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

Te Araroa Trust, the organisation that manages New Zealand’s long trail, has redoubled efforts to improve relationships with farmers and landowners while educating TA hikers.

Trail manager Daniel Radford says that in the past, the trust struggled to look after their relationships with landowners due to under-resourcing of staff and the habits of a few wayward trampers.

“We’re trying very hard now, especially with more resources and more regional trust involvement, to foster those relationships because they are incredibly important to us,” he says.

In the early days of the trust, access agreements were signed with landowners, allowing the trust access for Te Araroa. Over time, these agreements have expired after some landowners chose not to renew. This has resulted in loss of access and changes to the trail route. 

Read the full story at Rural News.

DOC warns against walking on a frozen alpine lake in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

Tourists are risking their lives by walking on the frozen-over Hooker Lake and climbing onto icebergs in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, according to the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Sally Jones, DOC’s Aoraki/Mt Cook operations manager, said DOC was surprised to see photos of tourists ignoring the warning signs. “Groups have been seen on the lake on a webcam on Monday and Tuesday [of last week],” Jones said.

“People should stay off Hooker Lake and other alpine lakes when they are frozen over, as the ice can be thin and could give way at any time.”

Jones said visitors were putting their lives at risk by walking on the ice. Read the full story from Stuff.

16 spots to go stargazing in New Zealand

New Zealand has plenty of rural space and dark areas away from light pollution, making it ideal to go star trekking this Matariki weekend.

Astronomy author and journalist Naomi Arnold says these conditions mean New Zealand has some of the darkest night skies on the planet.

“If you have binoculars you might be able to make out the Orion Nebula, a whitish glow. In the southeastern sky, Scorpius is rising, a constellation that dominates our winter sky and will bring with it the galactic core of the Milky Way, a wonderful sight in winter. Many people on the planet have never seen the Milky Way due to light pollution, so enjoy our unique vantage point here in New Zealand,” says Arnold.

The NZ Herald‘s list includes top spots in every region.

Snowpack conditions ‘a little spooky’ as backcountry skiers trigger avalanches daily

The NZ avalanche advisory says backcountry users should be cautious in the mountains after a skier was caught in a small avalanche in The Remarkables ski field.

The 250m wide avalanche carried one skier, who lost gear, but was luckily uninjured. The following day a further two large avalanches were triggered by backcountry users.

In the Queenstown and Wānaka avalanche forecasting regions, an early season persistent weak layer (PWL) has developed.

Queenstown avalanche forecasters Chris Cochrane and Will Rowntree define the avalanche danger in the region as moderate and describe the current snowpack conditions as “a little spooky”.

The current warning is also a good reminder for ice climbers and mountaineers as triggering even a small pocket of wind slab avalanche could result in a fall in difficult terrain, Cochrane says. Read the full story at Stuff.