A round-up of today's outdoor news, including the German couple who walked SH1 instead of the TA, and New Zealand's favourite hut.
‘Tier Two’ tourism to transform tramping A new government initiative aims to spread the load away from the Great Walks and Te Araroa Trail, in order to minimise the impact on the country’s most popular tracks. The campaign will promote lesser-known alternatives to the Great Walks, with seven tramps to be designated ‘Not So Great Walks’ and marketed to tourists on a budget. A spokesperson for Tourism New Zealand said the tramps would appeal to those keen to get away from the crowds. “It was a tough decision to narrow it down to seven – New Zealand has thousands of not so great walks. We look forward to welcoming intrepid travellers to a couple of pointless mud loops in the Ruahines, a really cold, gorse-infested ordeal south of Invercargill and for the really adventurous we’ve got a not so great walk through dairy country in the Waikato, featuring questionable right of access and a trigger-happy farmer.” According to the spokesperson, a second initiative targets trampers looking for something slightly shorter than the Te Araroa Trail. “Instead of walking the length of New Zealand, why not walk the length of Levin? This is no mean feat, as any hitchhiker who’s been dropped off at one end and had to walk to the other end will tell you.” Cartographers are still checking measurements but it’s estimated the length of Levin will round out to be in the region of 1200km. The campaign starts next summer. [caption id="attachment_84279" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]

