Tanya Bottomley on her 45th Parallel adventure

Women thriving outdoors

Features, Wild women

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Leigh Hopkinson

Leigh is our deputy editor. She spends weekends in the hills and weekdays as a journalist and editor.

By Leigh Hopkinson

Women adventurers have been blazing trails across the remotest parts of New Zealand, opening up the landscape and inspiring others.

Increasingly women are at the forefront of fresh expeditions and first crossings. Penzy Dinsdale traversed the length of the Southern Alps and Tanya Bottomley the 45th parallel, while Tarsh Turner and Dulkara Martig undertook an all-female expedition of Fiordland’s Dark Cloud Range. They spoke to Wilderness about their adventures, their motivation, and the representation of […]

About the author

Leigh Hopkinson

Wilderness deputy editor Leigh Hopkinson spends the weekends in the hills with her whānau and weekdays as a journalist and editor. She has a Graduate Diploma of Journalism from the University of Canterbury. A keen tramper, rock climber and newbie mountaineer, she has written for magazines and newspapers on both sides of the Tasman. She’s originally from the West Coast and now lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch.