New Zealand’s top tramping town

It’s something everyone thinks about at some time or another: where would you rather live? For some people, the answer is ‘right here’. For many others though, and I guess here I’m thinking of those of us who live in cities, deal with traffic congestion, sky-high property prices, noisy neighbours and, worst of all, long drives to get anywhere remotely worth lacing up your tramping boots for. (OK, I’m thinking mostly of Aucklanders), the answer is ‘somewhere else’.

But while my colleagues at Wilderness and I love our office on the edge of the Tamaki River, with the brilliant Rotary Walkway just a jump of the fence away, we can’t help but look with extreme jealousy upon those who live in such tramping wonderlands as Wanaka, Queenstown, Te Anau and Nelson who jump the fence straight into national parks and onto Great Walks.

The team here has debated long and hard about where the ideal place would be to up sticks and move the office, but we’re still a long way from consensus. That’s why this month we’re putting the call out to Wilderness readers to nominate New Zealand’s top tramping town.

We’ve actually done the hard work of drawing up a shortlist, based on proximity to great tramping areas. All you have to do is vote. We’ll run a special feature in an upcoming issue profiling the winning town and runners-up.

To end the office scuffles and arguments, head to our website (www.wildernessmag.co.nz, keyword search ‘tramping town’) to cast your vote.

– Alistair Hall