Hi
I'm Peter Ellis (no, not that Peter Ellis - I'm younger than him, Australian, and work in overseas aid). Currently living in Wellington, but originally from Australia. I've hiked a fair bit in Australia, mainly in the south-west, one amazing trip up to the Kimberley, and New South Wales / ACT particularly the Budawangs, Namadgi national park. I also spent a couple of years living in Timor Leste, where I managed to do a fair bit of walking and even some peak-bagging. I recommend Mt Matebian in the east...
In Wellington, my personal project is to climb all the 1,000m+ named peaks in the Tararuas. I've so far done about 30 out of a (without stopping to count them properly...) 70. But those were the 30 closest to Wellington - this could take a while yet. Anyone out there actually done it (or even just counted them exactly...)? If anyone's got any tips, or bits of history on the Tararuas, I'm interested to hear them. I'm also looking for copies of old guidebooks of the Tararuas, particularly Merv Ropdgers' Tararua Footprints (otherwise only available through the Wellington library).
I tramp solo, with my partner, or a range of my friends from work. I also rock climb a bit, and am hoping to get into mountaineering while I live in the right country to learn...
I also have an interest in learning from tramping/climbing accidents, and think New Zealand could do with an equivalent of the must-read annual Accidents in North American Mountaineering.
Looking forward to participating more in Peak Bagging NZ!
PE