Of Wild and Wonder

22/12/19 - 25/12/19 Party: Torea Scott Fyfe and Maddy Whittaker It was 9pm lying in Rowan's lounge in Wanaka, looking at met vu at the stretch of good weather between us and Christmas. My plans to attempt Aoraki had fallen through, but big peaks were very much still on my mind. I turned to Torea, "How about Sefton?" At 4am the next morning we left for the West Coast. Setting off at the start of the Copland Track at around 9am, a cloud of sandflies chasing us and our 30L packs, which we were trying to pretend were as light as they were small. It's beautiful forest and mostly flat track which made a great backdrop for a good long catch up yarn with Torea. Having both been working with DOC in remote places (Anchor Island and the Haast Ranges) for December, it'd been too long since our last trip together. Despite the immaculate met vu forecast, it rained that afternoon. We flew up Scott Creek, didn't find the start of the Bluewater Track, started bushbas...

27/8/2019 - 1/9/2019 Party: Tanja De Wilde, James Waetford, Torea Scott-Fyfe, Maddy Whittaker, Tom Hadley A collection of memories from a mind blowing place  Driving through rain, stars, excitement and New Zealand.  Sitting in the van drinking tea with new friends, preparing for missions ahead.  Driving through iced puddles, anticipation and clearance both high enough. Looking over the moraine in the morning light, seeing mountains carved by a turbulent yet sluggish river of ice.  Onto the ice, flanked by tumbling ice falls and towering mountains, we felt small as we traveled against the glacier's flow.  In the dark we plugged ahead, is it a star, is it a hut, I didn’t know. We moved past the light, threading our way through dimples of snow.  Water bottles frozen, feeling light headed, feet and shoulders sore. Strange tracks in the snow guided us ever closer with each step.  Finally a red box materialised out of the dar...

Aoraki Mt Cook Resuce Team (Maddy Whittaker) June 2019 Ignorance is bliss huh? Day one was frosty even in the glorious sun. Frozen Hooker Lake, frozen streams, frosty tussock, waterfalls turned into icicles. A wonderfully dynamic land - the awe inspiring Hooker glacier creeping into view, Aoraki rearing up in all its majesty, massive moraine collapses gradually stealing the Ball Pass route away. Prancing joyfully through it all, up to the most incredible campsite up on the Playing Fields. Digging out a pit for our tent beneath the stars, oh so many stars. We had no idea that in 12 hours time we would be activating a PLB. I’ve tried a few times to try and describe what happened but nothing really seems to convey it properly. In short, we were nearing the top of the zig zag and conditions were super icy - I was getting my new sharp front points and sum tec pick in about a cm - can’t imagine how blunt club crampons and walking axes felt. Not everyone in the group felt comfo...

My route - 1400km long The summer I became slightly feral In the summer of 2018-2019, I spent 77 days walking the length of the South Island (1400km), with my journey mainly based around walking the South Island section of the Te Araroa trail northbound. About half of these days were spent on the TA and the other half were spent doing tramps and climbs along the way (essentially used the TA as a pathway to all these places in different national parks which I had wanted to explore). People keep asking me how my trip changed me - who did I become? The answer to that is hiker trash. I became hiker trash. Hiker Trash is a term used to affectionately describe hikers who have sunk to a lower standard of living. Nowhere is it more apparent than in a group of thru-hikers who have been living on the trails for months. However becoming a piece of hiker trash is not an exclusive process. Here is your one stop guide to essentially becoming homeless and not giving a damn: There are thre...