The New Year is upon us so why not set yourself a goal that will improve your fitness, body, health and mind?

No matter how fit and healthy you are already, the Walk1200km challenge is the simplest, most effective way to improve your overall health and well-being. It really is as simple as putting on some shoes and heading out of the door for 45-minutes (less as you get fitter and faster) each day.

I’ve been walking (nearly) every day now for 15 months and, hand on heart, can honestly say I’ve never felt better. I’m fitter, trimmer, healthier and happier.

Walk1200km is about finding adventure and ‘wilderness’ wherever you walk. It’s not something you can only do when tramping huge multi-dayers (though that helps). You can do it anywhere; around your neighbourhood, in your local reserve and even while on holiday – what better way to experience a new place and culture than on foot? It’s not a race, rather a year-long endurance event that, instead of exhausting you to breaking point, strengthens your body and mind without feeling overly taxing.

If I can walk 1200km (last year I did 1276km), then so can you. So, why not join me in making 2023 the year you did something incredible?

Sign up at wildernessmag.co.nz/walk1200km.

There’s a lot of talk about ‘greats’ in New Zealand outdoor lingo. We’ve got the Great Walks and the Great Rides for starters. But one great that has escaped the moniker is the Rees-Dart Circuit in Mt Aspiring National Park. As we discover in Matthew Cattin’s story ‘Glacial Grandeur’, the circuit has ‘saddles that surpass the Milford, valleys to rival the Routeburn and glacial landscapes that would be at home in Aoraki Mt Cook National Park’. Matt says that after walking the circuit, tramping may have now been ruined for him for no track could surely better the experience. It just goes to prove,  it doesn’t need to be ‘Great’ to be great.

This month we’re introduced to another great: Max Polglaze, a former DOC ranger responsible for some of the most iconic huts in the country. Polglaze’s most famous work is the Gridiron rock shelters in Kahurangi National Park. But he also constructed many others and built tracks that have been enjoyed by generations of trampers. Polglaze’s colleagues and family shared his story with Ricky French on p54.