Highways – and byways – for all
Is the conservation estate for everyone or, asks Hazel Phillips, is it only for an elite few? We met Derry Kingston on the Heaphy Track last year. He’s a wiry...
Hazel Phillips
Wardens: friends or foe?
Some hut wardens really turn on the welcome while others make you wish you were anyplace but there We heard about the warden before we met her, from a man...
To tent or not to tent
When dealing with mongrel bush country, be like a good Boy Scout: prepared We were looking for a hut to tramp into over Queen’s Birthday weekend and came across Duckville...
River hopping in the Ureweras
Midway Hut, Te Urewera National Park UPDATE: Midway Hut burnt down in March 2016 We spend Friday night in Rotorua unnecessarily fortifying ourselves with Indian food and good wine before...
It's time to meet the muppets
On the trail, stupid is as stupid does, writes Hazel Phillips He was drinking Drambuie, the 40 per cent alcohol liqueur produced in Scotland and used in drinks with colourful...
Don't leave your manners behind
Just because you’ve tramped into the wop-wops doesn’t mean you have to leave your manners behind The first time I heard it, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d interpreted the sound...
Some like it hot
Sauna-like temperatures are perfect in the middle of winter, but lighting fires in summer? Surely that’s overkill I usually avoid tramping in the summer, or just on the fringe of...
So, where are you from?
Auckland tramper Hazel Phillips finds it’s often best to dance around the question of where you’re from and offer a little white lie from time to time We tramped into...
Mission Impossible
Lower Matakuhia Hut via Upper Matakuhia Hut, Waipunga Forest They said it couldn’t be done, and when someone tells you it can’t be done, you know you want to try....
A slice of Otago high country
Fern Burn Hut, Motatapu Station, Otago The 30km Motatapu Track runs from Arrowtown to Wanaka and forms part of the Te Araroa Trail. An overnight trip from Wanaka to the...
Smashing stereotypes
It’s 2016 so why so why are women who tramp and climb still being treated as less capable than men? I’m a keen skier. Each year, I buy a season...
Bucket list at all costs
Winter conditions make Angelus Hut a difficult proposition – but that doesn’t deter the unwary or ill-equipped Angelus Hut has long been on my hut bucket list. A friend told...
Do your knees a favour
Should you buy a pair of walking poles? Hazel Phillips has some thoughts on that Hi, I’m Hazel and I use walking poles. I’ve said that confession-style, because it is...
All by myself
If your tramping companions aren’t up to the kind of trips you want to do, then you might have to start going solo. Hazel Phillips knows that predicament all too well...
The slippery slope
Sick of the lethal hazards found on Ponsonby Road, Hazel Phillips attends an alpine skills course to help her better manage the steep stuff, whilst also finding a new use...
Nightmare at Architect Creek Hut
Hazel Phillips ponders various tramping nightmare scenarios and then stumbles on a real life example. Have you ever had a tramping nightmare? Not a bad dream, but when everything has...
Get outside without breaking the bank
We all love shiny new gear, but don’t often love its price tag. Here’s how to keep on tramping with the right kit but without busting the bank Kitting yourself...
Searching for snackvana
Hazel Phillips explores a range of tramping snacks that aren’t your usual fare and reaches a higher plane of culinary delights. A one thousand calorie snack. It’s either something that would...
On pace, puff and competitive tramping
Slow and steady wins the race After a lot of tramping recently, and a lot of thinking while tramping, I realised I’ve developed a philosophy of tramping. Say what? It’s...
Can't fight the moonlight
Features, Great Walks, National Parks, Wild Trips
Sometimes the best trips are born out of someone advising you not to do it. I don’t mean in a safety sense – safety is no accident, after all –...
When experience isn't enough
I’m writing this five days after a climber slipped and fell into Crater Lake on Mt Ruapehu. Magesh Jagadeesan, a 32-year-old climber who was well-equipped, experienced, and much-loved by many...
The naked truth
After being caught mid-stream in nothing but her birthday suit, Hazel Phillips ponders the various types of nudity found in the backcountry Close to Hope Kiwi Lodge on the Harper...
An ultra like no other
American Anthony Marra is riding, surfing, climbing and skiing his way down the country, all in the name of a prominent US climber. One day last winter, a man was...
Finding Lake Madness
Things I learned recently about Ruapehu: A plane crashed on the Mangatoetoenui Glacier in 1952, and took 31 years to reappear, 600m from its crash site; the aforementioned Mangatoetoenui Glacier...
Second hand socks and snowy tops
Features, Off the Beaten Track
Tramping can teach you a lot. Lessons I recently learned include: 1) planning a 17-day trip involving significant tops travel in the Kawekas in June is almost certain to have...
There’s no business like snow business
Looking out the window of the ski club lodge on Mt Ruapehu’s Whakapapa side, I eyed up a route I’d been ‘finger tramping’ on the topo map for a potential...
Vasque St Elias
Used by: Blister-free features and trips writer Hazel PhillipsUsed for: 18 monthsCost: $399 The marketing spiel promises ‘out of the box comfort’ and I can’t argue – the St Elias GTX’s...
Cirque softshell pants
Outdoor Research Cirque softshell pants $229.90Used by: Snow addict features and trips writer Hazel PhillipsUsed for: Four years We joke in our ski club that these pants are part of...
Review: Outdoor Research Helium bivvy bag
Outdoor Research Helium bivvy bag $299Used by: Backup-conscious features and trips writer Hazel Phillips Used for: Three years I picked up the OR Helium for a long solo trip where...
The missing mountain man
Features, Off the Beaten Track
If Taranaki were an animal, it would be the Irukandji – a jellyfish, seldom actually seen, whose size is disproportionate to its danger. The Irukandji, according to survivors of its...
Review: Kovea Titanium
Kovea Titanium $99.90Weight: 88gUsed by: Features and trips writer Hazel ‘Masterchef’ PhillipsUsed for: Eight years Eight years ago, I shopped around for a lightweight stove and found the Camp 3...
Review: Salewa Alpinist Step-In Crampons
Salewa Alpinist Step-In Crampons Specs: $259.90, 885gUsed by: Ski-touring features and trips writer Hazel PhillipsUsed for: One year After snapping not one but two strap-on crampons in one season, I...
Review: Lowa Women’s Lavena II
Lowa Women’s Lavena II Details: $679, 1340gUsed by: Features and trips writer Hazel PhillipsUsed for: Three years Having thoroughly wrecked a pair of Lowa Mauria boots over several years, I...