A wrap of the biggest stories and best writing about the outdoors from New Zealand and around the world.

Students of Lake Rotoiti School in St Arnaud have decided to take a nearby tramping hut under their wing.

As of next year, the primary school’s 23 students will begin maintenance on Beebys Hut, a DOC hut on the edge of the forest park.

The children will clean and maintain the hut’s windows and benches, clean up litter and replace mattress covers.

Principal Mike Allen hopes the children will be able to work on the hut twice a year.

“We’re teaching children how to be socially responsible, and we’re also giving them an opportunity to look after a part of our community that doesn’t get a lot of maintenance done on it,” he said.

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Essential canine rescued from Rakiura

A special ferry service was put on to rescue an injured essential worker on Rakiura.

Gadget the predator detector (featured in Wilderness’ ‘Paw Patrol’ story in 2019) was working on the island during lockdown, when she slipped on a rock and broke her leg.

“I picked her up within a couple of seconds and could see she was very reluctant to put any weight on her foot,” owner Sandy King told Stuff.

With no planes or ferries scheduled that day, a special ferry service was put on to get the nine-year-old jack russell fox terrier to the vet in Invercargill.

King hopes she will be able to return to work after recovery.

“I’ll be easing her into it very gently, with the less physically demanding jobs like advocacy work and school visits,” she said.

Vaccines required at Everest 

Climbers hoping to summit Mt Everest will now be required to be fully vaccinated, officials have announced.

The requirement follows a problematic season, where Covid was introduced to Base Camp and many climbers became ill.

The initial statement made by officials said only fully vaccinated travellers would be allowed to enter the Khumbu region of Nepal, but a later statement said a negative Covid test would also suffice.

Outside writer Kraig Becker said a negative test will not guarantee safety, as travellers may fall ill after their test. He also shared concerns for the availability of tests.

“Getting a PCR test in the Khumbu is likely to prove very challenging,” he said.

Officials claimed 98 per cent of Khumbu residents over 18 have been fully vaccinated.

Guide Lukas Furtenbach said the requirement is a step in the right direction.

“Every requirement or safety protocol that is implemented is good and important since it will help the tourism industry,” he said.

New study links fitness with drinking alcohol

A new study suggests people who exercise are more likely to drink alcohol, but less likely to be problematic drinkers.

Facilitated by a research team at Cooper Institute in Dallas, the study tested 38,000 healthy patients between 20 and 86 years old, and found strong links between alcohol and fitness.

Results showed that those regarded as moderately or highly fit were more likely to be moderate or heavy drinkers.

Researchers suggest results may have been due to the ‘licensing effect’, where people feel the need to reward themselves after doing something good – in this case a beverage after exercise.

Interestingly, the study also indicated that those with higher levels of fitness were less likely to exhibit signs of alcohol dependence.

Read the full story here.