Sparsely vegetated habitats may look like barren wastelands but can support a variety of specialist dryland and riparian flora and fauna species, and be ecologically significant.Photo: Victoria Bruce
Is the Ahuriri Conservation Park an ecological wasteland? For this first-time visitor it certinaly looked so. We took our kids for a long weekend adventure up the Ahuriri River, a girlfriend and I wandering to Hagens Hut where the children revelled in crossing streams, climbing giant boulders and roasting marshmallows over the fire. That was […]
About the author
Victoria Bruce
Victoria is a keen tramper and author of the award-winning book Adventures with Emilie. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Queensland, has written for news agencies at home and abroad, and has held communications advisor roles within the public and private sector. These days she’s freelancing, writing books and spending lots of time outdoors with her daughter Emilie, exploring the rough and rugged mountains of the South Island’s West Coast and beyond.
The 2026 Wilderness Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition
A tale of adventure and tragedy
Mt Peel, Kahurangi National Park
A lofty location for Brass Monkey
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An ecological wasteland
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December 2022
About the author
Victoria Bruce
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Each issue of Wilderness celebrates Aotearoa’s great outdoors — written and photographed with care, not algorithms.Subscribe and help keep our wild stories alive.