A wrap of the biggest stories and best writing about the outdoors from New Zealand and around the world.
Ladies rejoice: activewear pants allow you to pee discreetly in the wilderness.
Designed by Chickfly, the innovative pants have a stretchy, no-zip fly which can be pulled apart when nature calls.
Outside writer Claire Barber trialled the pants, and was thrilled with the results.
“My success rate was high—I only peed on myself once,” she said.
“Once you’ve practiced using the fly, the process is the same as any time you pee outdoors – find a comfortable place, squat, and go – but it takes half the time. And the major win here is for privacy. You don’t need to pull the pants all the way down to go, and if you’re opening them from the front, your back and sides will be fully covered.”
The pants were initially funded on Kickstarter, and will soon be generally available.
Kiwi runner smashes 100 mile race debut
Wānaka runner Ruth Croft has delivered on her debut 100 mile race (161km), finishing second female at the Western States Endurance Run in California
Finishing ninth overall, Croft made the run in17:33:48, which was 23 minutes behind Beth Pascal, the fastest female, Stuff reports.
“I didn’t really know what was going on ahead of me,” Croft said.
“I was going out super-conservative and doing the basics right, eating every hour and keeping myself cool.”
The race was 60km longer than anything Croft has run before, but she’s experienced wins at the 100km Tarawera Ultramarathon and the 85km Old Ghost Ultra.
Croft got into trail running while living in Taiwan, and is now a professional runner.
Nude sunbathers get lost in Sydney
A pair of nude sunbathers in Sydney have made international news, after they were spooked by a deer and had to be rescued from the bush.
The two men – who were in breach of the state’s lockdown rules – were sunbathing at a beach in Otford’s Royal National Park when a deer sent them hightailing into the bush.
Unable to find their way back, they called for assistance, and were later rescued.
“It’s difficult to legislate against idiots,” NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.
“Clearly putting people at risk by leaving home without a proper reason, and I think then on top of that, getting lost in the national park and diverting important resources away from the health operation, I think they should be embarrassed.”
The men were fined A$1000 for the incident.
Read the full story here.
Glacier town struggling without tourists
Franz Josef is struggling to stay afloat, RNZ reports.
With 80 per cent of its visitors coming from overseas, the flood and earthquake prone town has taken a big hit since border closures, and has lost a quarter of its population of 500.
West Coast Wildlife Centre owner Richard Benton said his business is down 80 per cent on previous years.
“We can only survive going forward if we get outside support,” she said.
“When you lose people you lose your community structure, you lose your plumbers, your electricians, your school teachers, your firemen, your volunteer staff.”
Read the full story here.
Access restricted at Mavora Lakes
Four-wheel-drive access to the north Mavora camping area will now be managed with agate.
DOC has installed a gate on the track to Careys and Boundary Huts as a response to repeated damage, theft and dangerous driving, Otago Daily Times reports.
Visitors will now have to register online to obtain an access code.
“Damage to public conservation land, tracks and structures is never acceptable. Repairs and remediation work takes extra time, resources and funds that would be better spent elsewhere,” DOC’s Grant Tremain said.
