Since Guy Mannering and A. P. Harper first crossed Ball Pass in January 1890, it has become one of the better-known spots in the Southern Alps. We set off…
If refurbished old musterer’s huts are to your liking, along with grand scenery amid the stark beauty of the high country, then Boundary Creek Hut is a winner. The…
Spurred on by wild weather Our trip began with a car journey south from Christchurch through Fairlie and into the big, bare hills of the Sherwood and Ben McLeod…
Fowlers Pass is part of a historic stock route lying between the upper Clarence Valley and Stanley Vale catchment, a feeder of the Wairau River in southern Marlborough. It…
Arthur’s Pass National Park is a wonderful playground in winter. There is plenty of variety from short walks through snow-laden beech trees to hard ice climbing routes in gullies…
Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park is a climber’s paradise, with 19 peaks that extend higher than 3000m and 40 per cent of it glacial terrain. The park lacks tracks and…
Deep in the Southern Alps, Godley Hut has one of the best alpine views in the country, looking out to the terminal lake of the Maud and Grey glaciers,…
Boasting New Zealand’s highest peaks, expansive skies, turquoise lakes, dynamic glaciers and braided rivers, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park is a mecca for climbers wishing to scale high mountains. But…
The Craigieburn Range provides ample opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts. Boasting five ski fields and 12 named peaks above 1800m, there’s plenty to keep skiers and trampers happy, all within…
Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, the well-known and respected climber and mountain guide who died of a heart attack while ski touring with former prime minister Helen Clark in 2008, justifiably deserved…
The Mingha-Deception covers, in just two or three days, all of the most notable features of Arthur’s Pass – braided rivers, open tops, a mountain lake, beech forest, waterfalls,…
From the road end, the track heads through grassland down the Ahuriri Valley with the peaks of the Barrier and Huxley ranges on either side and the braided Ahuriri…
The Canterbury high country is best in autumn when the red tones add to the space, beauty and grandeur of the Alps and foothills. With a good forecast, cold,…
According to legend, the expression ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’ originates from the idea that in exceptionally cold conditions, ship cannonballs would fall off…
If bushline huts and Alp views are what you look for in an accessible weekend tramp, then Black Hill Hut in the Lees Valley area of Canterbury is a…
Godley Hut is a gem. Built pile-less in 1934, directly onto a slightly elevated rocky shelf at 1100m, it looks out to the terminal lake of the Maud and…
The Torlesse Range is one of the most accessible weekend destinations for Christchurch trampers. And yet, apart from perhaps climbing Mt Torlesse, Foggy and Castle Hill peaks and visiting…
Dawn was calling. Not unusual perhaps, except that this dawn was a rendezvous I had made with the summit of a minor foothill in South Canterbury – and I…
The Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier viewpoint has unrivalled views of Tasman Glacier and its terminal lake, as well as some of the tallest and most magnificent mountains in…
Even though Mt Oxford lies 50km from Christchurch, it can be viewed from many places in the city – it looms in front of the higher summits to the…
The route begins at the end of the Wilberforce Canal Road and follows the riverbed vehicle track to Fanghill Stream. Kiwi Stream enters the Wilberforce River directly opposite Fanghill,…
The Rakaia Valley is immense. Some 4-5km wide and draining a vast tract of the Southern Alps, the river courses over a stony riverbed, flanked by huge terraces and…
A sign at the top of Mt John, where there is also an observatory, states: ‘Probably the best place on the planet for a café’. Mt John is also…
Tucked into a little corner of a high country valley, beneath the towering flanks of the Mt Somers Range, is an archetype of the rustic musterer’s hut. Manuka Hut…
One of the best things about Daylight Saving is how it allows you to do something a little wild in the afternoon. Case in point: Peak Hill near Lake…
A break in the storm Summer had not been good to us and we were itching to get out again. With one stormy weekend after the next, we had planned, attempted…
From the Whitehorse Hill car park, follow the Hooker Valley Track. Just before you reach Hooker Lake, the Ball Pass route is signposted, branching to the right off the…
Lying north of the inland expanses of the Lees Valley, the Puketeraki Forest Conservation Area covers 6750ha and boasts two huts. Both can be linked on a lovely two…
Moraine terrain Cameron Valley and its promise of a barren and hostile landscape at the end of its namesake glacier had caught our attention on a previous trip to…
The Faust and the spur-ious… Faust offers an accessible high country experience in a region known for its magnificence. The 1710m peak rises directly above the confluence of the…
Pinnacles Hut stands in a moderate alpine environment at 900m, right on the bush edge, below the north face of Mt Somers in central Canterbury. As part of the…
Reportedly once visited by Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Royal Hut is a challenging destination to reach in winter. Whether you approach from Round Hill Ski Area or Mesopotamia…
All was fine and clear for our Saturday morning wander up the lower Clyde River and into the Lawrence, the Clyde’s largest tributary. The river has a very large…
This large rounded hill is a popular day trip for Cantabrians and particularly so in winter when, on a clear day, the entire Canterbury Alps from Aoraki/Mt Cook to…
An island-like mountain rising from the broad valleys of the Hurunui River, Macs Knob is not the sort of summit you might be drawn to in summer. But coated…
If you’re willing to endure a short but rugged scramble from the valley floor to the tree line than what’s required on the nearby Mueller Hut route, then there’s…
The crest of Canterbury’s Craigieburn Range presents an uninterrupted wall of peaks running for almost 30km in a north to north-east orientation and with many summits over 2000m. With…
Arthur’s Pass is known for its savage weather and as such, it’s not the easiest spot to pick a suitable time to climb. So, easy access and an escape…
Little wonder Mueller Hut is the most popular hut in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park: the views, particularly at dawn and dusk, are fabulous and the route into this alpine…
Wind and ice Lake Ohau is one of the more elusive of the big southern lakes. Unlike its larger neighbours, it is not a destination that sits conveniently at…
Christchurch is spoiled with geography, both beautiful and rumbly in nature. The new Te Ara Pataka Track less than an hour’s drive from the city is the latest addition…
Topping out on Mt Somers I’ve often found the boring drive across the Canterbury Plains enlivened slightly by wistful glances at Mt Somers. I’ve had some great trips in the…
Where fairies reside If a relatively easy and short hike through a remnant forest, typical of the forests that once covered 90 per cent of Bank Peninsula, is to…
Inland from Lake Ohau is a gem of a side valley which branches off the major tributary of the Hopkins Valley. Ask around a few southern outdoors folk and chances…
A night at Number 3 Tops tramping is nearly always a goal of my trips, and on this one we planned to access the high tops south of MacKenzie…
Drinking in the views as we wandered up the Ahuriri Valley on a crisp clear day, I commented that many trampers say ‘just a valley walk’ in a pejorative way,...
No less than four tracks begin at the car park in the Mt Thomas Forest Conservation Area, which covers 10,800ha between the Ashley and Okuku rivers. The Summit Track…
Exploring the backcountry with snow and ice on the ground is a completely different game compared to three-season tramping on solid rock. It requires different skills, preparation and equipment.…
If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan you’ll know that Edoras is the capital of Rohan, featuring prominently in The Two Towers. Back in the land of trampers,…
The journey to Mt Guinevere tarn asks a lot of a tramper. Good navigation skills, proficiency at river crossings and healthy stamina are just a few of the required…