A wrap of the biggest stories and best writing about the outdoors from New Zealand and around the world.
Is the word ‘tramping’ slowly slipping away and being replaced by the word ‘hiking’? That’s the question this article by Stuff asks after research by the Mountain Safety Council.
The organisation looked at the number of times the two words featured in New Zealand-based Google searches over the years and found an interesting trend.
Back in 2012, the word ‘tramping’ was comfortably in front, but the gap closed throughout the decade and now ‘hiking’ has taken over. But is this a trend that’ll continue inevitably, given the words ‘tramp’ and ‘tramping’ mean spectacularly different things in different countries? And do the two words mean different things in any case?
The article speaks to Wilderness roving editor Shaun Barnett, who explains why ‘tramping’ became the dominant term, and points out that there’s nothing new to New Zealanders about ‘hiking’.
The South Island kākā – from ‘functionally extinct’ to thriving
It’s a wonderful thing to bring back a species that would have otherwise gone extinct. And the Project Janszoon team have done just that in Abel Tasman National Park.
As recently as 2015, there were only four male kākā left in the park. The last females would probably have been killed by invasive predators while on their nests, meaning the population was about to die out.
But 35 have since been released into the park and, this year, birds have bred for the first time with two chicks about to leave the nest. Read more at RNZ.
DOC ranger cardboard cutouts to deter visitors from approaching glacier
The signs were already clear at the Franz Josef Glacier viewing spot – don’t go any further, you could die.
But even these signs didn’t stop everyone, with some visitors getting themselves into trouble – a group of tourists who needed rescuing in 2020 being a case in point.
But now a lifesize cardboard cutout of a DOC ranger has been placed at the glacier view spot as an additional ‘stop and think before you do something stupid’ measure.
The ice has retreated to such an extent that the glacier is now only visible in the distance, and the walking track to the glacier was washed away in 2019. Read more at Stuff.
“I don’t know if New Zealanders are more feral without tourists”
The number of complaints to DOC by people staying at its campsites has gone down this year, despite visitor numbers being on the up.
Numbers were up by nearly 30,000 in 2022 compared to 2018 and, despite there still being reports of bad behaviour, such as late night drinking, wheel-spinning and bottle throwing, these instances seem to be on the decline.
DOC says most complaints aren’t recorded because they’re easily resolved there and then, and a regular camper, who wishes to remain nameless, told Stuff that things got a bit worse during Covid border closures.
“I don’t know if New Zealanders are more feral without tourists around or what, but it’s surprising how selfish some folks can be in imposing their bogan idea of a good night out on hundreds of other people.” Read more here.
