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

Federated Mountain Clubs president Robin McNeill says we should be excited about the plans that are in place for Te Urewera, rather than anxious.

Te Uru Taumatua, the operational arm for Ngāi Tūhoe, who took over management of Te Urewera in 2014, has already started dismantling 48 huts, which it says are rat infested and leaking, to replace with bespoke structures that would help provide a cultural experience closer to Te Urewera.

“Our understanding is they’ve got some enlightened thinking of what new huts and uses of huts will be that’s going to challenge traditional hut users but once they get used to it they’ll be really impressed,” says McNeill.

However, around 200 people recently gathered to protest at the hut removal. Te Kaunihera Kaumatua o Tūhoe, Paki Nikora, of Ngāti Rongo, said part of the community was hurt because it was not consulted.

“It wasn’t just us as Tūhoe who were hurt, it was really the wider New Zealand public if you can see all the faces that are in there. It’s not just going to stop here. How do you actually turn out and ratify something without getting proof that it has been supported by the wider membership?”

Read recent RNZ stories on this here and here. 

“There’s nothing to stop mining in somewhere like Mt Richmond Forest Park”

More protests have been taking place about the government’s apparent reversal of its commitment to stop mining on the conservation estate.

Forest & Bird members demonstrated in Mt Richmond Forest Park to highlight how weak ‘forest park’ status was, after a mining company was given a prospecting permit that encroached on the park.

“There’s nothing to stop mining from occurring in somewhere like Mt Richmond Forest Park,” said Forest & Bird’s Top of the South conservation manager Scott Burnett. “These things happen. There’s coal mining going on in the Victoria Forest Park on the West Coast, and that land has the same conservation status as the Mt Richmond Forest Park.” Read more at Stuff. 

Hydrogen buses, new tracks, cable car – what’s the future for Milford Sound?

There’s a fascinating article on Stuff about how different tourism might look in one of the country’s main attractions. 

Pre-pandemic visitor numbers to the hot spot had nearly doubled in five years to an incredible 883,000 in 2018. Covid reduced numbers by 86 percent, giving us time to think about how to shape the future of tourism when numbers rise again.

A governance group was set up for that very reason, and have proposed having hydrogen or electric buses providing transport to the fiord (foreign visitors would no longer be allowed to drive there).

New accommodation, walking and cycling trails have also been recommended. Cruise ships could be banned from the inner fiord so as not to block views of Mitre Peak, a new eco-hotel might replace the current one, and a cable car could lead to the top of Bowen Falls.

Read the full in-depth article here.

Record Te Ararora Trail numbers this spring

It’s estimated that 3000 walkers are beginning the journey along the full length of Aotearoa.

This is more double the pre-pandemic number, and is despite numerous diversions due to the likes of weather damage and kauri dieback.

After the 3000km trail first opened in 2011, numbers increased steadily to 1200 by the 2018-19 season.

Te Araroa Trust executive director Matt Claridge said that the huge numbers this year are due to border closures during the pandemic, meaning there are now three seasons in one. Read more at New Zealand Herald. 

Eight-year-old climbs El Capitan

An eight-year-old boy has become the youngest person ever to scale one of the most famous and notorious rock faces in the world.

El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, is 914m from base to summit and has been the undoing of many a seasoned climber.

But it didn’t defeat young Sam Baker, who reached the top on Friday evening.

“What an amazing week! I’m so proud of Sam,” his dad Joe posted onto Facebook after the four-day ascent. Read more here.