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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 –...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Mount Cook Village is known for its stunning mountain views, which can be enjoyed from multiple angles and heights, no matter how hardcore a tramper or climber you might be....
Is the humble tramping skirt having a revival? Long-time skirt wearer Hazel Phillips tugs at a thread from the fabric of sartorial history. To climb Aoraki/Mt Cook these days you...