ailsa mountains. They have deer but no
and was most aptly named The Shack. It was goats.’
a tiny rustic building, probably a post-war In 1974 the Dart bridge was built, Harry
condemned Ministry of Works hut, with a was pleased to retire, and the ambience of
heavy lean to the east. Plates were inclined the valley changed forever.
to slide off the table and when using the More than anything, Jim wanted to show
stove, pots could only be partially filled or others the country he loved and he did it from
they’d overflow into the cupboard. There his heart and with his traditional values.
was a gigantic 12 pointer red deer’s head Those mountains to him were a certain sort
over the sink which Jim had got at an auction of sacred. To me he was Gentleman Jim.
and which dropped detritus into the cooking Jim died in 1998 and The Track, now
when the door slammed. Jim wasn’t a do- sold, upscaled, packaged and promoted is,
it-your-selfer so Bob installed a shower and for better or for worse, world renowned. I
we got rid of the bee hive in the wall. Jim’s sometimes wonder which way Jim is rolling
bedroom was another tiny hut lower down in his grave.
the section, to which he retired each night
with a glass of water. The guides were often
students from Dunedin and so used to these
20 June 2020 | BackcountryRemembering
Dr Mike Floate
DAVID BARNES, FMC
FMC has lost another kaumatua. Mike Floate,
who was on the Executive from 1988 to 2000
and continued to lead much of our high
country tenure review for many years after
that, died in Cromwell in April, aged 85. Mike
moved to New Zealand in 1983 for his work
as a soil scientist. A colleague took him on an
Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club
trip, and he was soon immersed in tramping
Mike in 1987 Photo: Antony Pettinger
culture. As well as serving as the club’s
Chief Guide and President, he was active in work. He was also a member of the Otago
Search and Rescue and the local branch of Conservation Board and heavily involved in
the Mountain Safety Council. When he joined the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust. Mike
the FMC team, his professional background was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in
and his love for the tussock lands of Otago 2009. He is remembered fondly by those
made him a natural fit for the tenure review who tramped and worked with him.
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Leader training: ways for your
club to think outside the square
DAN CLEARWATER, March unfortunately had to be cancelled due
FMC DEVELOPMENT OFFICER to Covid-19 level four restrictions).
We chatted to Matt Conway (Wellington
A healthy club culture is one of the many TMC) who helped organise and run one
great benefits of belonging. Club trips and course. Four mentors from WTMC and
training courses instill and nourish that Tararua TC plus nine aspirant leaders
culture, but as many of us know from our were split into two groups. Each was given
travels, experiencing other cultures allows a couple of ‘checkpoints’ to pass as they
you to bring home new ideas and appreciate tramped on and off track in to Waerenga
your own culture even more. Hut, Orongorongo Valley. Mentors took
This column explores some options for the chance to lead discussions as topics
clubs to access external training, whether presented themselves (navigation decisions,
by going on professional or volunteer-led weather interpretation, group management)
courses, or teaming up with other clubs to plus a staged injury/emergency scenario. It
create your own bespoke training activities. gave each of the aspirant leaders the chance
FMC nudged all our clubs in May 2019 to to build confidence at leading, among peers
consider the latter option, with a suggestion and with a safety net of experienced mentors.
to collaborate to run ‘Regional Leadership Conway said the feedback was really
Development Courses’. With encouragement positive from everyone; participants
and the offer of some funding support from appreciated the low-stress learning
the FMC Mountain and Forest Trust, FMC opportunities, mentors enjoyed passing on
was delighted to hear the recent success of knowledge, and everyone enjoyed the cross-
courses in Wellington and Waikato (a course pollination of ideas across the two clubs
organised by the Southland Clubs in late represented.
Participants at a Wellington Regional leadership development course Photos: Matt Conway
22John MacArthur was a key organiser for Spots on the course are only for members,
the Waikato TC’s event at Pirongia Forest and in short supply, but local NZDA branches
Park Lodge. Their event had eight mentors might be willing to ‘lend’ you an instructor if
and support people, with 14 aspirant leaders your club needs training assistance.
from five regional clubs. The format was You could use the ‘find an instructor’ part
a balance between classroom lectures, of the New Zealand Outdoor Instructors
discussions, activities and outdoor scenarios Association website: www.nzoia.org.nz/
in the nearby bush tracks. instructors-and-guides/find-instructor
Both clubs were very positive about or contact them to place a ‘job ad’ in the
their experiences, and plan to run the association’s weekly newsletter, which
courses again; WTC in spring 2020, and the reaches over 1,200 professional instructors.
Wellington team aims to make it a regular Outdoor education centres are usually
annual event in early March. We hope the set up for school groups, young adults or
success of these events inspires other clubs, corporates, but a number advertise public
who didn’t quite manage to build enough courses, or invite enquiries from groups
momentum this time round, to try again for about bespoke courses. Likewise companies
next spring/summer. which provide guided or facilitated outdoor
To read the full interviews with Matt experiences for youth or young adults often
and John, please visit: www.wilderlife. also run public training courses. Adventure
nz/2020/06/regional-leadership-courses activity companies or independent guides
But you don’t have to create your own usually offer training courses, and some
new course; there are plenty of existing ones are open to the idea of bespoke training for
to choose from! Outdoor Training NZ has clubs. Even just employing a mountain guide
a number of branches around the country, to accompany you on a trip and provide
offering a variety of volunteer-run courses mentoring along the way will be money well
at ‘club prices’. Even if they don’t have a spent.
course which suits your club for content or And finally don’t forget other FMC
timing, you can get in touch with them to affiliated clubs. The next club down the road
see if you could arrange one that does. might have some great courses you could
The NZ Deerstalkers Association runs a ask to participate in, or you could join the
very successful Hunter National Training NZAC who run some great Alpine courses for
Scheme (HUNTS) for its members, covering club members, led by professional mountain
core outdoor skills as well as hunting skills. guides.
To read more about these options, and see
a starting list of organisations to contact,
please visit www.Wilderlife.nz and search
for ‘Where can clubs get external training?’
In the next column, we’ll look at meal
planning for club trips; hints, tips, resources
and anecdotes. As always, we’re on the
lookout for people who are willing to help
us build these resources. If there’s a topic
you’re passionate about, we’d love your
input, or your suggestion for what to cover
next.
dan.clearwater@fmc.org.nz
23Outdoor Community
THE NZDA: A KINDRED ORGANISATION
High above the Wilkin River Photo: Simon Gibson, editor of NZ Hunting and Wildlife
DAN CLEARWATER, From the outside, it is as easy to stereotype
FMC DEVELOPMENT OFFICER hunters being focused solely on shooting
animals, as mountaineers achieving a
Few reading Backcountry would deny that summit, or trampers completing a classic
recreating in New Zealand’s wild places is a track. But we all know the breadth and depth
foundational element of Kiwi culture. There of our involvement in the outdoors goes well
are many different ways to embrace our beyond those memes.
culture, and despite these differences, we’re Hunters generally divide their days
usually more alike than we realise. FMC between off-track travel and observing their
strives to build and maintain constructive environment while looking for quarry: the
and genuine relationships with the kindred actual pressing of a trigger is a brief moment
organisations representing those who show of a trip, and one that doesn’t happen on
their love for these special places in different every journey to the hills. For most, simply
ways. The more that outdoor people can being in the outdoors is the underlying reason
unify to protect the opportunities and places for their trip; the ‘goal’ of hunting an animal
we all value, the more likely we’ll see better is often simply the excuse to get out there.
results over the long term. Many of us know that when you sit quietly
The New Zealand Deerstalkers Association for long enough, the creatures also relax
(NZDA) is one such kindred organisation. and return to their daily business. And so
Founded in Southland in 1937, today the hunters develop a keen and deep interest and
NZDA has around 49 ‘Branches’ comprising appreciation of native fauna and flora. Just
about 8,000 individuals. Similar to FMC, as we laud the achievements and foresight
they have a volunteer-led executive (of six of early FMC forebears such as Vosseler and
members), with two paid, part-time staff Field, so too does the NZDA hold up founding
in support. Each member pays a proportion member Geoffrey Orbell, who re-discovered
of their fee to the National Office, located in takahē in the Murchison Mountains in 1948.
Wellington’s CBD, which devotes its energies Today NZDA members are heavily involved
to advocating for Hunters’ interests. in predator-trapping programmes aimed
24 June 2020 | Backcountryat whio preservation in places like Pureora, as they can accept on the course. Essentially
Kaimanawa and Fiordland, as well as work a formalised backcountry apprenticeship,
to combat wilding pine in the Kaweka. half of the ten-week program is devoted to
More evidence of hunters’ focus and core outdoor skills: participants learn about
appreciation of nature can be found in conservation, public land management
NZDA’s photo competition. Whereas FMC processes, river crossing, navigation, route
has one category for ‘Native Flora and finding and camp cookery, before they even
Fauna’ the NZDA devotes five categories: talk about anything to do with a firearm.
Flora, Game animals, Birds, Mammals and Meanwhile hunters can be found on FMC-
Insects, reptiles and amphibians. affiliated club snow-craft courses, learning
Off-track adventure is a core aspect of crampon and axe skills for pursuing species
the hunting experience. Just take a look at like thar and chamois.
the popular NZ Hunter Adventures show on New firearms legislation may require
TVNZ, where four hunters make a west-east owners to belong to a club in order to hold
crossing of the Garden of Eden, with one rifle a licence; such an influx of members could
between them. Or another episode where pose an incredible opportunity as well as
they begin from Mt Cook village on a trans- significant challenges. Who knows how
alpine route which ends in a packrafting many members this kindred organisation
journey down the Landsborough. If indeed could have in the near future.
the only goal was to shoot animals, then Although there are issues where we
they could certainly choose easier locations. agree to disagree, there is simply more
NZDA sections have long been contributing that we have in common than what we
to the construction and maintenance of choose to differ about. It behoves all of us,
backcountry infrastructure. How many as members of the outdoor community, to
times have you, as a tramper, stayed at a continue to co-operate wherever we can, to
NZDA hut? (or for that matter, a NZFS hut ensure the future of our wild places and the
built for deer cullers, which we proudly tout opportunities to recreate in them.
as part of our internationally unique public
hut network). Written after a chat with Trevor Chappel, NZDA National
President and Don Rood, NZDA media advisor
Surely the Backcountry Trust, co-founded
by NZDA, FMC and Trail Fund NZ can be
seen as one of the strongest commitments
to collaboration over mutual interest? Or
perhaps it is collaborative work with the
Walking Access Commission to secure,
improve and re-open access to the places
that hunters, trampers and other mountain
enthusiasts cherish?
The NZDA thinks hunting is growing in New
Zealand; surveys show that approximately
170,000 of the quarter-million licenced
firearm owners go hunting each year, many
putting ‘free-range, organic’ meat on the
table for their families.
The HUNTS (Hunter National Training Solo Hunter: this picture from FMC’s Safety in the
Mountains booklet illustrates FMC’s acknowledgement
Scheme) is so popular, that in some areas and respect for hunting as an outdoor pastime
they have to turn away three times as many Illustrator: Adele Jackson
June 2020 | Backcountry 25A New Dawn?
Recreation Transition
FMC Executive member Jamie have, and will continue to, play a crucial
Stewart introduces a new role with car-pooling, club buses and other
FMC campaign to encourage climate-friendly practices.
The push for low-carbon recreation
low-carbon recreation infrastructure encompasses the creation of
It has been a while now – pre-Covid-19 and investment in recreational opportunities
(everything pre-Covid seems a while that don’t have high embedded transport
ago) since the FMC Executive approved a costs. How much could carbon emissions
new campaign we have called ‘Recreation be reduced if people from Auckland and
Transition’ to encourage low-carbon Tauranga did a yearly tramp in the Kaimai
recreation. ranges rather than on a distant Great Walk?
FMC has been considering our response to How much carbon emission reduction if
the climate crisis for several years. We have the public money invested in the Paparoa
taken steps to minimise our organisational track had been used instead to develop more
carbon footprint, including the recent mountain-biking opportunities near some
decision to phase out the FMC Travel Club. of our larger centres of population?
But the times demand more of us, so we have
developed this campaign to shape our future From my back door
advocacy, to attempt to impact central and FMC coined #frommybackdoor pre-Covid,
local government thinking and possibly to but events have overtaken us. What a
influence the recreational choices of clubs lesson and opportunity we have all had
and our wider outdoor community. to rediscover our neighbourhoods, and to
FMC recognises that in this instance think about how we can improve our local
we are not leaders, but followers, of many outdoor opportunities. How much could
committed initiatives from clubs and carbon emissions be reduced if more people
individuals in our outdoor community. choose to recreate from their back doors
regularly? Should we apply the ‘recreational
Low-carbon recreation opportunity spectrum’ suburb by suburb,
infrastructure town by town?
There is a need for low-carbon transport Department of Conservation research has
options for people to get to the places shown that the most influential factors in
they love. Dan Clearwater investigates in connecting people to nature are experience
this Backcountry what is possible currently in nature as a child and regular interaction
with electric vehicles. Improved passenger with specific natural places as an adult.
services on railways are also important, Where better to make this happen than
and this government is heading in the right people’s own neighbourhoods? The unkempt
direction – will we see Cantabrians heading gully, the piece of bush locked away between
to Arthurs Pass on the train for a climb and neighbours, the old braid of the river, the
tramp again in our lifetimes? Clubs also swamp on the edge of town.
26 June 2020 | BackcountryYou can also read
